STEENS — Sometimes you need a pick-me-up.
Coaches have a variety of methods they can turn to to find a spark for their teams. A popular, yet dreaded, technique is scheduling practices or training early in the morning so teams can get a lot of things accomplished.
Dorian Brewer and Dawson Shaw weren’t accustomed to practicing at 6 a.m. before the start of a school day. On many mornings, the Columbus Christian Academy juniors were still in bed at that hour. If they were up, they likely hadn’t rubbed the sleep from their eyes, let alone run laps or shot free throws.
But after a few months of early morning workouts — even a few two-a-day practices — Brewer and Shaw have learned how to function without a pick-me-up at their morning sessions. As a result, Brewer, Shaw, and the rest of the Columbus Christian boys basketball team is reaping the rewards.
On Saturday, Shaw had 11 points and Brewer added nine in a 53-37 victory against Oak Hill Academy in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA North State tournament at Winona Christian. Brewer and Shaw joined Jaborris Frazier and Kimarri Whitfield on the all-tournament team.
“We came out playing real good defense,” Shaw said. “We all knew coming into the game it was going to be a tough one. We all stepped up our game in some way.”
For their accomplishments, Brewer and Shaw are The Dispatch’s Prep Players of the Week.
Shaw had 42 points, while Brewer had 31 to lead Columbus Christian to the championship. The victory helped the Rams (25-7) even the season series against the Raiders at 2-2. The teams have a chance to meet again later this week at the Class AA State tournament at Canton Academy. Columbus Christian will play the winner of the Clinton Christian Academy-Sylva Bay Academy game at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, while Oak Hill Academy will play the winner of the Union Christian Academy-Canton Academy game at 7:45 p.m. Thursday. The top three teams in the tournament will advance to the MAIS overall tournament.
Shaw hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to spark the Rams. He said the shot was several feet behind the 3-point line and he wondered if coach Greg Watkins was going to be mad that he attempted the shot. Fortunately, he made the shot to push the Rams to the victory.
“We have learned to play together and to keep our head on straight and play team ball,” Shaw said. “When we play team ball, we do real good.”
Brewer said the 6 a.m. practices have improved the team’s focus. A transfer from Columbus High School, Brewer a 6-foot-1 guard/forward, played with four fouls for most of the fourth quarter against Oak Hill Academy. He said the Rams have learned the sum of their parts is better than one player taking all of the credit. He said it took time for the players to embrace that notion, but he said the chemistry has taken over. He and Shaw didn’t hesitate to say the 6 a.m. practices helped everything click.
“As we became a better team, the discipline area wasn’t as bad as it was early in the season,” Brewer said. “You still walk in at 6 a.m. and think, ‘What is wrong with coach? We are winning. But you still have to get your work in.”
Columbus Christian won the Class A North Central tournament last season. Led by senior KC Cunningham and junior Alec Vasquez, the Rams won 25 games going into the Class A State tournament. Watkins said this year’s team has some of the same pieces from last season, but different players have assumed bigger roles. The Rams also have played a tougher non-district schedule to prepare themselves for the stretch run.
Watkins said Columbus Christian also has learned how to play better defense. Traditionally a team that relies on its pressure defense, Watkins said Columbus Christian relied on its zone defense Saturday against Oak Hill Academy. As a result, the Rams outscored the Raiders 25-5 in the final eight minutes to capture the championship.
“The guys have matured as the year went on, and we haven’t quite had to rely on what we did in the past,” said Watkins, who added the Rams will play man-to-man defense if the personnel warrants it. “We saw some mistakes we made on both ends of the court and tried to correct those. Saturday night things just happened to work just right for our guys and they executed defensively perfectly.”
Watkins said the Rams have won three regional titles and a district title in the last few years, so the players are used to winning and being in big games. He credits Shaw and Brewer for helping the team to come together and to give it a good shot to win some more hardware this week.
Watkins admits this year’s team might be ahead of schedule because he figured the 2016-17 squad would have a great chance to compete for even bigger championships. He said the chemistry has clicked to put the team in position to climb to an even higher level.
“You can’t concentrate on one guy, and we have got some guys you have to concentrate on,” Watkins said. “When you concentrate on those guys, we have somebody else coming in there and picking up. In our first year, our motto was from Corinthians: Many parts, one body. That has kind of carried on with these groups as they have gotten older. We know it is not one part that is going to carry us. It is going to be everybody.”
Watkins said Shaw, sophomore RJ Deloach, and Brewer alternate at point guard. Watkins admits Brewer is more of a two-guard or a small forward, but he said Brewer has adapted to a different role. He said Brewer also is versatile enough to be a chaser, or someone who guards the other team’s best player. He said senior Zack Wright can give Brewer a break in that role when needed. Aaron Meek is the only other senior on the team.
Shaw, Brewer, DeKameron Mitchell, Jayden Bennett, Frazier, Nick Mayo, Whitfield, and Andrew Sparks are part of a deep junior class. Kelvin Mitchell, Elijah Carlstrom, Nate Parker, and Stephen Russell are sophomores.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
