>> JOHN MILLEDGE ACADEMY
The Georgia Independent Athletic Association (GIAA) basketball postseason began this week, and both the John Milledge Academy boys and girls qualified for the Class AAA tournaments.
The Trojans are rolling this season under first-year head coach Mitch Risley. The former assistant-turned-head coach has them at 19-3 overall entering the Class AAA state playoffs.
JMA is the No. 2 overall seed and received a first-round bye on Wednesday. The Trojans will face the winner of the No. 7/No.
10 matchup between Deerfield-Windsor and Terrell Academy.
That quarterfinals game will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at FPD Academy in Macon. The winner will head to the semifinals at the University of West Georgia on March 2.
The Trojans are coming off a 64-57 loss to Stratford Academy on Friday in the district tournament. The Eagles are the only squad to have beaten JMA during its 2022-23 campaign.
However, the Trojans have competed with Stratford Academy, each loss only being a single-digit deficit, but now they look ahead to what’s in front of them in the Class AAA bracket.
JMA fell to St. Andrews last year 49-47 in the state championship game, and Risley’s goal all year was to get back to that point, but the Lions (25-1) are the top seed in this year’s state playoffs.
“I think it’s going to be a pretty competitive tournament,” Risley said of the postseason earlier this month. “I like our chances to make a run. I think we’re playing pretty good basketball right now. Going into this week, I think our guys understand that this is the time that we need to be playing our best. I think we are hitting our stride at the right time.”
The Trojans will rely on leading scorers Jalan Butts (17.1 ppg) and Briggs Eady (15.3 ppg) to guide them. They will also depend on the talent of Bud Veal, Banks Eady and Brandon Watson. These five players are their best shot at getting back to the state title game.
“Those are big-time,” Risley said about his two-leading scorers. “Coming into this year, we lost our top-two leading scorers. We didn't really know who it was going to be. We’ve got Jalan and Briggs, but we’ve also got Bud and Banks. We knew all along they could score a lot, but they hadn’t really been asked to carry us in scoring.
They’ve stepped up and have come into their own in being the leading scorers for this team. It’s been such a positive.”
On the other hand, the Lady Trojans have been just as successful this season as the Trojans.
The JMA girls are 18-5 overall and just captured the district championship this past week.
The Lady Trojans knocked off Tattnall Square Academy 45-25 on Friday to capture the title.
They now head to the Class AAA state playoffs as the No. 4 overall seed.
According to MaxPreps, JMA received a bye in the opening round of the tournament. So, the Lady Trojans will face No. 5 seed Lakeview Academy (16-2) in the quarterfinals this Friday.
The Lady Lions knocked off Valwood 81-18 on Tuesday night to advance to the next round.
JMA Lady Trojans head coach Jeremy Mayweather is in his second year and has the program rolling right now.
The Lady Trojans have won four straight games heading into the 2022-23 state playoffs.
They have also won seven of their last eight, dating back to Jan. 20.
JMA relies on a pair of sharpshooting guards in juniors Jordan Prestridge and Maggie Prestwood. Fellow junior Allie Osborne and senior Kortie Moore are scorers, as well.
Mayweather has coached up a team that plays fast and aggressive on both ends of the floor.
JMA does a great job of getting turnovers and scoring points off them. The Lady Trojans don’t have a lot of height, so they rely on their speed and athleticism to get them wins.
To beat Lakeview Academy, JMA needs all three juniors and Osborne to step up and play like they have all year. The Lady Lions have won five straight coming into Friday’s matchup.
The tipoff will be at 6 p.m.
Saturday at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon.