>> BALDWIN HIGH SCHOOL
The Baldwin High School boys’ basketball team made some noise in Class 4A Region 2, winning three-straight games in the region playoffs to secure the program’s third-consecutive region championship.
After beating the Griffin Bears in the first round, the Braves topped the Westside Seminoles 58-52 last Wednesday to advance to the region final.
Once there, by the narrowest of margins, head coach Anthony Webb’s team outlasted the Perry Panthers 43-42 last Friday, to earn the region’s No. 1 seed for this year’s state playoffs.
It was a defensive battle the entire contest, but Webb acknowledged ball security on both ends of the court proved to be the difference maker for his guys.
“We knew we were going to be in a dogfight with Perry, because they’re a real big, athletic team and it was nip-andtuck all the way through,” Webb said. “This time, we didn’t make those same mistakes down the stretch, and we understood what we wanted, especially defensively. We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds the last time, but this time down the stretch we were able to secure the ball and hold on for the win.”
A month ago, Baldwin was the top team in the region, but later lost a couple close games to Westside (Macon) and a game to Perry on the road.
The Braves finished the regular season as the fourth seed going into the region tournament because of a three-way tiebreaker between them, Spaulding and Perry.
Even after all of that, Webb’s team remained collected and ready to battle through a tough region playoff bracket, and he believes that prepared them to compete in close games.
“We were very familiar with all of those teams since we played them twice during the regular season, and it seemed like we had the toughest road by ending up as the fourth seed,” Webb said.
“We thought back to all the mistakes we had made early on in the season, and we made sure to focus on those and correct them for the tough games. Especially in those games against Westside and Perry, we just limited the mistakes and played our basketball.”
Over the course of the region tournament, the Braves relied on a mixture of experienced and younger players to get the job done on both ends of the court.
Senior Jacobi Nixon and junior Tremarius Lawrence led Baldwin in scoring over the threegame region tournament, with both averaging a little over 14 points per game, while Kenneth Kelsey contributed an average 10 points per game.
Lawrence also dominated on the defensive end, averaging four steals per contest over his last three games. Other players like Jaylin Robinson contributed on the defense by forcing almost three turnovers a game during the region tournament.
Webb said it was his players’ mindsets that allowed them to stay in those close games in hostile environments. He believes it will benefit them come state tournament time, too.
“They looked at all of the region tournament games as just another round of regular-season games,” he said. “They didn’t say they had to win just because it was the region championship, and I felt good when they said that, because they were focused on themselves and the game in front of them.”
Looking ahead, the Braves head into the state playoffs hosting the Cairo Syrupmakers Feb. 22, the fourth seed coming out of Region 1.
Cairo’s resume may not look impressive, but the Syrupmakers have an experienced squad led by mostly upperclassmen.
Baldwin will attempt to make it back to the Elite 8, as they did last year, and Webb believes it’s certainly possible if his guys continue to play their brand of basketball.