Could Carver boys, girls basketball teams repeat as state champs? ‘Don’t be surprised.’
Carver boys’ basketball coach Warren Beaulah is not coy about the outlook for his Tigers entering the first round of the GHSA state playoffs: The Tigers, who along with the school’s girls team are defending state champions, are underdogs and not expected to win.
Beaulah did not sound surprised when he said it Wednesday afternoon in his office inside Carver’s gymnasium. He knows the experience the Tigers lost from last year’s state championship team, and how difficult it is to retain such a high level of play from year to year.
But there’s also optimism in Beaulah’s voice. If his Tigers can grab a road upset at Cross Creek, he feels like the Tigers have a legitimate shot at another deep playoff run. Beaulah said that Cross Creek, on paper, provides the toughest challenge matchup-wise of any of the teams on Carver’s side of the bracket.
“It’s going to take a lot of help for us to (repeat),” Beaulah said. “It’s just going to take a few things to fall our way for us to get there. I told (girls head coach Anson Hundley), ‘if we can get through Cross Creek, don’t be surprised to see us in the final four.”
Carver’s girls enter the tournament with a much different outlook. They’re expected to win it all, led by senior Olivia Cochran.
It all starts this weekend. The boys face Cross Creek Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EST, while the girls host Westover Saturdayat 2 p.m. EST.
STRONG DEFENSE CARRIES CARVER BOYS
Carver lost the bulk of its offensive production from last year’s title-winning team.
The Tigers aren’t scoring in bunches. They average just 47 points per game, and leading scorer D.J. Riles, a region 1-4A first team honoree, averages just over 14 points per game. But they take pride in their defense.
Beaulah’s Tigers play a tight man-to-man defense. His players actually prefer it, Beaulah said, because it keeps them alert. The Tigers feel like zone defense presents too much of an opportunity to “get lazy.”
“They prefer to play man, and take pride in it,” Beaulah said.
The strong defense that has carried Carver throughout the season will need to show itself again Saturday against a high-scoring Cross Creek team.
The Razorbacks average nearly 70 points per game and shoot 43% as a team, according to MaxPreps. 6-foot-6 senior Kobe Stewart averages 20 points and seven rebounds per game, and three Razorbacks average double-digit scoring.
Beaulah felt like the Tigers missed too many easy interior shots in their region tournament loss to Dougherty. And fixing that won’t be easy against a team with the size Cross Creek possesses.
If Carver upsets Cross Creek, it will face the winner of Marist and Chapel Hill.
“(A final four appearance) would be very, very special,” Beaulah said. “But everything’s got to fall into place for us.
BIG EXPECTATIONS FOR CARVER GIRLS
Carver’s girls are on a role and another state championship appearance appears well within their grasp.
Led by McDonald’s All-American and Louisville commit Cochran, the Tigers haven’t lost since early January and won the region title 60-56 in overtime over Americus-Sumter.
The Tigers lost just four games all season. Thomson, the team they face in the first round of the playoffs, won just four games all season and averages just over 23 points per game.
“Last year we were smaller and quicker, and we played a different style of basketball than what we’re playing this year,” Hundley said. “But they have adjusted to it well, and we’re playing pretty good doing it. Different style of play this year, but pretty much getting the same results.”
Hundley noted the quickness in Thomson’s starting lineup when he first watched Carver’s opponent on film. The Bulldogs finished fourth in region 3-4A, but “not because they didn’t work,” Hundley said.
Should Carver beat Thomson, it will face the winner of Central-Carrollton and White County.
Said Cochran: I’m just ready to get another ring.”
JOSH’S PICKS
- Carver girls defeat Thomson 68-20.
- Cross Creek defeats Carver boys 58-56.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Carver’s girls basketball team plays Friday at 2 p.m. The team plays Saturday at 2 p.m.
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 12:00 AM.
