Deerfield-Windsor heads to Southland for important region showdown

ALBANY – As the end of January approaches high school basketball games become more important to help determine who plays who in the upcoming region tournaments. A number of local schools will have games with huge implications for how the rest of the season shapes up, but none more so than Deerfield-Windsor. The Knights and the Lady Knights both sit on top of region standings with 5-0 region records but both are tied with arch-rival Southland Academy whose boy’s and girl’s teams are also 5-0 in the region. The two teams meet Tuesday night at Southland Academy in Americus and then end the regular season against each other in Albany on February 7. To make things even more interesting this will be Deerfield-Windsor Head Coach Rundy Foster’s first game against his old school since he because the Knights’ head coach.

“I have tremendous respect for Southland,” said Foster. “I have friends that are associated with that school My son graduated from there and had a wonderful experience there. I also respect Coach Douglas, the players, and those associated with that program. They have a good program and are having a good season.”

“As far as what to expect,” the coach continued, “A big crowd, and very noisy, at least I hope it is. It will be an awesome atmosphere to coach and play in. I am proud of what we at DWS have accomplished, but we still have plenty to do. I look forward to the enormous challenge of playing in Americus.”

Foster took over the Knights who lost seven players from last season’s 20-6 season, then lost senior point guard Thomas Ray to a football injury. Foster moved senior Jackson Harris out from under the boards to run the show as the Knights started with two seniors Harris and Hays Revell, a sophomore in Mason Johnson, and two freshmen- Jack Moore and Lane Sceals. After three hard losses to end 2022 in holiday tournaments, the Knights had not lost in 2023 until a tough game against Houston Academy (20-3) in Dothan Saturday night.

The Southland Academy Raiders have won nine straight and are 15-3 heading into Tuesday night’s game. The Raiders have three players averaging in double figures on the season – senior point guard Cedric Smith, junior shooting guard Perry Usher, and senior forward Luke Exley.

Then there are the girls…Expectations for Deerfield-Windsor’s girls have been high since the beginning of the season and the Lady Knights have not disappointed. They are 17-1 and have won 12 straight. They haven’t been seriously challenged since 2023 began and won Saturday night’s game in Dothan by 52 points. Yet, they will face a real challenge Tuesday night at Southland. 

The Lady Raiders are 18-1 and have beaten region teams Valwood, Terrell Academy, and Tiftarea by very similar scores that the Lady Knights have. The only difference between the two teams in games played against the same opponents is that DWS smacked Southwest Georgia 67-37 and the Lady Raiders lost to Southwest Georgia by five points. In the MaxPreps ranking system of girls’ basketball teams in Georgia, the Lady Knights are 22nd and first in the GIAA while the Lady Raiders are 37th in the state and second in the GIAA.

“They (Southland) are well coached,” said DWS Head Coach Gina Mitchell. “All of them can shoot – all of them. They are a very good team. I’m telling my team we just have to play our game, focus on defense and make sure we are going after the rebounds.”

The Lady Knights are an experienced team that has been in big games so Murphey Ray, Joi Hubbard, Gabrielle Harris, Margaret Saddler, and Genevieve Lanier know what to expect. 

Tuesday night’s tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. at Southland Academy in Americus.

Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]