GAINESVILLE — The offensive firepower of the Gainesville boys basketball team is nearing legendary status. And how could it not with the likes of Middle Tennessee State-signee KJ Buffen, Kujan Hale, the Rosser twins (Jarred and Jarrell), Bailey Minor, Xavier Bledson -- all seniors -- along with junior Brent Kelly and sophomore Rafael Rubel each taking turns to fill up the scorebook?
The Red Elephants are the highest scoring team in Class 6A at 79.5 points per game. They are a swirling mix of dunks, 3-pointers and everything in between. They can play the pick-and-roll; all eight mentioned above are capable of dropping in 25 on any given night. In the 2018 playoffs, they have taken their scoring prowess to even greater heights, averaging 94.5 points, including a whopping 213 points in the their last two playoff wins.
Even with all that firepower, however, the driving force behind Gainesville's quest for its first state title since 1984 happens when the Red Elephants don't even have the ball.
“Defense is what win championships,” Red Elephants coach Benjie Wood said. “It’s not rocket science. Obviously you have to be able to score but when you get to these points in the season everyone can score. The difference is who plays the better defense. We’re scoring a bunch right now, but if you look at how we’re scoring you’ll see that a lot of our offense is being set up by our defense."
Gainesville will take on Langston Hughes at 8 p.m. Friday at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion for the Class 6A championship. It is a rematch of last year’s quarterfinals that saw the Panthers claim a nerve-shredding 72-69 overtime win on the Red Elephants home court.
And Gainesville knows if it is to exorcise its remaining demon, it must do so via the same ferocious defense that has marked so many victories this season -- and most certainly postseason.
The Red Elephants trailed for just 16 seconds in their 102-86 state semifinal win over Heritage, Conyers, on Saturday and used their full-court, trapping press to ignite a 16-3 first quarter run for a lead they never relinquished. Gainesville converted 16 first half turnovers into 25 points while running out to a 53-30 halftime advantage. Heritage never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
“Heritage has several guys that can fill it up, but we were able to create turnovers and get extra possessions and easy baskets. One big run that is sparked defensively can be the difference many times,” Wood said.
The Red Elephants forced 19 turnovers, including 14 steals, in the semifinals, leading to 26 points, 18 of those on fastbreak baskets. As a result they shot 60 percent for the game and forced the Patriots into a plethora of quick shots and just 37.9 percent shooting.
That formula is the driving force behind the Red Elephants' first state title game run since 2013. They have crushed their first four playoff opponents -- Pope, Alexander, Lakeside-Evans, Heritage-Conyers -- by an average of 30.5 points.
Buffen, the Rossers, Minor, and Bledson all offer exceptional length in the passing lanes, as well as height and quickness to gobble up rebounds. Hale, Kelly, and Rubel provide the harassment up high on the court with quick hands. The trio combined for six steals against Heritage.
Wood pointed to his seniors' willingness to adopt a less-is-more attitude.
“They have led the way because they have bought into what we’ve been wanting them to do,” he said. “They all understand, and have accepted wholeheartedly, that it doesn’t matter who scores and how many. After last year’s disappointing end they understand that if you’re having an off night offensively, if you’re still playing hard defensively, you can overcome that.”
The finish to the 2016-17 season definitely left a bitter taste in the Red Elephants' collective mouths. Gainesville had handily beaten the Panthers, 74-57 in last year’s season-opener, though Hughes’ talented then-senior point guard Derrick Cook (now at Northeastern) was in foul trouble most of that game.
In their playoff showdown, the Red Elephants led by as many as 11 points in the first half with Cook in the game. However, then-junior Landers Nolley stepped up to score a game-high 22 points for Hughes, and, with Buffen in foul trouble, Gainesville unraveled in the third quarter and had to fight just to force overtime before falling.
The memory is still fresh for all the Red Elephants even 12 months later.
“The defense was the difference (in the playoff game),” Wood said. “We started off hot but then we did not shoot the ball well in the second half. KJ was in foul trouble and Cook and Nolly really got going.
“We were just 4 of 24 on 3-pointers and missed 12 free throws. But we gave up a lot of easy baskets on defense. Had we played better defensively we could have overcome those other obstacles. That is what we talked about more than anything else coming into this season was getting even better on defense and using that to help the offense.”
Wood emphatically said offense will not decide Friday’s state title showdown. He said it will come down to which defense -- Gainesville’s full-court man defense or the Panthers’ zone press -- is able to dictate the action.
“Both teams can score. The turnover battle will be huge. Winning the paint will be a big factor,” he said. “We want to use our press to create turnovers and help us rebound the ball. Both of those areas lead to offensive points in transition. That is where the game will be won.”
One advantage Hughes will have over the Red Elephants is the experience of having been in and won a state final. The Panthers knocked off Brunswick 73-52 to capture the 2017 6A crown.
Wood, who will be making his first-ever appearance in the finals as a coach, admits it will be something for him to remember.
“It’s special,” said Wood, who took two Johnson girls teams and two North Hall boys teams to the semifinals only to come up short. “It will be nice if we can pull this off to see what winning the final game of the season is like. But really I’m more focused on helping the kids get ready and trying to let them enjoy the moment.
“It’s not about me or the coaches. It’s about us as a team. The biggest thing we’ve tried to tell them is that ‘emotions don’t win championships, execution does.’”
If the Red Elephants can execute their defensive plan they way they have the through the first four rounds, they just may get to experience the emotions they’ve been suppressing for just the right moment.
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK CONTENT:
- FEATURE: Juniors Wysocki, Woodroffe taking chances to lead Branch state charge
- FEATURE: Buford girls get back to state thanks to pressure, effort in title run-in
- VIDEO: Despite veteran status, Lady Wolves learned much in 2017-18
- COMING THURSDAY: A video feature with Flowery Branch's girls
- COMING FRIDAY: A video feature with Gainesville's boys for the Class 6A title game
