MACON - Being outnumbered is nothing new for B.E.S.T. Academy. The small business, engineering, science and technology magnet public school in Atlanta has gotten used to it. So when the Macon Coliseum was nearly filled – with most of them wearing white T-shirts in support of local favorite Southwest – it was nothing the Eagles hadn’t seen before.
Without any fear – even when trailing by 11 points in the second half – B.E.S.T. fought through the noise and hostility to stun Southwest Macon 62-56 in the Class A Division I championship game on Saturday at the Macon Coliseum.
“We’ve been traveling up the road to the state line, Fannin County, Rabun County,” B.E.S.T. coach Brian Weeden said. “It’s just been us. We haven’t had a large fan base, so tonight Southwest was the hometown favorite, but this was nothing new to us.”
The scales tilted toward Southwest until the third quarter. That’s when B.E.S.T. began to chip away at the lead and tied the game 56-56 with 2:03 when Joshua Mickell made a pair of free throws after coming up with a steal. On the ensuing possession, his twin brother Jacob Mickell stole the ball and forced a turnover. And when BEST got the ball, Jacob Mickell scored on a running right-hander late in the shot clock with 1:04 left to give the Eagles the lead.
That sparked an 8-0 run that left Southwest fans, many wearing shirts that proclaimed “The South’s Got Something to Say,” with no hope of ending a title-free streak that has endured since1998.
“We told our guys, we’ve just got to finish,” Weeden said. “We were missing layups around the basket. We were giving up too many second-chance opportunities. We just had to rebound every shot that went up.”
The strategy worked. The Eagles dominated the glass, outrebounding Southwest 43-31, resulting in 20 second-chance points and 14 fast-break points.
B.E.S.T. Academy (25-7) was led by Joshua Mickell with 16 points and six rebounds, Jacob Mickell with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Nicholas Dozier with 14 points and nine rebounds. Alexander Barrett had eight points and nine rebounds.
“We had to keep our heads focused,” Jacob Mickell said. “We can’t let the crowd get to our head. This is what coach is telling us and we believe in ourselves. It was definitely harder, but we persevered.”
Southwest (27-3) was led by C.J. Howard with 31 points, 20 in the first half, on 12-for-17 shooting. Chase Dupree scored 10 points and Rinaldo Callaway had eight rebounds.
B.E.S.T. slugged it out, toe-to-toe, with Southwest for the entire first half. The biggest lead for either team was five points, but more often than not it was a one-possession game for the first two quarters. Southwest led 28-24 at halftime when Howard hit a 3-from the logo as the horn sounded.
B.E.S.T. was seeded No. 15 in the state tournament. The Eagles finished third in the region tournament, losing to mighty St. Francis in the semifinal round. And once the state tournament began, Weeden’s team had little trouble until the championship game.
“The guys have been playing together a lot,” Weeden said. “We’ve really bonded, really jelled. Mostly it’s guys just settling in. It’s nothing new. It’s been routine and we’ve just really locked in on the detail stuff.”
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