5 Takeaways: Winder Barrow at Centennial

<p>The Centennial Knights advanced to just their 2nd-ever Elite 8 playoff appearance this past Friday night with their come from behind 66-58 6A playoff victory over Winder-Barrow, here’s what we saw:</p> <p><em><strong>EMERGING STAR</strong></em></p> <p>2023 guard [player_tooltip player_id="873090" first="Mansir" last="Williamson"] has been gaining confidence and making strides in his game almost nightly, and he hasn’t let up on the gas in the playoffs either. A slick lefty, he’s quick off the bounce with really good rise at 6-2 and is very comfortable out past the line, a difficult combo to handle. In their opening-round win over a solid South Cobb team Williamson had a line of 17 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stls, the kind of all-around production we’ve been seeing develop all season. He followed that up Friday with 12-7-2-2, but all of his 12 points came in a 25-point 3rd quarter which saw the Knights turn a 7-point deficit into a 4-point lead they would never relinquish. He knocked down a pair of 3s and went 6-7 from the stripe, a terrific display when his team needed it most.</p> <p><em><strong>A NEED FOR SENIORS</strong></em></p> <p>No amount of young talent on any level can be devoid of some veteran leadership, particularly in tight spots or when the need to close out a tight game is required. Steady [player_tooltip player_id="869644" first="KJ" last="Spooney"] is an invaluable piece at the point for coach Matt Barkley, but Centennial seniors [player_tooltip player_id="806764" first="Kyle" last="Duncan"] and [player_tooltip player_id="869586" first="Logan" last="Turner"] really stepped to the forefront in the last stanza, combining for 14 of the team’s final 16 points to ensure that Elite 8 trip was theirs. Having seniors who want the ball and can step to the line or knock down a big bucket late is what usually drives teams deep into the postseason.</p> <p><em><strong>FRICKS AT 100%</strong></em></p> <p>It was good to see Winder-Barrow forward [player_tooltip player_id="1004875" first="Wyatt" last="Fricks"] playing at 100% without the cumbersome knee brace he lugged around all of last season and into the summer. He was aggressive looking for offense, took on contact and got the stripe (12-14, 18 pts total) and was a factor on the glass and defensively as part of a big frontline with [player_tooltip player_id="806745" first="Isaiah" last="Nelson-Ododa"] that was troublesome for the smaller home Knights in the first half.</p> <p><em><strong>WHO’S THIS GUY?</strong></em></p> <p>Basically a one-man gang keeping a somewhat fading WBHS team in the game in the last 24 minutes, 2022 guard Tim Loud was impressive in a lot of ways. A gifted 6-1 athlete, he showed plenty of game in tallying 24 points for the Bulldogs and has to be a name to watch moving forward after showing off some serious vertical on an oop from Fricks, range out past the arc, and a want for driving it at the basket (8-12 FT).</p> <p><em><strong>UP NEXT</strong></em></p> <p>It’s Knights vs Knights as Centennial makes the drive outside of Augusta to face Evans (21-2), a top 5 team in the state in virtually any rankings index, who are keyed by 2021 forward [player_tooltip player_id="1043316" first="Rashad" last="King"] and 2023 riser 6-6 [player_tooltip player_id="1042865" first="Tyson" last="Jones"]. </p>