The Warner Robins Demons are for real

The holidays are here and for some of the best basketball teams around the country, that means holiday tournaments against the best competition in their respective state and beyond.

Warner Robins High School head basketball coach Jamaal Garman and the 10-1 Demons are playing in the Lake City Classic at Allatoona High School in Acworth on Wednesday, Dec. 28, through Friday, Dec. 30. The tournament will have some of Georgia’s best boys basketball programs along with a number out of state teams with high profile Division I signees. The level of play at the Lake City Classic will be a chance for the rest of the world to see what middle Georgia has known for quite a while — the Demons are for real.

Garman knows this is the perfect opportunity for his team to set the record straight on how well they are playing this season. They will get one of their best opportunities to do that against the 12-1 Collins Hill High School Eagles. A traditional power and 7-A program out of Suwanee, the Eagles’ only loss of the season came on Nov. 22 to Southwest Dekalb High School at the Cleveland Stroud Classic. If there are any “national programs” in Georgia, Collins Hill is one of them.

“They’re a very athletic team and will be a huge test and we have to get it done,” says Garman.

“This group seems to thrive on moments like that,” he said about his junior-laden team.

The Demons have rebounded (and then some) from their 57-53 loss at home to Perry High School on Dec. 2 to the tune of nine consecutive games, including a 83-62 victory over Central High School (Macon) in the championship game at State Bank & Trust Company Holiday Classic. Warner Robins is setting the tone for another successful season under Garman, a Warner Robins High School alum, but that’s far from all the coach expects from his young team.

“This group wants to be great, they don’t want to just be good,” says Garman.

The core of this year’s team is a group of underclassmen that have taken turns dominating games during the Demons win streak. Tri-captains Champ Dawson, Jam’l Dillard and Jaydon Norman, along with leading scorers Nelson Phillips and Jacolbey Owens, are all juniors.

“Practically, the whole team is coming back,” says Graman with the slight chuckle of a man with a full flush. “I demand a lot from my guys, but I give them a lot of me, too. We’re like a family.”

A teacher at Warner Robins Middle School, Garman has coached the team to a state semifinals and four consecutive state playoff appearances, but he thinks there’s something different about this Demon squad.

“I love what I’m able to do by reaching kids at my alma mater,” says Garman. “This team right here, this is a team of basketball players. They’re all in.” Including 6’3” sophomore guard Jacobi Coleman, “He’s going to be special,” and Norman, “He’s going to be the key.”

The Demons are opening regional play on Friday, Jan. 6, against a struggling (1-10) Harris County High School Tigers squad before hosting rival Northside High School on Saturday, Jan. 8. Having won a number of regional titles, Garman and the Demons are looking for a bigger banner at the end of this season.

“We’re looking to keep winning games, win tournaments and focus each day to get better than the day before,” says Garman.

Collins Hill had better be ready.

HHJ News