HOMER — There were no rolling promotional vehicles prowling around Banks County acknowledging the feat. No giant billboards. No County Commission proclamations.
In fact, unless you knew just where to look in the Banks County gym you wouldn’t notice it upon casual inspection. Such was the case for Banks County girls basketball coach Steve Shedd when one of his own players was told there was something high up on the wall in the gym.
“We had no idea until someone had mentioned it to us after the game,” Shedd admitted. “We went and took a look and sure enough, there it was. We were kind of surprised for sure.”
The “it” was that last week’s second round win over KIPP (70-28) for the Lady Leopards (25-5) set or matched two program records. The 25 wins set a single-season record for the program and the berth into the quarterfinals was their first since 1980. They already had matched one record from that 1980 team with their first region title earlier in the month.
“That’s a long time in between. I don’t think a lot of people knew all of that. I didn’t and all of that kind of surprised me because we’ve been a pretty consistent program over the years,” said Shedd, who is in second season as head coach after spending 16 years as the Banks County Middle School coach. “I think it’s a great thing for the program.”
But Shedd also admitted that once they dug up the history books they didn’t want a lot of fanfare or pomp-and-circumstance surrounding the accomplishments, at least not publically.
“It’s a big deal, and I’m happy for the recognition that the girls are getting, but we’re aren’t looking to broadcast it,” he said. “We’re proud of it but we’re a pretty humble group. The girls don’t do a lot of (trash) talking on the Internet and stuff about it. They just come to work every day and try to get better and see if they can keep this thing rolling.”
The Region 8-AA region champ Lady Leopards have dominated in the first two rounds, dispatching Pepperrell 52-30 in the first round and then dismantling KIPP in the second round. They are not expecting anything like that in the quarterfinals, however.
Banks County, thanks to a favorable “universal coin flip,” will be playing host to defending state champion Laney (29-0), which will also bring a 59-game winning streak into Homer. The Lady Wildcats have won two state titles over the past three seasons (Class 3A in 2015 and Class 2A in '17) and are an eye-popping 114-9 since the beginning of the 2015 campaign.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will move on to Saturday’s semifinals at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville.
This season Laney is a perfect 10-0 away from home and are the highest-scoring team in the classification (78 points a game) by a wide margin. Rabun County, which also advanced to the quarterfinals, is second in Class 2A at 66.3 ppg on the season. Banks County is averaging 58.7 ppg on the season.
The Lady Wildcats offer a devastating trio led by seniors De’sha Benjamin (22.2 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game) and Jhessyka Williams (16.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 4.9 steals per game) and junior Jaiden Hamilton (15.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg). As a team they are shooting 47 percent from the field and on defense, where they allow just 41 ppg, they average 20 steals a contest.
The Lady Leopards will counter with a group that has thrived at home going 16-1 on the season. They yield just 40.9 ppg and a measly 29 ppg in the playoffs. Allison Smith leads Banks County at 16 ppg, 5 rpg, and 3 steals. Jaycie Bowen (13 ppg, 7 rpg), Maddie Thomas (11 ppg, 3 rpg) and Amber Williams (9 ppg, 8 rpg) give them a solid trio of their own.
Shedd said overall balance on both ends of the floor is what’s driving Banks County's playoff push.
“I really like this team and how they have improved this year,” he said. “I truly feel like we have the offensive and defensive balance that can carry us a long way. Our offensive balance is probably our strength but our defense is getting where we want it.
“What I’m starting to really like as well is that we have five starters -- Smith, Williams, Thomas, Brown, Lauren Shedd -- that are almost position-less. They can all play outside and shoot (3-pointers) and can play inside as well. I think it gives us some unique matchups no matter who we play.”
It is expected to be a raucous crowd in Homer and Shedd said he hopes that will be an X-factor as they try to do what no one has managed since Nov. 22, 2016, when North Augusta (S.C.) knocked off the Lady Wildcats 62-56. No team from Georgia has beaten Laney since Morgan County took it down in the Class AAA 2016 quarterfinals.
“Laney is the defending champs for a reason, and we know it is going to be the biggest challenge we’ve probably ever faced,” Shedd said. “But we’re not going to be scared of them. We feel like we can have some success with our defense and hopefully that will create some opportunities. We’ll probably press them to start the game and see what kind of an effect that has. We’ve played a very tough non-region schedule so I don’t know if they’ll bring anything we haven’t already seen. But there are always adjustments so we’ll be ready for anything.
“But the secret weapon may be our fans. They are the best fans in the state. They pack the place and they are loud every game. They are an intimidating weapon for us, and we’ll need them to be even bigger for us (Tuesday night).”
