GAINESVILLE, Ga. — It’s just the first of what Gainesville boys coach Charlemagne Gibbons hopes is “three or four meetings” on the season. But when the Class 5A eighth-ranked Red Elephants travel to take on No. 1 Milton on Tuesday in a showdown of Region 7-5A unbeatens, it could be a turning point for a program that has not won a playoff game since 2019.
Or not.
Playing a difficult non-region slate, Gainesville (11-5, 4-0 Region 7-5A) is just 1-6 vs. teams ranked in the top 10 over various classifications and two states. However, the lone win came in their final game of the Florida Hoop Explosion at Coconut Creek (Fla.) on Dec. 28 in a 64-61 victory over Florida State University High School.
But Gibbons did acknowledge that winning games against the obvious playoff teams is the next step in “getting to where we want to be as a program.”
“Clearly, you want to win one of these types of games so that the guys can say, ‘we can go in here and do this,’” Gibbons said. “But I don't think any of these things are going to define who we are. Last year, we started off 0-9, and everybody’s going crazy. We were still en route to achieving our goals, and we were one of the few playoff teams from the area. We need to stick to what we want to do as we move forward.”
What the Red Elephants like to do, and do best, is work inside-out, pounding the ball to a front-line that is one of the biggest in the state with 6-foot-6 junior Quintin Mansfield, senior Jaxson Jones (6-7), and juniors Charlie Gersmehl (6-8) and Xavier Griffin (6-4).
“One of the advantages we've been able to have all year long is points in the paint and then defending the paint,” Gibbons said. “Those guys have all played well overall so far. We’ll definitely stick to that plan and try to get their guys in foul trouble.”
But Milton (9-3, 4-0 Region 7-5A) is ranked No. 4 in Georgia in all classes for a reason. They are 9-1 against teams in Georgia -- their lone loss was to overall No. 1 Grayson (73-58) way back on Nov. 25 in their second game of the season.
Senior guards Josh Dixon and Jaydon Cole, along with junior guard Nathan Earl, give them a fast, up-tempo backcourt trio that has been difficult to slow down. The Eagles also have 6-5 senior forward Braxton Gielser down low, who is among the state’s best inside.
“It will be a contrast of two styles,” Gibbons said. “Both teams try to get guys in foul trouble. I think it's gonna be a great matchup.”
Gibbons said finding a way to slow down Dixon, Cole and Earl may be the key.
“They got three really strong guards, and they’re very confident shooters who cause problems for teams, especially so far in our region,” he said. “No one has been able to really shut them down offensively. They want to spread out and play a little faster. But we also are capable of playing faster, and hopefully, over the break, we've got guys playing a little quicker.”
One big issue Tuesday will be Gainesville playing without Griffin, who is attending the USA All-Star football game this week.
“It may change the rotations, the amount of minutes that guys are playing, but it won’t change what we want to do,” he said. “The approach is still going to be the same. We still want to be aggressive. We still want to be tough, you know; we still want to play inside out.”
But win or lose on Tuesday, Gibbons knows they will meet again. Gainesville will play host to the Eagles on Feb. 4, and then they are favorites to meet in the Region 7-5A finals after that.
“Both teams are undefeated in the region, and obviously, it’s a big game. But we kind of just got a plan for the whole course of the season, how we're taking this year,” he said. “It's about having ourselves ready for the playoffs. This is one of potentially three, maybe four meetings between these teams.
“So I still think we stick to that as we move forward.”
