Habersham Central High School’s varsity boys basketball team will host a first-round state playoff game after making it to the championship game against host Shiloh High School on Friday night in Snellville.
The Raiders will host Langston Hughes, the No. 3 seed from Region 5, at HCHS on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the state playoffs.
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Region championship: Shiloh 79, Habersham Central 53
HCHS (20-7) kept a tight game until late in the second quarter when the Generals (23-4) went on a run to close out the first half.
“We were right there with it,” Raider Head Coach Tommy Yancey said. “Then, they ended the first half on an 11-2 run and stretched (the lead) from one to nine.”
Because of Shiloh’s athleticism, HCHS was forced to play with a sense of urgency early, which changed the team’s game plan.
“We never got back into it (after the run in the first half),” Yancey said. “We had to start doing some things that were kind of out of our normal game play to try to cut into (the deficit). It just didn’t work.”
The Raiders held a 14-12 lead after the first quarter. From that point, Shiloh scored 20-plus points in each of the remaining three quarters to close out an impressive victory and take the region crown.
An injury to senior Brannon Gaines in Thursday night’s semifinal game took a set of extremely experienced hands off the court for HCHS in the championship. Playing late Thursday and turning around to play late Friday also played its part in the Raiders’ performance.
“I think we ran out of steam,” Yancey said. “We were tired and not as deep as we normally are. I probably could have done a better job subbing on my end and had them better prepared.”
The Raiders were led in the game by Enzo Combs, who scored 18 points.
Jullien Cole and Tylis Jordan put on a show for the Generals with 35 and 21 points, respectively.
HCHS isn’t happy about settling for second place despite being able to host a state playoff game.
“They’re disappointed,” Yancey said. “They wanted the region championship. You could see it in the locker room. But they’re tough kids, we’re going to bounce back. We’ll get back to work on Sunday.”
Yancey said he wouldn’t be changing anything in preparation for the first round of the state tournament.
“We’ll take (Saturday) off and get back to work like we normally do. Business as usual,” Yancey said. “No, we ain’t changing anything. We’ve beat the best teams in the state, we’ve beat the best teams in other states. We’re going to do what we do. We’re good enough to beat anybody.”
How the Raiders got to the final
Region semifinal: Habersham Central 49, Gainesville 46
HCHS earned the second-best record during region play, meaning they automatically were in the top four for a state playoff spot. The top two teams, Shiloh and HCHS, were also directly in the semifinals awaiting their opponents.
Gainesville topped Apalachee Tuesday to move on and face the Raiders. The two split results during the regular season, each winning on their own home court.
Thursday, HCHS got the better of the Red Elephants on neutral court to get into the region championship.
Enzo Combs put up 20 points for the Raiders, while Josiah McCurry added 18 in the win.
Brandon Nelson led Gainesville with 13, Xavier Griffin had 12 and Ellis Pitts scored 11.
Accolades
In addition to the runner-up trophy, five HCHS players were acknowledged for their play this season.
Combs made the All-Tournament Team and was named to the All-Region Team.
McCurry was also named to the All-Region Team.
Jalen Davis and Justus Gober were both All-Region Honorable Mentions.
Gaines was tabbed as a Defensive Player on the All-Region Team.
