Deerfield-Windsor seniors rise to the challenge

ALBANY — There is no substitute for experience and the Deerfield-Windsor boys basketball team has more than enough.

The Knights will have plenty of leadership on the court when they face John Milledge Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the Georgia Independent Schools Association Class AAA semifinals at Mercer’s Hawkins Arena.

Deerfield-Windsor employs a starting lineup that consists of five seniors, two of which started in last year’s championship game — Trey Young and Chandler Matthews.

Tyler Lowe, Ethan Shellhaas and Whit Turner stepped into their starting roles this season and have flourished.

Lowe gives DWS another scoring threat while Turner and Shellhaas go to work in the paint.

“It really brings us together as almost a perfect unit,” Lowe said. “It really makes us deadly. Trey isn’t a terrible outside shooter, so when you come out and play on Chandler, you have to still worry about Trey. You also have to worry that Trey will drive in to the lane and if he does he has Whit and Ethan to dump it off to. It makes us a really scary team.”

The starters have been teammates since they were in sixth grade and have developed a strong bond.

“It helps a lot that we’ve been together so long,” Shellhaas said. “It helps with team chemistry and we know where we will be on the court. I know if someone is going to spot up for a shot or not. It helps on defense and offense.”

Naturally, the point guard is the leader of the group and serves as the motivator.

“(Trey) leads us really well,” Turner said. “He gets us hyped up and he’s got good prep talks for the pregame. He has a talent for that.”

Young has stepped up his play in the postseason. He has averaged 24.5 points over the last four games and scored 27 and 28 points respectively in the first two rounds of the state playoffs.

The team’s unselfish play has been a huge factor in their success. On any given night, one of the five players could lead the team and they usually all finish close to or in double figures.

They’ve been teammates for so long that each player knows his part and knows what is expected.

“The biggest thing is that they have accepted their roles,” Deerfield-Windsor coach Gordy Gruhl said. “They all know what they can do to help us win. That is what we talk about all the time. Do what you can do to help us win.”

As the season has progressed, Deerfield’s rotation has gotten smaller. The Knights usually play seven to eight in a game with the five seniors getting the majority of the minutes.

Gruhl said one of the most important things is how much the seniors trust each other.

“I trust them and they trust themselves,” he said. “It is very important that kids develop trust with each other on the court, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. We ask them to be aggressive and you’ve got trust that if a guy gets by you, someone will come pick you up.”

If the Knights keep it up, they could do something that has never been done at Deerfield-Windsor — win back-to-back state titles.

“It would be huge,” Lowe said. “It has never been done before and I think it is right on our fingertips. We feel really good.”