Veterans seniors James Ellis and Omari Joseph come off the bench to save the day for the 16-1 Warhawks

The Veterans Warhawks moved to 16-1 (6-0 at home) Friday night after defeating Region 1-5A rival Warner Robins 73-65. The victory was a turning point for the Warhawks program but more importantly gave them a one-game lead over Harris County in the region standings. The rematch with the Demons will be in Warner Robins [Editor’s Note: Hopefully it will be in the new gym] on Saturday, Jan. 25 (6:30 p.m. tip-off). 

Despite being by eight points, the victory was far from in the bag for Veterans. The play of a pair of unheralded reserves, seniors Jame Ellis, a guard, and Omari Joseph, a 6-5, 16-year old center, helped the Warhawks weather a Demon’s press and frenetic fourth quarter. “James has just been one of those guys all year,” said Veterans head basketball coach Bret Hardy after the game. “He’s finally flowed into his role and has made some big shots.” Ellis scored all eight of his points during a four-minute span of the fourth quarter. 

On Joseph’s play in the paint Hardy said, “He’s just getting better and better. I’m blessed to have him and I wish he was going to be here for one more year.” 

Neither player will be at Veterans next season but for the time being they are making the most of their opportunities on the court and off the bench for an experienced squad that is currently in the region of the driver’s seat.

Following a big third quarter by the Demons and in particular senior guard Keshun Houser, who scored eight of his 13 points during that period, Veterans lead of 10, 39-29, to start the quarter was cut to just four, 51-47, to end it. The Demons applied a trapping defensive philosophy during that forced the Warhawks into characteristic turnovers. 

Enter Ellis and Joseph during the fourth quarter. With the Warhawks ahead 53-51 following a pair of free throws from Houser -he would miss seven during the game- Ellis would make a layup that was soon followed by a Joseph layup that helped Veterans keep the lead hovering around five points midway through the quarter. 

It’s no surprise that a player at the varsity level makes a basket, but these two players in a game this important making clutch baskets under pressure against the defending region champs was something else entirely. Ellis would connect from three to make the score 65-57 and Joseph would dunk to give the home team a 67-58 advantage. Ellis completed a reverse layup that got his teammates off the bench and the crowd out of their seats with just under two minutes remaining in the game that got the Veterans lead back to double-digits at 69-58. Ellis finished the game with eight points and Joseph with four, their combined 12 points was 85 percent of the Veterans scoring (15) during the final period. 

A Joseph rebound in traffic with less than a minute to play felt more like a symbolic victory than any other rebound during the game. Ellis and Joseph may not have single-handedly won the Warhawks this game -Veterans outscored Warner Robins 20-13 during first quarter and led by 13 points at halftime- but they surely secured it. Three cheers for the unexpected heroes on this night.