From submitted reports
A YEAR ago, the Dragons were discouraged and downtrodden after a 55-53 four-overtime loss on their home floor to the Union County Panthers in the GRPA (Georgia Recreation and Parks Association) Class C Mite Boys District Tournament. “I think we all lost years off of our life because of that game,” said 2011 All-Star head coach Adam Watson “I still wake up at night thinking about what could have been last year. I’ve played, watched and coached in a lot of games and that was the most gut-wrenching game of my life.”
The 2012 version of those Dragons would make sure that loss, and every other in Jefferson All-Star history, would be avenged when the Jefferson Recreation 10U Boys all-star team won the GRPA Class C Mite Boys State Championship Saturday. Carrying an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter of the tournament finale, the Dragons wouldn’t seal the deal without causing everyone’s hearts to stop once more with a 52-40 overtime win against the Jefferson County Warriors (Louisville).
“This is a special group of boys and they, truly, showed that with their run in this tournament. I think anyone who says they expected us to run the table wouldn’t be telling the truth,” 2012 head coach Luke Fryer said.
Coming in as a no. 2 seed in 2012, the Dragons were faced with a daunting task — the prospect of defeating district champions over three consecutive games in a field that included teams from Charlton County, Fitzgerald, Trion and Meriwether County. The Dragons kicked off their run with a 42-31 victory over the District 6 Champion Greene County Tigers Friday. Having failed to advance past the first round in each of their past five attempts the Dragons would not be denied as they were led by a 1-2 punch of Terry Martin (13) and Owen Parker (12).
Saturday morning allowed for the ultimate chance at revenge against the 2012 District 7 Champion Union County Panthers. Holding the powerful Panther pair of forwards Kyle Morlock and Pierson Allison to a combined 14 points, the Dragons benefited from evenly balanced scoring as eight of the nine players dressing out contributed to the cause. After watching the Panthers obliterate the field at the District 7 Tournament and hold an impressive Trion squad at bay in the first round, Fryer knew that the difference in this contest would occur on the defensive end. “Our guards, Daniel Parker, Owen Parker, Griffen Corbin, Jasper Gibson, they all just did a phenomenal job of hounding Schafer (Union County point guard Chayton Schafer) to just one bucket,” Fryer said. “He is the key to their whole team; because we were able to keep him from getting in a rhythm our guys were able to control the tempo of the game.”
Jefferson turned a matchup that most Dragon fans secretly loathed.
“I think that really was the turning point for the boys,” tournament director Jeremy Smith said. “The coaches, they’ll tell you they believed. They knew this group of boys had a shot. Once the kids finished that one off they actually expected to win the title.”
Saturday brought a match-up that last occurred in 2006 when Jefferson traveled to south Georgia to face the eventual state champion Jefferson County Warriors.
What ensued was a contest in which the Dragons never trailed and seemingly had an answer for every question posed by the Warriors. The Dragons jumped out to a 23-20 halftime lead as hot-shooting Owen Parker paced the Dragons with eight points and forwards Dylan Childress and Walker Fryer and center Zac Corbin established a defensive fortress in the low post.
“You could tell they just couldn’t get comfortable feeding the ball to the low post. Our forwards kept denying the entry and when it did get to the low block they never gave an inch,” Fryer said.
After halftime, the Dragons owned the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors 12-7 only to set up a frantic finish. The Warriors slowly chipped away at the eight-point deficit until the game was tied 40-40 with 16.8 seconds remaining. With the Warriors owning the basketball on the final possession the Dragons clamped down and denied until the final horn. The result was an overtime period to decide the GRPA State Championship between the Dragons and the District 1 Champions.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone own a quarter, much less an overtime period, like that; Zac Corbin came up big in overtime scoring eight points” Smith said.
The Dragons went 6-of-8 from the free throw line and three-of-four from the field as they outscored the Warriors 12-0 in overtime.
“To have a group of third, fourth and fifth grade boys represent a community like this — to make their parents, classmates and community proud — it’s a big reason for why we do what we do,” Smith said. “These 10 boys will never forget this moment and neither will we. Any time you can have all 10 players contribute in a tournament,Brett Bell, Jack Kelly, all of them scored during the all-star season. Hopefully they have learned that a little hard work and determination can go a long way in life because it sure did this season.”
