>> BADLWIN HIGH SCHOOL
Baldwin boys basketball head coach Anthony Webb has made quite an impact in his first four years at the helm, and some of his most recent accomplishments include winning a region championship and taking the Braves to the Elite 8 of the Class 4A state playoffs.
The Region 2 champions won five straight postseason games stemming back from the beginning of the area tournament, but the Braves season, unfortunately, came to an end last Wednesday.
Baldwin hosted Pace Academy for its third state playoff game, and Webb’s team struggled to find a rhythm offensively. The team was only able to score 31 total points, its lowest point total of the 2022-23 season.
On top of that, Baldwin’s trademark full-court press was less effective than it had been in previous games, and Pace Academy was able to find a way around it.
Even after the 62-31 loss, Webb was proud of the way his guys battled through adversity all season.
“We always have high expectations from the start, and regardless of what happened with the other guys that didn’t finish out the season, I was proud of the guys that were still a part of the team and how we finished,” Webb said. “A lot of times when that stuff happens, guys lose confidence, but our guys’ confidence levels never swayed. Every day they worked hard and took it one game at a time.”
For a team that is graduating a decent number of seniors, Baldwin has had a great run over the last four years.
The Braves finished second in its old region in 2018 when Webb took the program over. Since then, the group has won three straight region championships and has made it past the first round of the state playoffs in all four.
Baldwin ended the year with an 18-11 overall record and 8-4 in region play. Over the course of the season, the Braves averaged a little over 56 points per game on the offensive end while the defense only gave up about 48 points on average.
The aggressive nature in which Webb’s squad played all season paid off as the season progressed. The Braves had a tough region, and it was toward the end of the region schedule that Webb believes was the turning point in their season.
“We were number one in the region standings at the time, but then we dropped a game against Spaulding, and then Westside and Perry a couple of games after,” Webb said. “I would listen to our guys talk after the fact, and they knew we let those games slip through our hands, so they came out like they weren’t ready to go home, and that’s what motivated us to make that run at the end of the season.”
Baldwin now graduates a handful of seniors, three of which played valuable minutes in the starting lineup for most of the year. Jacobi Nixon, Kenneth Kelsey and Jordan Webb all contributed to the team in a different ways.
Nixon led the Braves in rebounds, averaging a little over eight per contest, and contributed 11 points per game. Kelsey also averaged double digits on the offensive end of the court, and on the defensive end, he averaged 2.5 steals per game. Webb was the team’s pure point guard who led the Braves in assists and added 1.5 steals per game on defense.
Webb acknowledged that it will be tough to replace his seniors, but also recognized that a lot of the younger guys saw valuable time on the court, so they should be more prepared as the Braves make the push next season.
“It’s tough losing those guys, because they played under me all four years that I’ve been here. Their veteran leadership helped us throughout the season and will be missed,” Webb said. “But on the flip side, a lot of the younger guys got a chance to play good quality minutes. I’m looking forward to seeing which guys will step up as the new leaders.”
Looking ahead, Webb wants to continue to build the brand of Baldwin basketball.
The Braves will start preparing for next season as early as this summer as they participate in summer workouts and tournaments around the state.