Braves 'tough' out fourth straight region basketball crown

Feb. 19—MACON — Ben Smith was looking for a little toughness towards the end of a dreary fourth quarter Friday at Howard High School. Spalding High was as close as any Region 2-AAAA team was to challenging Baldwin High's perfect record in the boys basketball season in the last possible chance, the region championship being on the line.

The "tough" play came from sophomore Deven Nelson. Smith's Braves were up as much as 20 points on the Spalding Jaguars, but as a result of six fourth-quarter turnovers that margin was down to four, 66-62. Senior Isaiah Dennis did connect on a 3-pointer with 2:15 to play, but then it was two clutch rebounds by Nelson in the next 45 seconds that proved even more valuable.

The Jaguars were getting the basketball inside with a lot of success, but after that Dennis make it was Nelson clearing Spalding's attempt to answer. On the other end, Nelson put back a missed shot at 1:30. Five free throws later, and for the fourth year in a row Baldwin stood as region champions with a final of 77-69.

"That was a tough play at that time," said Smith, the first-year head coach. "We were lacking toughness. I think we had started playing the scoreboard a little bit. Spalding was still playing hard. Those (Nelson) plays back-to-back were pivotal. He didn't make all that many shots, but he made a tough play that was big in winning the game. We like to pride ourselves on those type of plays."

Nelson finished with 10 points and led Baldwin with nine total rebounds. He was fifth on the list of Braves who scored in double figures, and No. 1 was a fellow sophomore, Omari Woodard, who went for 21 points. Dennis netted 16 points, and fellow senior Tre Lawrence had 14 points and six assists. One more sophomore, Karez Demory, scored 12.

Those who may have seen Baldwin beat Spalding 86-32 Jan. 23 in Milledgeville might not have expected much of a contest on Friday, but Smith said when it's a region championship, you are going to get another team's best. Spalding's big football quarterback Curt Clark, for one, led all scorers with 24 points.

"Those kids have pride," said Smith. "They had the mentality where they didn't have much to lose. You want to come in and play hard. I feel we didn't play great as well, maybe because we had (beaten them) twice. Wasn't as dialed in as we should have been. Turnovers, inconsistent play. We didn't follow the scouting report. It's good to win, but I have a lot to look at going forward. Even though we were in control most of the game, it didn't feel like Baldwin basketball."

If nerves were also a factor, much like it was for the Baldwin girls earlier in the evening, it took a few minutes for the Braves machine to warm up with a 9-0 run. Lawrence, Nelson and Demory all had steals during the spurt. Baldwin was ahead 12-7 with two minutes left in the first quarter when the bench produced, Jaylen King executing the high-low to Kyle Levester.

Levester scored again finishing a break of passes including Nelson and Lawrence. Spalding did have a chance at takeaway points to end the period but failed to capitalize. So it was 18-9 with eight minutes gone.

The Baldwin basketball Smith spoke of is a lot about defense and sharing the ball to anyone who can make a play. They displayed that in the second quarter with Lawrence's steal and assist to Nelson plus Lawrence's pass that looked like a simple handoff to Dennis while in transition. That doubled up the Jags at 26-13.

Nelson stuck a 3-pointer at 3:25, and right after Spalding scored Demory was throwing down a slam before the previous points could be written in the scorebook. He was about to do it again, catching Spalding not completely getting back, but did go to the foul line to make it 33-21.

Lawrence dribbled the ball in and made the last attempt of the first half with three seconds on the clock. That kept it a 12-point game, 35-23.

"We preach unselfishness," said Smith. But the coach felt some selfish play crept in during the second half to cause the turnover problems. "We weren't passing the ball enough. When we are playing well, we are sharing the ball and everybody's contributing."

Woodard's offense picked up in the third quarter. He had both a tip-in and an inbound basket to get the lead up to 19, 45-26. Demory released a quick corner 3 after the Jags pulled within 15. When it was 54-39, Woodard — from the perimeter — had two defenders on the ground after his dribble moves and finished the play off with a 3.

The third quarter ended at 62-44 Braves, and the fourth started with the margin going up to 20. Spalding would then score 11 points off of turnovers, and with 3:46 to play it was 66-57 Braves with Woodard getting the lone Baldwin points. A little 5-0 run for the Jags followed before the Dennis 3-ball and Nelson board work.

Baldwin will carry a 24-2 and No. 4 ranking into the GHSA AAAA tournament.

"One at a time," said Smith.