The Elite Junior Classic has announced the two head coaches for the second installment of the all-star football game slated for Dec. 29, 2014. Norcross head coach Keith Maloof will coach the North team and Lamar County head coach Franklin Stephens will lead the South squad. Maloof has guided Norcross to consecutive state titles in Georgia's highest classification and included a perfect 15-0 season in 2012. Maloof graduated from St. Pius X where his father served as head coach for 26 seasons.

 

Keith Maloof

Maloof's experience includes 30 years of coaching and 19 years as a head coach. In addition to a 143-61 career coaching record and 70.1 winning percentage, Maloof's know-how in working with the state's top prospects is among the best in the business. Norcross had more than two-dozen seniors sign football scholarships this year and the Gwinnett school has turned into one of the most prolific talent factories in the nation when it comes to producing college athletes. Last night at the Atlanta Sports Awards, Maloof was named Coach of the Year over all other Atlanta-area coaches, including candidates from college and pro sports.

 

Franklin Stephens

Having two head coaches that are so accustomed to winning and coaching Georgia's elite crop of talent increases both the appeal of the game and the experience of the players.

COLUMBIA

The Eagles are back in the finals for a fifth consecutive March and a win would give the program its sixth state title. Columbia fell short in last year's championship to Eagle's Landing and ended a streak of three consecutive titles.

Photo by Ty Freeman

This year's road to Macon has been challenging and the Eagles had to rally from a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit to Fayette County in the second round before escaping Westover in the semifinals on a Keuntay Puckett tip-in at the buzzer. 

One of the major challenges to start this season was re-placing point guardTahj Shamsid-Deen, who graduated and is now playing for Auburn. Shamsid-Deen was a three-time recipient of the AJC's Class AAA Player of the Year and a major driving force of the school's last three championships.Head coach Kerry Sandifer and the Eagles had to adapt to this year's team strengths and as a result the Eagles are attacking defenses as well as they ever have. Guards Puckett and Anthony Rice were able to pickup the slack in the backcourt, while Maurice Rivers, Nick Singleton and Shadell Bell have helped Co-lumbia dominate opponents in the paint. 

In the second-round win over Fayette County, Columbia not only erased the nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win 67-58, but the Eagles did so by scoring a whopping 27 points in the quarter despite only attempting three three-pointers the whole game. The Eagles made 20-of-25 free throws and used their ability to finish at the rim to spark the comeback.Singleton scored game-highs of 19 and 20 in the opening two rounds and four players finished in dou-ble-figures in the quarterfinals. Maurice Rivers led with 19 points and 22 rebounds and Singleton notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. In the semifinals, Puckett's game-winning tip-in gave him a postseason-best 17 points.  

JONESBORO

26-6, REGION 4
The Cardinals' roster of emerging stars withstood a remarkable 46-point performance from Alexander's Hassani Gravett in the semifinals and held on for a 78-75 win in overtime. Now, the Cardinals need just one more win to bring home its first ever-state title. Jonesboro's lineup has continued improving each week of the season, and since the start of this epic postseason run, the Cardinals are peaking at the right time. Elijah Wade was the first to elevate his production and the senior led the Cardinals in their 58-47 opening round win over Perry with a season-high 15 points to go with a season-high 14 rebounds. 

The second round saw freshman sensation James Walker Jr. take center stage and he's been lighting up the scoreboard ever since. Walker scored a career-high 24 points in the 62-45 second-round tilt with Worth County.Walker finished with 20 points in the quarterfinals win over Rutland, but it was an outstanding game from 6-foot-5 junior Tracey Hector Jr. that led the Cardinals. Hector finished with a season-high 21 points and 15 rebounds. Junior point guard Austin Donaldson has also come to life in the postseason. After averag-ing 7.28 points per game in the regular season, Donaldson has averaged 16.8 points per game in the playoffs and is coming off back-to-back 20-plus point outputs. 

Walker remains the biggest offensive threat and he set a new career-high with 28 points and 12 rebounds in the semifinals. Walker reached the foul line a career-high 21 times in the semis and made 17 of the attempts. Jonesboro's scoring combination of Walker, Wade, Hector and Donaldson gives the team plenty of options and head coach Dan Maehlman likes to let his squad come out running from the opening tip. Jonesboro has held the lead or taken a share of the lead entering the second half of each playoff game.  

Photo by Columbus HS

COLUMBUS

30-1, REGION 5

The Columbus Blue Devils had a strong 2012-13 season as they won 20 games and made the state playoffs as a No. 3 seed. But Chestatee was able to take them down in the first round of the tournament and the Blue Devils' hopes of reaching the state championship game for the first time since 2004 came to an end. The Blue Devils used that for motivation this season having only suffered one loss, which was to Northside-Columbus back in December. 

A big reason for Columbus' success is the play of senior guards Alexia Manning and Jacqueria Gunter. Manning has averaged 14 points per game while Gunter has averaged 11 points per game. Head coach Joe Cherrone said after the semifinal win against Woodland-Henry that since Manning is a four-year starter, it's important to get her going and her leadership on the court is vital to the team's success. The Blue Devils also got valuable production out of freshman guard Tatyana Wyatt who has scored 11 points per game this season. And let's not forget about freshman center Ariyah Copeland who scored 12 points in the semifinal win. 

One of the reasons the Blue Devils have only lost one game this season is their stingy defense. Columbus averages five blocks per game, 21 rebounds per game and nearly 10 steals per game. And the reason they can play defense is they have a lot of size. Both Copeland and Wyatt stand over six-feet tall and so does sophomore center Shardonee Hayes, who is 6-foot-3. Back in February, Cherrone told the Columbus Ledger-Inquirer that his defense could be the best in the city and possible the state. Cherrone and the rest of the Blue Devils will have a chance to find out how good the defense really is against undefeated Redan in Macon this weekend.   

REDAN

33-0, REGION 6

Over the last few years, Redan has been one of the top basketball programs in the state. The Raiders' last championship came in 2009 under head coach Rhonda Malone. After Malone won the state title, she retired and opened the door for current head coach Jerry Jackson. Jackson and the Raiders came close in 2010 when they lost to Norcross in the state championship game, which was their only loss of the season. They also had an opportunity to win the title last year, but fell short against Sandy Creek in the quarterfinals. 

Now Redan comes into this state championship game like they did in 2010 and that's not having a single loss on its record. One of the things that makes the Raiders dangerous is how effective they are at the three-point line. No girls team in DeKalb County shot and made more three-pointers than Redan and it finished the regular season shooting 40 percent from the arc. The team's best three-point shooter is senior guard Brea Elmore, who shot 42 percent during the regular season. Elmore also averaged 19 points per game, which was the second-best mark in the county. Elmore signed to play college ball at Memphis in November.

Another player that can score is senior forward Jada Byrd. She averaged 13 points per game during the regular season to go along with her seven rebounds and three assists. She has signed to play with Xavier next season. Senior guard Destini McClary is another player to watch for the Raiders. McClary averages 14 points per game and has a 39 percent three-point percentage. Byrd, Elmore and McClary have all reached 1,000 career points this season, making Redan the first school in DeKalb County to have three players reach that mark in the same season.  

Photo by Horace Austin

WILKINSON COUNTY

26-6, REGION 7
The Warriors are making a familiar 32-mile westbound trek to Macon on Thursday and sit one win away from bringing home a seventh state title to the storied program. Last season, Wilkinson County battled past Wilcox County 53-49 for the Class A-Public state championship. Undersized and underclassman-heavy, Wilkinson County started last year's championship an abysmal 1-of-11 from the foul line and had to find a way to overcome a 33.9 percent shooting performance from the field. Rebounding, hustle plays and a game-high 20 points from then-sophomore Torrico Simmons was the answer. 

Simmons continues to elevate his game and as a whole this year's team is more experienced and more balanced than in 2013. Simmons' ability to shoot the deep ball and get to the foul line and the emergence of senior guard Tray Little has created an unstoppable one-two punch. Little has nearly doubled his production this season after coming off the bench in 2013 and averages north of 16 points per game. In the first round of the playoffs, Little dropped a career-high 36 points as Wilkinson County beat Wheeler County for the fourth time this season (71-49). Simmons is the team's leading scorer, right at 20 points per game, and comes off an efficient 18 points in Wilkinson County's 75-68 win over Calhoun County in the semifinals. 

Simmons can erupt at any moment, and netted a career-high 37 points in Wilkinson's 81-69 win over Aquinas in the Region 7 championship last month. Senior guard Derrick Trawick Jr. is averaging 14 points per game this season and Antonio Whipple has come up big in the postseason with nearly 10 points per game to go with his double-digit rebounds. Rebounding is a strength of this team and Whipple (6-foot-6) and 6-foot-3 senior Kareem Sanders are difference-makers in the post.   

TURNER COUNTY

26-4, REGION 2
Turner County has been a contender for the past several seasons, but it has been 51 seasons (1963) since the Rebels' last went the distance and won a state title. In 2012, Turner County lost a 46-44 heart-breaker in the state semifinals and, last season, the Rebels' run fell flat in the quarterfinals to Wilcox County, 75-62. This year's team could have what it takes and the lineup is as balanced as they come. Without a height presence down low, 6-foot-2 senior Antonio Graddic plays center in a high-tempo of-fense that attacks the basket from all directions. 

Junior guard Quan Hillmon has been especially aggressive this postseason. He netted a season-high 23 points in the 69-61 quarterfinals victory over Portal. Senior point guard Nate Martin has also played fearlessly in the playoffs and is averaging 13 points per game with his team-high 16 shot attempts per game. In the quarterfinals, there were nine players that scored and in the semifinals the Rebels continued spreading the ball around with eight players finding the scoring column. 

Graddic and Hillmon each scored 11 apiece in the semifinals as team-highs. The Rebels have been able to close out tight games and have scored 19 points in the final quarter of all three playoff games, the highest average of any quarter. Turner County's weaknesses have been compen-sated with effort and outstanding defense, but the three-point shooting remains a concern. Turner County is 9-of-43 shooting from beyond the arc this postseason. Turnovers have also been a problem, but the Rebels have improved each round. In the Sweet 16, Turner County turned it over a season-high 31 times, but decreased its totals to 22 in the quarterfinals and only 15 giveaways in the semifinals. Defensively, Turner County has averaged 14 steals and 8.3 blocks per game this playoffs.