Golden Eagles meet high expectations, rout Escambia County in Class 4A title game to win first ever boys basketball state championship
By Al Muskewitz
BIRMINGHAM – The state championship that was ordained that day in June a certain 6-foot-9 junior arrived from Gadsden came home to roost Friday.
Jacksonville, heavy favorites all season to win the state title, built an 18-point halftime lead and then crushed Escambia County in the second half to take an 85-49 victory in the Class 4A state title game Friday for its first boys basketball state title in school history.
The Golden Eagles (28-5), whose first-year head coach Shane Morrow managed a lineup stocked with young and returnable talent, weren’t fazed by the slower pace the taller Blue Devils (27-5) wanted to play.
When Jacksonville revved up to the pace it wanted to play, the Blue Devils didn’t stand a chance. The Golden Eagles had pushed the lead to 40 and at one point was on pace to set the record for widest margin of victory in the 4A state title game (41, set by Hayes in a 78-37 win over Anniston in 1974).
“Phew, I just want to sigh,” Morrow said. “Because, look, when I got this job I can’t tell you how many times I heard, ‘You gotta win it, you gotta win it, you gotta win it.’ They talk about the expectations that were placed on these 17-year-olds and I’m going to tell you they embraced them, they worked at it, and that’s one of the first things we talked about Day One.
“It’s one thing to have the talent to win it, it’s another thing to do what it takes to get there and these guys embraced it, we got after it every day since October 18 and I’m just proud for every one 1 through 14 … Give them a lot of credit, but this was our day today and I’m proud of them.”
Cade Phillips, the 6-9 transfer from Westbrook Christian who was Jacksonville’s final piece to the championship puzzle, was tournament MVP. He had 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, nine rebounds and four blocked shots in the championship game. He had 29 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocked shots in the Final Four. He finished the season with 108 blocked shots.
“We felt like we had a mismatch at a lot of positions and it just so happened I had the hot hand and shots were falling; the rim was being generous to me,” Phillips said. “When you’re getting moments like that on this stage (Morrow) always says eventually players have to take over. Us guys up here, every single one of us, can take it over and it just so happened it was my first half, really.”
John Broom, one of Phillips’ closest basketball friends and a big reason the post landed here, and Caden Johnson also made the all-tournament team. Broom had 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and nine rebounds in the championship game. Johnson had 15.
Of course, the start of the Golden Eagles’ run to the lead coincided with the insertion of freshman Devin Barksdale into the game. Barksdale was credited with providing the energy when he entered the semifinal game against St. James with his team behind 7-0 and he played the same role Friday night.
The game was tied 5-5 when Barksdale came into the game. He made a steal as soon as he got in that Johnson turned into a dunk and the Golden Eagles promptly scored nine straight points and were never headed.
They opened the second quarter with a 14-2 run that included a Barksdale 3 on the way to their 31-13 halftime lead. Barksdale finished the game with 11 points, three 3-pointers, three steals and three assists.
“I always knew as my role that I would have to be the spark plug off the bench and I tried my hardest to play my role harder than everyone else on the court,” Barksdale said. “My teammates hype me up and we just take off from there.”
One of the subplots of the game was how well Phillips would handle Escambia County’s 6-7 and 6-8 twin towers, Stephen and Sheldon Williams.
The brothers had a combined two points and six rebounds at halftime while their team shot 6-of-26 from the floor. Sheldon finished with 14 points and four rebounds, while Stephen had six and six before fouling out.
Shortly after winning the title, the Golden Eagles headed back to Jacksonville where they planned to cut down the nets in their own gym later that evening.
And then start hearing all the expectations about a repeat in 2023. After all, they graduate one starter (Julian Hill) and Barksdale is expected to slide into that spot.
“We knew the expectations coming in were high and we were happy they were high because we wanted to prove to everybody that we were those guys, and I think we did today,” Broom said. “We just proved to the whole state that we’re really legit.”
CLASS 4A FINAL FOUR
Boys championship
Jacksonville 85, Escambia County 49
ESCAMBIA COUNTY (27-5) – Hakeem Johnson 3-7 0-0 6, Stephen Williams 2-6 2-2 6, Sheldon Williams 7-17 0-4 14, Connor McPherson 5-9 1-2 11, Jacob Dirden 1-6 0-0 3, Anthony McCants 1-3 0-0 2, Terrene McNeil 0-2 0-0 0, Lamarkis Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Lacarlos Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Kaiden Arnold 3-4 1-1 7. Totals 22-55 4-9 49.
JACKSONVILLE (28-5) – Cam Johnson 2-6 0-0 4, Caden Johnson 5-10 3-3 15, John Broom 9-14 3-3 21, Cade Phillips 7-15 5-10 19, Julian Hill 0-2 0-0 0, JaeTaj Morris 0-2 0-0 0, Devin Barksdale 4-8 0-0 11, Hayden Robinson 1-1 0-0 2, Jacoby Zachery 0-0 0-0 0, Monte Sinclair 0-0 0-0 0, Quin Long 3-4 0-0 7, Kydric Fisher 1-3 0-0 2, Jaliek Long 2-3 0-0 4, Ethan Duke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-68 11-16 85.
Escambia Co. 7 6 18 18 – 49
Jacksonville 14 17 34 20 – 85
3-point goals: Escambia Co. 1-10 (H. Johnson 0-1, Sh. Williams 0-2, Dirden 1-4, McCants 0-1, McNeil 0-1, L. Johnson 0-1); Jacksonville 6-17 (Cm. Johnson 0-2, Cd. Johnson 2-4, Broom 0-1, Phillips 0-1, Hill 0-1, Barksdale 3-6, Q. Long 1-1, Fisher 0-1). Rebounds: Escambia Co. 30 (St. Williams 6, McPherson 6); Jacksonville 42 (Broom 9, Phillips 9). Fouled out: St. Williams. Total fouls: Escambia Co. 14, Jacksonville 12. [*** read more]
