>> JOHN MILLEDGE ACADEMY
The John Milledge Academy boys’ basketball team was close to winning a state title last year.
The Trojans came up short last year in the GISA Class 3A state championship to St. Andrews. The Lions from Savannah walked away with a slim 49-47 win to secure the title.
JMA has since moved on and is currently riding a seven-game winning streak following the break.
The Trojans are doing so under first-year head coach Mitch Risley. He took over in the offseason for David Gallagher, who served at the program's helm for the past eight years.
“We’re doing pretty good so far,” Risley said.
“We started off a little slow coming out of football so quick. We only had about four days of practice before the first game, and we’ve only been in basketball season for about a month now. We’re slowly getting to where we need to be. In January, it’s going to be a long stretch of games. We’ve got 11 of them.”
A good majority of Risley’s players were on the JMA football team, which just won its 50th consecutive game and fourth-straight title earlier in December under head coach J.T. Wall.
The Trojans’ basketball 2022-23 season didn’t begin until Dec. 6, five days after the football team defeated Deerfield-Windsor 49-0 at Mercer University’s Five-Star Stadium.
“So far, we’ve done pretty well,” Risley said of his athletes' transition. “We’ve cleaned up the aspects of our game and we’re slowly catching our stride. It’s going to really ramp up with region play soon. We’re not there yet, but we are getting there.”
Risley added that his players have handled the pressure well since making the transition.
“They pretty much carry it over from sport to sport. It’s truly a testament to these guys because they compete and don’t like to lose,” Risley said. “They’ve been in close before and have had a lot of pressure on them. They’ve found a way to do whatever they need to do to get a win. They just compete and don’t lose. They know how to get after it and win.
“There’s been some times early on this season, and five days out of football, they found a way a win,” Risley added. “It’s really a culture they’ve been brought up in since they started at JMA and in middle school. I mean, this group of seniors never lost a football game.”
JMA has defeated five of its first seven opponents by 20 points or more. The Trojans’ closest games have been against Trinity Christian (71-67) and Brentwood Academy (43-41).
Their leading scorers are two football stars junior Jalan Butts (14.3 ppg) and senior Briggs Eady (11.3 ppg). They also have three individuals that are nearly averaging double digits in scoring: Brandon Watson (9.9 ppg), Bud Veal (9.1 ppg) and Banks Eady (8.0 ppg) “We’re getting closer and closer every day to where we want to be,” Risley said. “I’m liking where we are at in terms of a lot of players that are contributing. We’ve got five guys that are almost averaging 10 points per game, so we’re pretty balanced all around the board.”
JMA is playing in a district this season that features a few programs from Macon. The Trojans’ biggest league competitors will be Stratford Academy and Tattnall Square Academy.
Risley’s squad will face a few more non-region opponents before opening up district play next week. “We’re going to try and put our foot down. Show this area who we are and what we can do,” Risley said. “We’re a gritty team and we don’t back down from much. We’re looking forward to hopefully competing for a region championship.”