Jerry Hunter could see the raw talent and potential all offseason and summer long, following his Westside boys basketball team’s repeat Class AA state championship.
But he also knew what was walking out the door — namely Khalon Hudson, Jalexs Ewing and AuMauri Tillman.
That graduating trio comprised 80% of Westside’s offensive output and arguably 99% of the team’s leadership core.
Left behind was then-rising senior point guard Demarco Middleton and fellow rising senior Xavier Goss. Middleton enjoyed a strong junior season averaging 10.1 points and 6.4 assists per game, while Goss gave the team valuable energy and defensive tenacity off the bench.
As the pages turned from last year to this year, there was, sure enough, some “three-peat” talk circulating around the program, more so as a fun afterthought to underscore the work Hunter has done to build one of the top programs in Georgia.
During a July celebration to commemorate the two-time state champs, Westside principal, Dr. Tikki Middleton, threw out the idea of a three-peat while saying how good it would be to “come back here and do it again next year,” and while Hunter wouldn’t flat out say no, he also knew what he’d be up against.
“Listen, I didn’t know we were going to win state this year until January,” Hunter said about last season’s team during the July ring celebration. “So, you never know. I tell you what — we’re going to work like we want to win it again. You can best believe that. We’ve got some good talent coming back, and I like our chances.”
BRING ON THE POPCORN
Jarious Adkinson. Bobby Blackwell. Dontrell Jackson. Javan Webb.
Those names represent some of the “good talent coming back” that Hunter was alluding too. According to the coach, Adkinson had the tools to be one of the best scorers and most exciting players in the area.
Blackwell, Jackson and Webb had loads of potential as sophomores and freshmen last season. And Middleton put in major work to raise his scoring prowess while also fine-tuning his abilities as the perfect floor general for Hunter’s defense-creates-offense philosophy.
But all of it — even Middleton’s new role as the team’s leading scorer — was an unknown, as most of this current roster had never been in the places they were placed in this season.
“We see the potential. We see the talent. We see the size and the athleticism, but I want to see what these guys do on Friday and Saturday nights in a packed gym,” Hunter said. “I want to see how they respond when the stands are full, the popcorn is popping at the concession stand, and you get them in some high-pressure situations where they have to make plays.
“That’s going to tell me what I need to know about this team.”
The early signs were good.
Westside ripped off seven straight wins to open the season, including complete domination of an Augusta Christian squad that came up just short of its own quest for a state championship three-peat in the SCISA.
They routed Class AAA juggernaut Cross Creek by 33 and showed their mettle in their first true road test by sneaking out of North Augusta with a one-point victory.
Then came region play and Thomson.
By now, the Lavonta Ivery-to-Westside storyline is well worn. But back on Dec. 15, it was just getting started.
In case you missed it, Ivery came over to Westside after spending his first three seasons at Thomson, nearly helping the Bulldogs to a Class AAA state championship game berth two seasons ago as a sophomore.
For Hunter, it was an additional piece to his roster that he wasn’t expecting.
Ivery’s 11.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game have helped take some of the playmaking pressure off of Middleton. And for Ivery, he felt like coming to Westside gave him his best shot at his ultimate high school goal.
“It really feels good coming here and trying to do something I’ve never done before,” Ivery said. “We’re just trying to win that ring.”
But it’s also given a young, green Westside bunch some more been-there-done-that postseason experience.
“Coming in, we’re realizing that — with the exception of Marco, Xavier and now Ivery — we didn’t have a lot of postseason experience,” Hunter said.
That’s why, even though Westside lost that first game against Thomson on its own home floor, though there was lots of gloating and woofing between the two fan bases, no one inside the Westside locker room was pushing the panic button.
“It’s just another high school basketball game,” Hunter said. “That’s all it is. Once we get them to understand that, no matter who the opponent is, then you start to see them come around.”
Hunter’s bunch didn’t stay down long. The day after the Thomson loss, Westside dismantled a McDonough squad tabbed by many as a Class AAAA state title favorite by 32 points.
The Patriots would lose back-to-back games just once this season — to Butler and Gray Collegiate Academy (S.C.) But after that 7-point loss to Gray Collegiate on New Year’s Day, Westside has won 16 of its last 17 games, including an impressive double-digit win against Thomson in the Region 4-AA championship game, and blowout victories against Cook and Vidalia in the first two rounds of the state tournament.
During this run, Westside’s eclipsed the 100-point mark four times, while not surrendering more than 68 points in any of those games — all during “popcorn time.”
“With each quarter of basketball, they’re gaining that experience, and they’re learning how to trust each other,” Hunter said. “They’re becoming more confident, but also playing whole offense and whole defense.”
Perhaps no single player has embodied that uptick in confidence more than Jarious Adkinson.
YOUNG GUNS EMERGING
This time last year, Adkinson’s main perch was on the bench watching Hudson, Ewing, Tillman and Middleton’s championship mastery on the court.
The 6-foot-1 combo guard was a sophomore reserve who averaged 4.1 points per game in about five minutes of action per contest. But when this season began, Augusta-area basketball fans who’d watched Adkinson come up the ranks knew he had the talent to say, “I got next,” and they expressed as much on social media.
The McDonough game was when things seemed to click for Adkinson.
He scored 24 points in a 76-44 win over one of the top Class AAAA teams in Georgia. He poured in 22 points against Laney in a mid-January blowout win.
He began to show a propensity for creating his own scoring opportunities, and that ability crystalized in the postseason where Adkinson’s above-the-rim antics have garnered him some social media fame.
In the first-round game against Cook, Adkinson scored four of his 11 points on a windmill dunk coming off a fast break and an “East Bay” slam, where he placed the ball between his legs in mid-air before flushing it at the rim.
In Westside’s second round state tournament game against Vidalia, Adkinson came down the court with a full head of steam, took off from the baseline and extended his body for a one-handed slam that posterized a Vidalia player who dared to jump with him.
But while Adkinson’s highlight reels threw the Westside fans into a frenzy, Hunter stood back on his sideline with his trademark arms-crossed, stoic-faced demeanor, as if to serve his young team a constant reminder to not let the fanaticism get too far into their heads.
“We still get distracted a bit when the crowd gets involved with the highlights, and sometimes you have to call a timeout to remind them to not forget to focus on the main thing,” Hunter said.
But as for Adkinson himself, Hunter says it’s all a product of how the junior is responding to coaching and believing in his own skill.
“Right now, Jarious is starting to understand you can’t just go out and wait on things to happen,” Hunter said. “Sometimes you’ve gotta go out and make things happen. And defense tends to make it happen for him when he chooses to buy in on the defensive end of the game.”
Adkinson acknowledged as much.
“[I’m] stepping up, hitting big shots more and showing up on defense,” Adkinson said when asked to attribute the level of play responsible for the attention he’s been getting. “My maturity level has been much more — a lot better. Coach is helping us be more relaxed.”
He’s not the only one. Sophomore Javan Webb’s eight points and six rebounds per game are coming in handy, and his 6-foot-6 frame makes him a matchup problem. Jackson has shown promise as a sophomore. So too has junior Aldrion Jones.
It’s all added up to Westside now being three wins away from a third straight state title. On Wednesday at 7 p.m., the Patriots will host a tough Model squad that hasn’t lost a game since Dec. 30.
Win or lose, it’ll be Westside’s last home game of the season, as the Class AA Final Four round will be played at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville March 1-2, and all of next week’s state championship games will take place at the Macon Coliseum.
For that reason, Hunter wants his group — particular his seniors, and a newly confident Adkinson — to enjoy the opportunity. But not so much that they forget about the unfinished business at hand.
“Right now, we’re trying to help him understand that we’re trying to get back to Macon,” Hunter said. “And maybe he can create some of those highlights in a state championship basketball game.”
