Undefeated Veterans, plying their best ball, hosts Northside tonight

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. For the

moment that crown is resting upon the collective heads of the Veterans Warhawks

and their second-year head coach Brett Hardy. The Warhawks are 9-0 and have

cruised through the first couple of weeks of the season. “It’s been a good

start, we have played some good teams and have responded when there has been

adversity,” said hardy recently. Referring to Veterans current win streak as

good is coach-speak at its finest. The Warhawks have won their last four games by

margins of 18 (Lee County), 11 (at Northside, Dec. 7), 19 (Perry) and 17 (at

Howard). They could not possibly be playing better during the first half of the

season. “We have been sharing the ball well and defending well, we have also

done a good job controlling tempo,” said Hardy, a basketball coach of nearly

two decades within Houston County. “Guys are accepting their roles, we just

have to keep getting better.”

On Friday Hardy will see how much better his team,

which includes senior forwards Hoarce Johnson and Jaylyn Williams, senior guard

Rodney James and sophomore forward T.J. Grant, looks against the Northside

Eagles. Of those past four victories only the game at Northside was relatively

close throughout. Having lost their last time on court Tuesday at West Laurens

58-49, Eagles head coach Matt Simon is looking to rebound, literally and

figuratively, before heading to the Mary Persons State Bank Holiday tournament

after Christmas. Asked about that loss at West Laurens Simon said, “We played

horrible and took a team for granted.” The Eagles had defeated the 3-7 Raiders

by 34 points on Dec. 10. “We can’t expect anyone to bow down to us,” added

Simon.

The Eagles, 5-2 overall, will most certainly not be

going into the Warhawks’ home court thinking that way. “We are looking forward

to a rematch with Veterans Friday and then traveling to Lowndes (Saturday, 3:30

p.m. scheduled tip-off), we have a chance to start the Christmas break off

right,” said Simon. 

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