Right up I-985, there is quite the basketball community that is being built in the southern part of Gainesville.

Johnson High School has become the talk of hoop heads in Georgia with their 18-0 start to the season.

Nobody is a bigger part of that team and basketball community right now than senior point guard Ty Cockfield.

“It feels good to be a part of all this. Every time we play well we put more people in the stands and that makes everything better,” said Cockfield of the atmosphere at Johnson.

Cockfield is currently leading the state of Georgia in scoring at close to 28 points per game and is coming off of an enormous week that included two 40-point games against two of the other top scorers in the state.

The first was against Buford and another senior guard having a big season in Tre Hansbrough. Cockfield led Johnson to a 100-89 win over the Wolves and put in 42 points.

The next was against Apalachee and the fifth ranked scorer in the state according to Max Preps in Kamar Baldwin.

The beginning of the game saw Baldwin come out blazing hot, building a huge lead for Apalachee. That lead eventually ballooned up to 19 points early in the second half.

That is when the look on Cockfield’s face changed, and he decided to get his team back in the game.

In the fourth quarter, Cockfield went off, scoring 26 points to lead Johnson to a huge comeback win and help them stay undefeated. He finished with 44 points in the game.

“Pressure makes diamonds. We love games like that. We don’t want to blow everyone out every time because we don’t know where we stand. We want someone that will help prepare us for the tournament,” said Cockfield.

This game and the guard matchup between Baldwin and Cockfield certainly had that tournament feel to it.

“It’s a great experience because (Baldwin) is the type of guard I’m going to play against in college, and playing against a player like that just makes me better,” said Cockfield of the matchup.

We will see where experiences like these can take the Knights this year, as they are currently one of the top teams in AAAA and are a contender for the title.

Cockfield currently holds an offer from Cleveland State and is receiving calls from others including Clemson, Virginia Tech and Georgia Southern.