Early to rise, Rockdale County is No. in AAAA

Especially when you’re winning.

Rockdale County is 24-1 under Williams, who has held practices before school hours since coming to the Conyers school last season. He says it demands dedication and limits distractions.

“The players adjusted quickly,’’ Williams said. “Some parents had a bad reaction, but then we won some basketball games. The complaining stopped. Winning cures everything.’’

How practicing at dawn affects Rockdale’s success can’t be measured, but it’s symbolic of a team that has managed to get its work done without the attention that typically follows a No. 1 ranking.

Kevin Ware, a junior who has committed to Tennessee and is the team's best-known player, averages nearly 18 points a game for a school that had not won a state tournament game since 1992 until Williams became head coach.

Athletic and a gifted ball-handler, Ware has emerged as one of the state’s top players with a consistent outside shot that he lacked in 2009, according to Williams.

Ware and Thompson, each 6 feet 4, can play the point, but the primary floor leader is Cordarryle Bethley, a three-year starter who is 5-9.

Bethley moved from Cleveland and Ware from New York just before they entered high school. Bethley believes their northern roots and street-ball experience help explain the team’s strength, which is guard play.

“The North is where guard play originated,’’ Bethley said. “The South is for the big man. Up north, everybody wants to be a guard and showcase their talent that way.’’

Ware says the team is well-rounded. The top post player is 6-7 sophomore Darion Clark.

“We got guards, we got bigs, we can go 10 or 11 deep and get same production as the starting five,’’ Ware said.

Still, a 24-1 team has something to prove. Teams from DeKalb County (Tucker, Miller Grove, Columbia) have won the past four AAAA state titles. No current member of Region 8-AAAA has made a state final since Rockdale won it in 1987.

Rockdale lost to eventual champion Miller Grove 73-59 in the round of 16 last year. This season, Williams strengthened the non-region schedule to include five out-of-state opponents.

Rockdale’s only defeat was a one-point loss to Gadsden City, which MaxPreps ranks No. 2 overall in Alabama. A 73-70 victory against Meridian, the No. 6 team in Mississippi, is Rockdale’s best win, according to Williams.

“I’m still watching that film saying, ‘How did we beat Meridian?’ ’’ Williams said. “That has to be one of the best teams in the country. We played another team, Jones High School in Florida, that won their state title and returned everyone. We beat them in front of their home crowd.’’

In other words, don’t worry about Rockdale’s schedule. Williams believes he has seen enough to know his team is justified in its ranking.

"Our goal is to win state the title,’’ Williams said. “It has been that from Day One. I expect to do that.’’