Jacksonville, AL – Senior makes it three Jacksonville players to break the five-figure barrier in scoring as Golden Eagles top Handley to reach Northeast Regional
By Joe Medley
Cam Johnson has been one of Jacksonville’s big-three mainstays through three head coaches, the school’s first-ever state championship in boys’ basketball and the Golden Eagles’ on-going title defense. Tuesday, he joined the other two in the thousand-points club. Johnson poured in 28 points, crossing 1,000 career points along the way, as Jacksonville rolled past Handley 84-45 in their Class 4A, Northeast subregional.
The Golden Eagles advanced to their 10th Northeast Regional appearance and will play Hanceville in Saturday’s 10:30 a.m. Class 4A regional semifinal. The winner will play the White Plains-Etowah winner in the regional final on Feb. 22 at 2:15 p.m. in Pete Mathews Coliseum. Tuesday’s subregional marked the final game in Van Deerman Gymnasium for the senior class, which includes Johnson, twin brother Caden Johnson, John Broom, Ethan Duke and Dee Prothro.
Cam Johnson got one last curtain call, joining Jacksonville coach Tres Buzan at midcourt for the presentation of Johnson’s 1,000-point ball. “It feels great to have my thousand, and it feels great to win,” Johnson said. He scored 20 first-half points to get within two points of the thousand-point mark. He scored the bucket on a breakaway layup at 2:20 of the third quarter, off of an assist from his brother. “I got the rebound, and I saw him down the court and passed it to him,” Caden Johnson said. Caden Johnson, who passed 1,000 points earlier this season, admits he’s teased his brother a time or two about getting to 1,000 points first. The twins and Broom have been part of the trio that’s starred for Jacksonville going back to recreation-league ball. Center Cade Phillips came and went, transferring in from Westbrook Christian before the 2021-22 season then out, to Link Academy, in Branson, Mo., after helping Jacksonville win a state title.
After Tuesday’s game, Broom led the group with 1,714 career points. Caden Johnson is second at 1,267, followed by Cam Johnson at 1,006. Cam Johnson padded his total with two 3-pointers after making his thousand-point bucket. He hit six threes on the night out of 11 total field goals. “It was just shooting and believing in myself,” he said. “A couple of nights I’ve been off. I just went in the gym lately and worked on my shot.” Buzan didn’t seen any particular magic in Johnson’s matchup that helped him have such a big night, call it “just his night.” “I’m so proud of Cam,” Buzan said. “I know it’s been on his mind, and he’s been close. He hit a lot of big shots in the first half. “That’s what you want to see this time of year. Everybody in the locker room is happy for him. The guys are picking him up. They’re all proud of him.” [read more…]
