Game of the Night: Georgia Elite Christian at Augusta Eagles

Watch video from Saturday's Game of the Night

Today marks the first time the Augusta Basketball Report's "Game of the Night" features two "independent school" teams.  The Augusta Eagles, the area's only team on which homeschool students can compete, has quickly earned the respect of many basketball fans in the greater Augusta area.  Playing a mixture of public school, private school, and independent/prep school teams, the Eagles have quickly proven themselves to be up to the most difficult challenges available.

The Augusta Eagles

And fans who skipped Friday's Laney-Josey contest to see how the Eagles would fare against Georgia Elite Christian, a "club" team that features 7' junior center and future University of South Florida Bull John Egbunu, were certainly not disappointed.

The Eagles, a team of guards, none of whom are taller than 6'2" used multiple strategies to slow down Egbunu, who finished with 10 points, and teammate Micah Smith, a 6'7" forward.  While a group of Eagles continuously clogged the paint to neutralize Georgia Elite's inside duo, they had to constantly recover to outside shooters like Georgia Elite junior guard Drew Davis, who also has committed to join the South Florida basketball program upon graduation.

The most impressive thing about the Eagles' 57-51 victory was probably that it came after Augusta's leading scorers, Matt Miller and Austin Crown, went much of the first half without recording a point.  The Eagles, normally a consistently good shooting team, only scored 8 first quarter, and 23 first half, points.

But Crown was effective in other ways - defending, rebounding, and setting up teammates - throughout the game.  And he eventually got red hot from the field, scoring 23 points, including 20 during the second half.  And Miller joined his back court partner, making key defensive plays and grabbing difficult rebounds, while eventually logging 17 points in the win.  In addition to the two leading scorers, junior guards Paul Jones and Dominic Brown made important shots at key times.

Davis led Georgia Elite with 14 points, including 4 three pointers, and Egbunu scored 10 points in the loss.

The Augusta Eagles next play Monday in Columbia, South Carolina, versus the Heathwood Hall Highlanders, the South Carolina Independent Schools Association's (SCISA) defending AAA state champions, Monday at 6 P.M.

Game of the Night: Laney at Josey

Augusta's high school basketball fans are lucky.  With the regular season region schedule finished, the region tournaments fast approaching, and many area teams taking the weekend off, tonight's Game of the Night is one of the area's oldest and most intense rivalries - Josey versus Laney.  And the teams didn't disappoint the standing room only crowd in the Josey gym.

After trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Eagles mounted a comeback behind hot shooting from freshman guard Darius Williams and the all around good play of junior forward Kyle Doyle.  But Laney would not be denied as senior guard Drez Newton answered Josey's hot shooting with key three pointers, and senior teammates Shaquille Cook and Jamie West also made key baskets throughout.

Enjoy the video highlights of tonight's Augusta Basketball Report Game of the Night...

Game of the Night: Richmond Academy at Westside

The Westside Patriots clinched the first position in sub region 3B-AAA in the final game of the regular season Tuesday night with a 55-39 victory over the Richmond Academy Musketeers.  Westside led throughout the game and took a 31-15 lead into halftime.  After the Musketeers cut the Westside lead to 40-30, the Patriots finished Richmond off with timely three pointers by Frank Booker and Ronald Campbell.

Westside improves to 17-6, and 8-2 in sub region play.  The Musketeers fall to 11-10, and 6-4 against sub region opponents.  Check out the highlights from Tuesday's Augusta Basketball Report "Game of the Night."

Game of the Night: Aquinas at Westside

One good thing about the class 7A-A Aquinas Fighting Irish visiting the class 3B-AAA Westside Patriots is that the two teams, both currently leading in their respective sub regions, can forget about what the game "means," and just play basketball.  And there are players on these two teams who can really play basketball!  Westside's guard tandem of junior Frank Booker and senior Ronald Campbell, and Aquinas's back court sophomore duo of Michael Scott and Ahmed Hill are certainly exciting to watch.

The Patriot duo does a lot of work from behind the three point line, but they also hurt opponents off the dribble and in the mid range.  The two from Aquinas drive to the basket relentlessly and provide many memorable moments.  Watch the highlights to see the things young men who are very skilled, very competitive, and very intense can do on the basketball court on a special night.

Game of the Night: Burke County at Washington County

In Friday's Augusta Basketball Report "Game of the Night," the Washington County Golden Hawks defeated the Burke County Bears in Sandersville, Georgia, 52-44.  The win improves the Golden Hawks record to 20-0 overall, and 9-0 in sub region 3A-AAA play.  Burke County falls to 14-5 overall, 4-5 in region play.

The Golden Hawks rushed out to a 15-6 first quarter lead during senior night, as senior Juwan Burden and freshman A.J. Gray made shots early.  Washington County coach Carlos Hope's strategy of playing 12-13 players also paid dividends early as fresh bodies swarmed Burke County's guards, causing turnovers and disrupting the Bears' offense.

But Burke County eventually joined the defensive battle, holding Washington County to 37 points in the final three quarters.  The Bears also scored effectively inside and converted timely transition baskets.

But Juwan Burden's overall floor game was the ultimate difference.  The 6'5" senior created shots for himself and teammates at key moments during the second half, showing the ability to score going to the basket and in the medium range.

Watch the highlights above to see what makes Washington County the team to beat in region 3-AAA play heading into the post season.

Washington County Aims to Preserve Perfect Record

Washington County's Carlos Hope talks like a coach who is fond of the people with whom he works.  He describes Golden Hawks 6'5" captain and leading scorer, senior Juwan Burden, as "the kind of kid who you would be proud to have as a son."  He gives credit for his team's phenomenal defensive performance this season (opponents have yet to record 50 points in a game against the Golden Hawks) to assistant coach, and "defensive coordinator," Tyrone Dean.  And he describes Burke County head coach Purvis Dukes, whom he will face Friday in Augusta Basketball Report's "Game of the Night," as "a kind of big brother," crediting much of what he knows about coaching to the experience he gained assisting Dukes at Burke County during the 2004-2005 season.

Game of the Night - Voting Guide

Rather than letting the Republican Presidential Primary voters have all the fun, the Augusta Basketball Report has set up a poll to allow readers to "nominate" Friday's "Game of the Night."  The last three featured games, (Josey@Westside, Jan 24; Washington County@Butler, Jan 27; and Westside@Thomson, Jan 31) have been selected from the super competitive region 3 AAA race.  This Friday, we add the possibility of featuring three other area teams at or near the top of their respective region standings: the Aquinas Fighting Irish, the Evans Knights, and the Laney Wildcats.  Vote directly to the right of this post.  If you need help, refer to the following Augusta Basketball Report "Cheat Sheet:"

Patriots Grab Share of Sub Region Lead

Tuesday night, in the HS Hoops "Game of the Night," the Westside Patriots won their sixth straight game and, more importantly, tied the Thomson Bulldogs for the first place spot in sub region 3B AAA with a 66-53 win at Thomson.  Junior Frank Booker, Westside's leading scorer, led the way with 26 points.  Back court mate Ronald Campbell added 17.  Dwayne Williams led the Bulldogs with 20 points.

Booker, one of the area's leading scorers, did it all Tuesday night.  He scored from deep, mid range, and in the paint.  He handled the ball effectively against Thomson's pressure and created scoring opportunities for teammates.  And he rebounded on both ends of the court.  A guard with good size and skills, a great feel for the game, and a deadly stroke, Booker demands attention from any defense.  Watch the game highlights (above) to see the impressive performance by Booker and his Patriot teammates.

The Patriots and the Bulldogs now share the sub region's top spot with identical 6-2 records.  The top of the sub region 3B AAA standings are now more crowded than ever.  Tuesday's results (Richmond Academy and Josey also won and both moved to 5-3) mean that with one week of regular season region play remaining, four teams are competing for the coveted top two spots in the sub region.  During the next week, Thomson will host Josey, and Westside will host Richmond Academy.  The teams with the two best sub region records will earn first round byes in the region tournament that will be played at Josey during the week of February 13.

Burden Propels Washington County to 17-0 Record

by HS Hoops

The Washington County Golden Hawks moved to 17-0 Friday night, defeating the Butler Bulldogs 52-40 at Butler High School.  Juwan Burden scored 27 point to lead the Golden Hawks.  Burden displayed a wide range of skills, scoring off the dribble, in the mid range, and at the rim.  The two teams traded baskets much of the game, as the sub region rivals' defensive performances made scoring points difficult for each other.  But Burden poured in the points late.

In addition to sporting a 17-0 record, the Golden Hawks' 7-0 region record puts Washington County in the driver's seat to attain the region tournaments highest seed.  Enjoy the video highlights from Friday's featured match up.

Team Effort Powers Westside Over Josey

After struggling to score much of the night and falling behind 31-22 to the Josey Eagles at halftime, the Westside Patriots got contributions from several players and forced overtime before leading scorer Frank Booker delivered a crucial three point play to seal the Patriot victory.  The win improves Westside's region record to 4-2, tying Josey's region mark, which falls to 4-2 with the loss.

The Eagles controlled the game for the first 20 minutes.  Forward Kyle Doyle, the game's leading scorer with 24 points, displayed his versatility by scoring in the post, facing the basket, and in transition.  Stopping Doyle is difficult as he can score on smaller players inside and beat bigger players off the dribble.

But Westside got contributions from Kendell Harris and Tommy Graham at key moments during the third and fourth quarters.  In addition to Harris's jump shots and Graham's baskets inside, Westside guard Frank Booker, who suffered a cold spell from behind the three point line all night, converted numerous free throws after drawing fouls going to the basket.

Eventually, Booker's 3 point play with less than one minute remaining in overtime put the Patriots ahead for good.

Check out the video highlights of this exciting cross town rivalry and key region matchup.