Veterans gets back to roots in much-needed region win against Thomas County Central

KATHLEEN — It’s no secret that Veterans (10-14, 2-7 Region 2-5A) has struggled to find their footing since region play started, but they picked up a much-needed win against Thomas County Central (11-10, 2-6 Region) on Friday.

“[We] definitely needed it. I can definitely say we’ve been struggling to gel a little bit here lately,” Head coach Brandon Driggers said of the 66-60 final.

The Warhawks were 1-9 in their last 10 games before the victory over the Yellow Jackets. That lone win was a dramatic double-digit comeback against a Northside team that was in the middle of a skid.

But Driggers’ team continued to show up, and now they’re looking to play their best basketball at the right time.

“We’ve been telling them, it ain’t how you been playing all year, it’s how you’re playing now” Driggers said.

It was tough to tell Veterans had been a team on a losing streak. They were consistent attacking the basket and drawing Thomas County Central’s big men off of their feet — one of their biggest weaknesses.

They didn’t go in timid and multiple players put pressure on the interior defense.

“We keep working, keep fighting,” Driggers said. “But we really challenged them; play on two feet, and don’t settle for the three ball. I feel like all year, we settled for the three ball…So we challenged Cordell [Broadnax] and [Braylon] Lott and them boys to really get to the rack. And I think they did a phenomenal job tonight of putting the ball on the ground and getting to the rack and playing through contact.”

The Warhawks didn’t take any ill-timed three-pointers. When they were open and the situation called, players like Broadnax (who hit two himself) and Caleb Nelson drained them.

The Yellow Jackets kept it close, trailing 33-27 at the break, but Veterans came out ready to swing in the second half.

They had an active first couple of minutes led by Lott, who, was one of the most aggressive players forcing the issue in the paint.

Thomas County Central’s two threes coming out of the locker room kept them within three points, but Lott’s two dunks helped keep the crowd involved and his teammates lively. Jaivyon Dawson took a bump on the way to the rim before the finish, and on the next possession the Warhawks got another shot in transition to take a 48-36 lead.

Pushing the pace isn’t just a playstyle Driggers likes, it’s something he wants engrained in their identity.

“When I took over the job I told them we want to play with pace, we want to play fast,” Driggers said. “That’s something we’ve been trying to do all year. We’ve been struggling here lately, but it was a great game to pick back up the pace.”

Whether it was off of a defensive rebound or a turnover, Veterans was focused on forcing turnovers, rebounding the ball and making an outlet pass.

Thomas County Central didn’t go quietly into the cool night, even taking a lead with 2:14 left, but that was their last.

Dawson and Broadnax were a combined 6-of-8 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter, and the Yellow Jackets could not stop shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and fouls.

Eric Love III’s iso got shut down with under 30 seconds to go, and Lott got the ball to Broadnax who finished the game off with a slam.

Driggers knows this is a foundational year, and while Year 1 hasn’t been filled with a lot of region success, it will hopefully give his program a solid base to build on.

“We definitely made improvements from the summer all the way until now, but we still got a lot of work to do,” Driggers said. “They continue to build, they continue to show up, they continue to work. And that’s what we asked them to do…trust the process. Trust the culture change and at the end of the day I hope they realize where they started is going to be something that builds Veterans into being a top dog here to come.”

UP NEXT

Veterans’ game against Northside has been rescheduled from Jan. 31, and the date is To Be Announced at the time of writing.

Thomas County Central’s game against Houston County has been moved to Saturday, Feb. 7 at 2:30 p.m.