Hornets peaking at right time, clinch region championship

Feb. 17—No. 3 AIKEN 77, MIDLAND VALLEY 34

Aiken High's boys' basketball team didn't panic after an end-of-January loss to North Augusta dropped the Hornets to 1-1 in Region 5-AAAA play.

Sure, the region favorites were in a hole, but they also knew they had plenty of basketball to play.

"After that game, we just talked about how we still controlled our own destiny," Aiken head coach Darris Jackson said. "We knew that, and we just had to come out and take care of business."

The third-ranked Hornets have done just that. Tuesday's 77-34 win at Midland Valley was Aiken's fifth in a row, and it locked up the region championship and No. 1 seed for next week's playoff opener.

The first part of Aiken's championship formula was to sweep South Aiken, which was already 6-0 in region play and could've locked up the title against the Hornets.

Instead, Aiken (11-7, 6-1) won both games of the home-and-home two weeks ago, then continued taking care of business last week with back-to-back blowouts of Airport.

Still, those wins wouldn't have mattered without a win this week. That's out of the way now, meaning Thursday's return visit from the Mustangs won't count for anything more than a chance to keep getting better.

Jackson said the team's practices the last few weeks have been great, and the play come game time is starting to reflect that — but the Hornets still aren't quite playing to that same uncomfortable level at which they practice. They want to push themselves to reach that point, and Jackson said his team is improving in that regard.

"I think we're starting to peak at the right time," he said. "Our kids are together. They compete with each other at practice, then they come in at game time and they've got each others backs. It's a fun group to coach."

Demarcus Mazone continued his strong play Tuesday with 18 points, six rebounds and four steals. That's the type of performance his coaches have been challenging him to have and, while the effort has been there all season, now he's starting to see the ball go through the net.

RJ Felton had another one of the nights that he's expected to provide, making five 3-pointers and scoring 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists in three quarters. Kameron Williamson had 11 points, and Dee Roberson added 10.

In all, 10 different players scored Tuesday night and everyone produced beyond just points.

Tre White led Midland Valley (4-7, 2-5) with 11 points, TJ McElmurray had eight and AJ Mainer scored seven.

The teams were tied at 11 after one quarter, but Aiken opened the second on a 19-0 run and led 35-13 at the half. The lead expanded from there, with the Hornets splashing five 3-pointers in the third and growing their lead to 64-29 heading into the final 8 minutes.

After some initial offensive sluggishness, Aiken earned itself high-percentage look after high-percentage look by making the extra pass to find a wide-open teammate. Jackson said the Hornets' assist numbers have grown throughout region play as they've gotten more comfortable with their own roles and each other.

They are at a size disadvantage some nights, but Jackson is pleased by how everyone plays his respective role. In some cases that means players who didn't have to score last year are being asked to now. Over the course of the season, he's seen more players making shots, finishing plays and trusting that they'll get the ball if they're open.

That's produced five consecutive wins by an average of nearly 24 points and a region championship, and the Hornets will look to keep riding that wave into the postseason — Aiken opens the playoffs at home next Tuesday against the Region 7-AAAA runner-up.

"We're going to go back tomorrow and have a dogfight practice, and we'll come out and play again Thursday," Jackson said. "We're trying to build toward next week the best we can. We're not overlooking anybody, but we want to keep getting better each time out."