On paper, it should have been an easy win for the Houston County Bears. Houston and the Coffee Trojans had played each other twice during the regular season and the Bears had won both games – by fairly large margins.
Houston beat Coffee 76-60 on January 16 at the Trojans’ home gym. About three weeks later, on February 6, the Bears hosted the Trojans in Warner Robins. They weren’t very gracious hosts and sent Coffee back home with an 85-64 loss.
But their third and final match-up was the region tournament and Coffee was playing again on their home court. The game began with an early statement from Houston. After the first quarter, the Bears had a 16-10 lead. Led by 6’5” freshman phenom Xavien Littleton, the Trojans fought back and carried a 29-28 lead into halftime. In the second half, Coffee had an answer for everything Houston threw at them; after three, the Trojans had extended their lead to 45-42.
It wasn’t much but the Bears were headed into the final period playing from behind.
The fourth quarter was more of the same. Houston threw proverbial haymaker after haymaker. Coffee fended off every attack and managed to stay ahead most of the period. As the clock ticked down to less than a minute, the Trojans were still ahead and the improbable looked more and more like a reality.
Then, with Coffee leading 53-51, the Bears’ Malik Gillespie, later named Region Player of the Year, tied the game with an easy bucket. Neither team scored as the clock ran down. A scramble under Coffee’s goal got out of bounds with 0.2 seconds left. The Trojans had the ball and one more opportunity to win. Freshman Markell Jordan took the ball from the referee and looked for an open man. He found fellow freshman Timothy Stone in the corner in front of Coffee’s bench. Stone had an open look and launched the ball toward the basket. It looked good. It had a chance. For a moment, it looked like the Trojans had accomplished the impossible.
But it wasn’t meant to be. The ball just missed its mark and ricocheted away with no time left on the clock. The teams were headed for overtime.
In the extra period, the Bears did what they had been trying to do all game. Finally, with another four minutes to play, they showed the dominance they had displayed all season long. They held Coffee to just one point – a free throw by Littleton – while pouring in 11. The Bears defeated the Trojans 64-54 for the region title.
Littleton scored 24 points while Khyolic Paulk scored 15. Markell Jordan contributed seven.
Following the game, the postseason awards were announced. Littleton was named Newcomer of the Year. Khyolic Paulk (senior) and Jeremiah Bazell (senior) were named First Team All Region. Second Team All Region honors went to Andre Scruggs (freshman) and Mark Griffin (senior). Darius Curtis (junior) was named All Region Honorable Mention.
The Trojans finished the regular season with an 18-10 overall record and a 5-5 region record. Their season isn’t over yet — Coffee is in the state tournament and will host a home playoff game later this month.
