UConn signee leads No. 1 Wheeler back to championship game
Colben Landrew made a pretty good case for being named Mr. Georgia Basketball on Saturday when he helped lead No. 1 Wheeler back to the Class 6A championship game.
Landrew, a 6-foot-5 guard who has signed with UConn, scored 22 points to help the Wildcats outlast Cobb County rival McEachern 56-50 in the semifinal showdown at the Georgia State Convocation Center.
Wheeler (26-6), the defending state champion, advances to play Pebblebrook, another Cobb County team, on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Macon Coliseum. The Wildcats are going for their third championship in four seasons.
“I’ve had this on my mind since the season started,” Landrew said. “From the first game.”
Whenever the Wildcats needed a big play, Landrew was there to provide. There was that time in the second quarter when he scored on a dunk, took a half-second to flex and raced downcourt to break up a fast break.
There was the defensive play where he stood under the basket and went straight up to stuff McEachern’s Emmanuel Alofe as he rose up for a monster slam. And there were a pair of momentum-changing 3-pointers that just beat the shot clock.
Landrew deflected the credit to his teammates and their preparation for what was viewed as day’s marquee game. Wheeler was No. 1 in the state and ranked No. 13 in the nation by MaxPreps. McEachern was 25-4 and entered the game on a 13-game winning streak.
“I just feel like my team was mentally ready and we were focused and locked in starting in warmups,” Landrew said.
Wheeler also got nine points each from Jaron Saulsberry and Kevin Savage III.
McEachern was led by four-star junior Chase Lumpkin with 18 points and Alofe with nine.
“It really sucks that somebody had to lose,” Wheeler coach Larry Thompson said. “There were two heavyweights out there tonight.”
The first half was exactly what was expected by the boisterous crowd that filled the bottom bowl of the Convocation Center and forced the arena to open the upper level.
Wheeler led 19-15 after the first quarter and appeared ready to break the game open when they went ahead by six points. But McEachern closed the opening half with an 11-0 run – including a full-throttle baseline slam by Alofe -- and led 29-24 at the break.
“They had a great game plan and they took us out of what we wanted to do early on,” Thompson said. “We had to go in and change some things and calm some guys down and stick to the game plan and play more patient.”
Wheeler seized the momentum in the third quarter and used a 10-0 run to take a 34-31 lead. The Wildcats led 40-37 at the end of three on a dunk by Landrew, who opened the final quarter with a 3-pointer and a six-point lead.
McEachern got as close as three points on a basket by Lumpkin with 32 seconds left, but never got a chance to launch a tying shot.
“I think the important thing is we saw a group in the second half that just wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Thompson said. “I’m so proud of them because we could have turned our cheeks and went the other way. The adversity was really there. The guys persevered and found a way to win.”
About the Author
Stan Awtrey has been covering sports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1977. He currently writes about high school sports, Georgia State University athletics and golf.
