#MarchToMacon: What we learned from AA championship
The AA Georgia state championship is coming back to Gwinnett County as Greater Atlanta Christian brought home the trophy in a terrific 58-55 win over Calhoun on Friday night in Macon. Our HoopSeen.com team breaks down the things they learned from the championship game.
Greater Atlanta Christian is the state's best. We've believed that since we placed the Spartans at the top of our Power Poll. Now the Spartans have another title and an unblemished record to show for it. Calhoun made it a great game but as champions consistently prove, holding a lead and maintaining control is a byproduct of great teams. GACS showed that tonight in another terrific season. - Justin Young
Eddie Martin will go down as one of the greatest coaches in Georgia High School basketball history. After winning three titles at Norcross, Martin has now won four state championships at Greater Atlanta Christian. He's won seven titles in the span of nine seasons. That's an incredible feat. His latest championship comes with an asterisk. Why? Perfection. GACS finished the season 32-0 on the year and sit on a 50=game win streak. Simply amazing. - JY
Isaiah Wilkins made a very strong case for claiming Mr. Georgia Basketball with his dynamic performance on the state's biggest stage. The future Virginia Cavalier poured in 29 points and reeled in 13 rebounds in the win. He was 5-6 from the floor in the fourth and whenever his team needed a play, he made it. If you've read HoopSeen.com since we launched the site, you know that we've been big fans of Wilkins. That's not the revelation here. What is, is this: What Wilkins did in Macon on Friday evening was dominant. Put his performance up there with some of the greatest in state championship history. Wilkins was just as good as Javaris Crittenton was on the same floor in 2006 and Jodie Meeks was in 2007 in Gwinnett. We will unveil all of our Georgia high school basketball superlatives next week on HoopSeen.com. Expect Wilkins to be listed several times. - JY
Yellowjackets have a chance to build on something special. Calhoun will return 11 players next season. After going 26-3 and getting to the finals will help a team build some confidence for the next few years. Last year, the Jackets were 18-6 before losing in the second round of the state playoffs. Calhoun showed a lot of heart in its quest to dethrone and upset the Spartans. - Robert Alfonso, Jr.
Remember the name: Kaelan Riley. This 6-foot-3 sophomore is poised. He led the YellowJackets with 18 points against an active Greater Atlanta defense. On the game he was 8-for-10 from the charity stripe on the game. Riley was Calhoun’s leading scorer this year at 14 points a game. - RA