HOMER, Ga. — Success is nothing new to the recent history of the Banks County girls. The Lady Leopards have advanced to the state playoffs 10 years running, with three quarterfinal appearances and a Class 2A state runner-up finish in 2023.
However, after graduating a trio of Division 2-caliber players over the past three seasons, coupled with a new coach and some young, inexperienced talent, some in the local basketball circles may have been inclined to write them off this season.
And a 3-5 start to the 2024-25 campaign, culminating with an ugly 59-39 loss to No. 2 Elbert County, did nothing to quell the naysayers.
“I think early on in the season, we were still kind of adjusting to each other, trying to kind of set our expectations,” first-year Banks County coach but veteran Jason Gibson said during their rare off-day on Tuesday.
“We were still trying to learn the kids a little bit, just to kind of see what our best groups were and see how everything fit together. And they were still learning us a coaching staff.”
Gibson led Jefferson to three Elite 8 appearances in his 12 seasons there and understands how to build and maintain programs. So, his message was simple.
“We were still getting some of our roster from softball and cross country, so we knew that once we had everyone available, we had a chance to be pretty good,” he said. “Plus, the girls had heard some of the talk, and I think they’ve been playing with a little more chip on their shoulder.”
That chip is now the size of Stone Mountain as the Lady Leopards have put together an impressive 13-game win streak since then, all by double-digits, including a 52-36 rout of Elbert County in the series rematch.
“We did not play well (in that first Elbert game), and just lots of things kind of factored into that night,” Gibson said. “So fortunately we were able to kind of come back in, have a great few days of practice and watch film and try to isolate some of the things that really hurt us that night.
“Once we kind of cleaned up a few of those things over the next few games, I felt like the kids really started to buy in and believe that, ‘hey, you know, we can do this kind of thing.’ It’s been fun to watch how they have grown as a team over this stretch.”
All those wins, nine inside Region 8-A Division, pulled them into a first-place tie at one point (16-5, 8-1 Region 8-A D1) in the region. They trail Elbert County (20-1, 9-1 Region 8-A D1) by just a half-game going into Friday’s road showdown with Rabun County (11-9, 3-6 Region 8-A D1) with just one week and three region games left.
They have done it with a solid blend of young and old. Senior sisters Ryleigh and Reese Murphy, along with fellow seniors Emmie Chitwood and Maggie Irvin, all saw quality minutes in the last couple of seasons. Juniors Ansley Moore and Cannon Collier have made huge contributions, as have sophomore Marleigh Dale and freshman Janakate Gibson.
“Ansley is a great leader out on the floor, and she has really picked up her play. We have as she has,” Gibson said. “She can score, rebound, dish the ball, and play good defense. She does a lot for us.
“Reese and Ryleigh can both really score the basketball. They can finish at all three levels and are extremely long and versatile on both ends of the court. Reese just scored her 1,000th point and Ryleigh isn’t far behind. Dale is our leading rebounder, and Janakate and Cannon are fitting in well so we really like the mix of players we have."
The Lady Leopards were allowing 48.8 ppg during their first eight games. Banks County has yielded just 34.5 points/game during its win streak. Gibson said that has been the catalyst.
"Defensively is where we’ve made the biggest improvement and probably the main factor for our run right now,” he said.
And It figures to be a slugfest of a region tournament in two weeks as the Lady Leopards have climbed into the top 10 in Class A D1 Postseason Ranking (PSR) along with Elbert County. Athens Academy (15-5, 5-3 Region 8-A D1) is ranked 9th, and Providence Christian (12-8, 5-4 Region 8-A D1) gives the region five teams with winning records.
“Our region is loaded with what I feel like are some really competitive teams,” Gibson said. “Athens Academy, Providence, Rabun, you know, along with Elbert, obviously. They've all knocked off some teams. You got to show up and play every night.
“But right now our girls are humble and hungry at the same time. They know people were writing them off. They’re showing that maybe that wasn’t exactly the case.
