By Adam MacDonald
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA — Tonight’s Winnersville Classic basketball game means something different for both the Lowndes Vikings and Valdosta Wildcats.
On one side, there are the Vikings, a team that is looking to prove they belong with Region 1-AAAAA’s Big Three: Valdosta, Tift County and Coffee.
Then there are the Wildcats, a team looking to remain on their perch as the No. 1 team in the region.
Both teams seem headed in opposite directions. The Vikings (12-7, 4-4) have lost three consecutive region games to fall out of a tie for first place, while the ’Cats (15-2, 8-1) keep winning, and have emerged as the region favorites for the second year in a row.
But tonight’s game, played on Lowndes’ home court, has the power to reverse fortunes. The Vikings have been on the verge of getting a signature win. Two weeks ago, they closed to within seven points of Coffee’s lead late in the fourth quarter, before losing by 18. Then they fell in overtime to Tift County last Saturday. In between those two games, they lost to Warner Robins by two.
The talent is there for Lowndes. Robert Powell is capable of scoring 25 points every night, and if guards Brian Wright or LaVonta Jones get hot, they can win a game by themselves. The same goes for Justin Mayfield.
With road games at Coffee and Valdosta remaining on the Vikings’ schedule, tonight might be the last best chance the Vikings have to break through.
Valdosta, on the other hand, isn’t trying to reverse its fortunes. The ’Cats have been the region’s gold standard, going 21-2 in regular season region games over the last two seasons. That includes two blowout wins over the Vikings last season. They also won a non-region game over Lowndes in the Charles Cooper Classic in December, 111-97.
What’s been most impressive for the ’Cats is how they have continued to win after losing so many players from last season. They still have the region’s best player, Jay Rome, but they had to replace four starters and all of their key backups from last year’s Elite Eight team.
Valdosta head coach Rufus McDuffie has found a way to coach a new core group of players like Will Ferrell, Carlos Beverly and Wesley Bee into winners.
With a win over the Vikings, the ’Cats would remain in first place in the region at 9-1, with four region games left. They would creep closer to finishing at least in second place in the region, meaning they would be guaranteed a spot in the state playoffs, regardless of what happens in the region tournament.
The Vikings and Wildcats head into tonight’s game as two different teams with two different reasons to win. However, they share one goal: they both want to win.
