FLOWERY BRANCH - The seniors for the Johnson boys basketball team came through when it counted most.
And sophomore A.J. Young had his official coming out party in the Knights' 75-66 win over North Hall Wednesday in the opening round of the Region 7-AAA Tournament at the Flowery branch gym.
The win puts Johnson in the state tournament for the third straight year. the Knights will face East Hall Friday at 5:30 at Chestatee High School in the region semifinals.
Johnson (14-11) hit 10 straight free throws in the final 1:11 to keep the Trojans (15-9) at bay. Coach Jeff Steele said he expected it from his seniors.
"It was time for them to step up at the end and they did. Everyone one of our seniors played a big role in us winning," Steele said.
But the play of Young helped the Knights pull away midway through the fourth quarter. Young sparked an 8-0 run to push the Johnson lead to 61-52 with 2:41 left. North Hall never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
"A.J. has been a different player the last couple of weeks. He's really believing in himself and he is a big part of our offnese," Steele said.
Young said he's just taking a little advice.
"Coach (Steele) told me to be more aggressive and take the ball to the goal. I have more confidence in myself now and I think that's helped a lot," Young said.
Young had two eye-poping drives to the basket finishing with layups during the key run and finished with 21 points. Senior Sam Greavu, who put the exclamation point on the win with a dunk at the final buzzer, had 25 for Johnson. Senior Tarik Smith had 18.
North Hall senior Josh Stephens finished his career with 16 points. Junior Ronny Hulsey also had 16 and Robby Hamilton and Russ Short each had 12 for the Trojans.
Sunday
July 6th, 2025
1:06PM
