Region Title top priority for Boys Basketball Team
By TODD FORREST Sentinel Writer

Since 2000 the Union County Boys Basketball Team have been to state four times, won the sub-region four times, won twenty games three times, and finished as Region runnerup twice. However the one piece of hardware missing from the trophy case, during this decade, is a Region Championship. However this is the year that Coach Tim Hunter and his senior led team, look to change all of that. They are also looking to put an end to a string of four consecutive seasons without a post-season victory, despite averaging eighteen wins a season over that same time span.

The Panthers return quite possibly, the best one-two punch in the Region in senior forwards Michael Ross (6-4) and Austin Collins (6-3). Ross is the reigning Sub-Region MVP and Collins was named to the All Sub-Region Team last year. Ross is on pace to score his 1000th career point before the end of December after averaging fifteen points a game over the past two seasons. Ross will join Jack Lance and Michael Adams as the only Panthers to score 1000 career points during the past ten seasons. "Both of them were such great players it would be a honor to be in the same category with them," said Ross on reaching that milestone. Ross is looking to increase his scoring average this season with the loss of last season's leading scorer, Corey Garrett (16 points per game) to graduation. Ross is also the Panthers top returning rebounder at five boards a game. He was also second on the team with two assists per game. This season Ross is hoping to become more than just a scorer and looks to bring a Region Title back to Blairsville for the first time since 1981. "As a team I want to win subregion and region, and finally get back to state. Individually, I would like to improve in all aspects of my game and become a more well-rounded player," said Ross.

If Ross is the top scoring threat in 8AA, then Austin Collins could be the most wellrounded player in the Region. Collins is the Panther's toughest defender as well as a consistent twelve to fifteen points per game scorer. Like Ross, Collins is one of the most feared outside shooters in all of North Georgia but Collins has the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket, create his own shot, and shutdown the opponents leading scorer on a consistent basis. Collins will benefit from sitting out the football season to focus on basketball. After a slow start last season, Collins averaged over fourteen points a game during the second half of the season. He also averaged four rebounds and led the team with nearly three assists a game.

The Panthers also return senior guards Cody Adams, Ryan Burks, and Matthew McCombs. Burks and McCombs appear to be the front-runners to take over the point guard duties. Both of them saw significant minutes last season, backing up senior point guard, Colton Payne. Adams averaged four points a game last season off the bench and like Collins, was one of the team's top defenders. Over the past two seasons, Adams has been used mostly for defense and his hard-nosed playing style but this year, he will be relied upon to provide some offensive production as well. Sophomore guard Kolt Owenby will also join the Panther backcourt after football season finishes up on Friday.

The biggest question mark surrounding the Panthers will be the lack of any experience in the frontcourt. The Panthers lost a combined 36 points per game with Garrett, Taylor Neely, Caleb Kelley, Matt Schmidt, and Kody Owenby graduating and leaving Coach Hunter a huge void in the paint. "Even though we don't have the size we did last year, overall, we had a successful summer as our posts and wings are good defenders and rebounders. They just have to work harder at boxing out and keeping position to get rebounds. But knowing that can help make them more successful because they know they have to focus on being more sound on defense and in rebounding," said Coach Hunter.

Union County will rely mostly on underclassmen to take over in the Panther frontcourt. Sophomores Blake Gowder and Clay McConnell will join the Panther basketball team as soon as football ends this Friday. "Gowder (and McConnell) are currently finishing up football and will report to the team at the completion of the season. We have several basketball players taking part in football this year which I am proud of and I encourage as I want my guys to take part in as many sports as they can," said Coach Hunter.

However, the greatest source of motivation for this group of seniors will come from Coach Tim Hunter. This will be the first season since this group was in middle school that they haven't had to undergo an off-season coaching change. When asked how much it has helped not having to change coaches Ross said, "It has helped a ton! It will be great to finally have the same system and philosophy to return to. Not having to learn a entirely new system will help out tremendously, plus playing with the same group of guys since Rec. ball will also be beneficial to our success."

Having a year of head coaching experience under his belt has also helped Coach Hunter. "It has made me a more experienced coach. I don't think it necessarily makes you any better or worse it just helps having the knowledge of going through a season. As with anything else, you will always be evolving as a coach and you have to learn to adapt to each situation," said Hunter.

The non-region schedule will be slightly tougher this season with Lumpkin County and Lakeview Academy taking the place of Copper Basin TN and Murphy NC. East Jackson will join the sub-region as a new school but the rest of the subregion remains the same. Coach Hunter is hoping that some stiffer competition during the regular season will make us a stronger team going into the Region Playoffs. "We tried to make the schedule more competitive and to help prepare us more for the playoffs. East Jackson is a new team in the sub-region and is a new school so they are a wild-card of sorts. This year we focused on picking up some good rivalry games with teams in Georgia that are in other classifications."

Union County's sub-region schedule will not get any easier. Just like last season, the winner of the sub-region during the regular season gets an automatic berth in the state playoffs. Last season the Panthers came in second place after falling to Dawson County in the final home game of the year. Union, Dawson, as well as Fannin County should all contend for the sub-region title. Dawson graduated it's top two scorers but still return some great shooters as well as some size. Fannin returns almost all of it's big men from a team that finished third in the sub-region. Banks County and Rabun County will be improved from last season and Rabun finished strong with an upset of Fannin County in the Region Tournament. East Jackson is a new school and will have a young team and have nowhere to go but up. "Every game in the sub-region has extreme importance so I'm not going to overlook Rabun and Banks. Both Dawson and Fannin will be tough this year. I think we will match up better with Dawson this year as our team is much quicker as a whole and we are able to apply more pressure on the perimeter. However, they will be a very tough opponent and those games are always a battle. You can count on Fannin to pound the ball inside this year as their front line is very strong. We will definitely have to spread the floor and try to negate their size by forcing them to have to step out to defend us. That could be a problem for them as it was for us last year when we matched up against Dawson. I think Banks will be a much improved team this year and we have to focus on them first as they are our opening sub-region game. Rabun will always play hard and I think they improved exponentially close to the end of the season last year. Basically, every sub-region game is going to be a handful. And as always with rivalry games, you had better bring you're a-game or anyone in the sub-region can beat you on any given night," said Coach Hunter.

This season the Panthers are hoping to rebound from last season's first round upset at the hands of Greene County and return to state for the first time since 2002-03. In order for the Panther's to have a successful post-season, Coach Hunter is hoping that his team can peak late in the season. "That comes from the dynamic of the team. Our kids played really hard last year and had a lot of success. The only thing that we can really do is put an even greater emphasis on the sub-region and the region tournament which we had done already. We will just keep practicing and playing hard and everything else will take care of itself." When asked what the Panthers must do to prevent an early exit during the post-season, Ross replied, "having a more experienced team will help out a lot but if we improve our defense, rebounding, and decision making I believe we will have a great chance for success."

Coach Hunter has been impressed with his team's work ethic and the leadership of the upperclassmen. He is also confident that the Union County Basketball Program will continue to improve from the 9th grade level up to the Varsity squad. "To be honest, they exceed them (his expectations) every day. I have been so proud of our upperclassmen both this summer and now during conditioning. Our older guys have been great leaders both by example and verbally. When your best players are also your hardest workers then you have a chance to have a special team. While this team is talented, it is their work ethic, belief in our team, and their dedication, which ultimately makes the difference. As a whole, our team has put in a lot of time in the off season and I think that virtually all of them are much better top to bottom. We have had a lot of sophomores see serious varsity time this summer and we even took one freshman with us to varsity camp. There will be a lot of guys competing for varsity spots and I think we will also field a strong JV squad this season.