Seminole County boys basketball team one win away from a state championship

The Seminole County Indians are one win away from their second state championship in boys basketball in three seasons, but a very tough Crawford County squad will try to shatter the Indians’ goal of reaching the ultimate prize when the two teams clash ttday at 4:45 p.m. at the Macon Coliseum.

“We’ve had a great season,” Seminole County coach Kevin Godwin said. “We moved up to AA this year after winning the Class A public state title two years ago. We’ve played remarkably well and have had just a tremendous season. We went 12-0 in our region and won the region championship.”

The Indians’ success this year is largely due to three exceptional players. Junior point guard and Herald Super 6er Jordan Harris is averaging 27 points per game for the Indians. Junior guard Anfernee King is averaging 18 a game and junior forward Jahmyka Pearson is averaging 16 points.

“It’s been a team effort,” Godwin said. “We’ve overachieved. We don’t play a lot of players. We don’t have a lot of depth. We’ve had a remarkable run this year and we hope we can continue it for one more game.”

Crawford County comes into this winner-take-all match up having an identical record of 27-3 and also went undefeated in Region 4-AA.

“Crawford County has a very good basketball team … They’re a high-tempo team and they score a lot of points. I think they’re averaging 80 points a game,” Godwin said. “The key for us is can we defend them and hold them down from scoring a lot of points. They’re very athletic. They’re an up-and-down the floor type of team. They score a lot of points. The key to beating them is to deny their ability to do that.”

Crawford County is led by junior forward William Jarrell, who is averaging close to 25 points per game.

“I saw him at an AAU camp in Atlanta,” Jordan Harris said. “He can play. He can do a lot of stuff.”

In spite of the challenge that Jarrell and the Eagles bring with their high-tempo style of play, Harris believes the Indians are up to the challenge.

“I feel like we can beat Crawford County,” Crawford said. “I feel like we have better players. Crawford County is a good team though. We respect them.”

Throughout the season, Harris has had to battle minor injuries such as a back strain, a stress fracture in his knee and having to have stitches to his eye. But Harris has taken it in stride.

“This season’s been good … I’ve gone through a lot of injuries, but they’re minor. It’s all good,” Harris said.

King said that during this season, everything has been falling into place. “It’s been a good season. Everything has been falling for us.” King said. “We’ve been making shots. I’ve been making shots and making plays for the team, and playing good defense.”

King believes that a big key to defeating Crawford County is rebounding.

“Our guys have to get on the boards and block out a little more,” King said. “Our big men have to step up and get rebounds.”

Seminole County has caused the city of Donalsonville and the surrounding area to get on fire.

“The community has really gotten behind us,” Godwin said. “We’ve had such a tremendous fan base. They’ve really gotten behind us during these playoff games. There was a huge crowd supporting us at Columbus. There should be a huge crowd supporting us for the state championship game. It’s been a really big deal here in the community. That’s something big to me. We’ve had so many people doing so much for us.”

For Godwin, it’s already been a remarkable run.

“Win, lose or draw, it’s been a great, remarkable run for us,” Godwin said.