GAIS's Guard Combo (Thoughts from the Weekend)

Austin Crown and Matt Miller, the senior guards who lead the way for the Greater Augusta Independent School (GAIS) have quietly been building a reputation for being as good as, or better than, any combination of guards within "driving distance" of our area.  Before accusing me of being guilty of "media bias" (after all, I am the GAIS head coach!), consider what former University of South Carolina point guard and current Columbia radio show personality Carey Rich said during Saturday's ABRLive.tv broadcast of the duo's game versus prep school opponent Gray Military.

First some background.  Carey is South Carolina's unofficial "expert on the scene," and he is especially familiar with the Columbia basketball scene.  I agree with him when he says that Keenan High School's Marcus Stroman and Eric Hopkins are the best backcourt around, especially because the two, along with a capable group of teammates, have produced so many wins, and multiple state titles.

But just before the tip off of our game Saturday, the thought occurred to me that no duo can score and carry a team like mine.  So I raced over to Carey and informed him that although I respected and enjoyed watching the guard play at Keenan, Aquinas (Hill and Scott), Butler (Coleman and Leverett), Richland Northeast (Scott and Anderson), and Glenn Hills (Turner and Mcrae), I believed he was about to watch a combo that was even better.

Whether or not I was correct is a matter of opinion.  And mine is obviously affected by my familiarity and fondness with Crown and Miller.  And although Rich did not state on air that Crown and Miller were the "best guards" he'd seen, he did say that they were "as good as any."

See the video above to understand what Rich and a gym full of people at Ridge View High saw.  Crown and Miller combined for 61 points (Crown 39, Miller 22) and kept GAIS within range of a very impressive Gray squad.