Middle Hoop Champs! Braves capture 3rd title in 4 years

The 2019-2020 West Georgia Small Middle School Champion Heard County Braves and cheerleaders after a big 61-33 title game win over Bowdon at HCMS Friday night in Franklin

(Franklin, GA) — After a 12 year drought with no basketball championships, the Heard County County Middle School Braves have now won three in the last four years.

The third big trophy came Friday night at HCMS where the juggernaut squad defeated the Bowdon Red Devils by a final score of 61-33 in a game that was never close.

The Braves jumped out to a 20-5 lead after the first quarter and never looked back in front of the largest overflowing basketball crowd in school history.

The eighth grade tandem of Jonathan Echols and L.J. Green led the scoring for the Braves with 18 and 16 points respectively while all 12 players saw significant action.

Other championship game scorers included Antwan Carter with six, Landon McLendon with five, Sammy Holliday with four, Cam Latimer with four, Gray Hester with three, Nathan Allen with three, and Cameron Wilkins with two.

The team did not lose a league or division game all year long with the only losses coming during a Christmas break tourney where several players were sick with a flu bug.

Head coach Zerick Green was extremely proud of the effort and teamwork displayed by his players during the entire season.

“We are just very thankful for this moment. This a great group of kids — by far the best group I’ve ever coached,” said Green after the game. “All 12 of these guys played team ball and were unselfish all year and they got the job done.”

Green believes the eighth grade group to be really special at the varsity level in the coming years as they each get bigger faster and stronger.

The team celebrated after the game by taking photos and cutting down the net. Rounding out the championship roster were Ian Goodman, Jeremiah Eubanks, and Bradford Hadley.

In the girls championship game, a see-saw back and forth battle came down to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter before the Temple Middle School Lady Tigers would pull away and defeat the Lady Braves 40-35.

There was elation to say the least on the Temple side for the girls team that claimed its first ever middle school championship in school history.

Standout Jayden Boykin led the way for the Lady Braves with 25 points.

Other scorers in the game included Samantha Williams with six, Kassi Hannah with four, Carmaya Swint with three, and Samaia Reid with two.

Track and baseball will now take center stage at HCMS as the spring sports season arrives in the next couple of weeks.