Ending the season at the Coliseum in a championship game used to be normal for Southwest, but it’s been a long time, and an upstart is in the way of finally doing it again
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
As with any head coach preparing for a state championship, Monquencio Hardnett has had many challenges all week.
Combining humility with confidence from his team. Studying scouting reports, consulting other coaches, implementing a game plan that doesn’t inspire confusion among his players, keeping them rested, and focused but relaxed.
Getting through a full week from a semifinal win to a state championship date. And getting a fairly hefty amount of reminders that it’s been a long, long time since Southwest has been near here, let alone actually here.
The state championship game. In Macon.
“My uncles were in it, and my dad talks about it a lot,” said Hardnett, a Central grad. “I’ve learned more since I’ve been at Southwest, with the banners in my face, and the names.”
Plus, the name on the court at Southwest remains a familiar one to area and state high school basketball veterans. “Duck’s Court” is named after Don “Duck” Richardson, who put Southwest on the basketball map, a place from which the program faded not long after he moved on in the early 1990s.
Southwest had a great period of basketball for two decades, no question, but it dropped pretty hard after that last state championship in 1989.
Now, though, Southwest gets a chance to get back on the map Saturday at 1 p.m. when it takes on B.E.S.T. Academy in the GHSA Class A/Division I state championship.
History is one thing. Southwest has made some history.
Tradition? Not so much.
The Patriots have gone through a slew of head coaches since that title. None has done much of anything, nor stayed long enough to establish any stability or consistency.
B.E.S.T. Eagles, 24-7 Southwest, 27-2
Xion Evans,6-0, So. G Chase Dupree, 6-3, Jr.
Nicholas Dozier,6-2, Sr. G C.J. Howard, 5-10, jr.
Jacob Mickell, 6-3, Sr. W Brandon Ashley, 6-0, Sr
Joshua Mickell, 6-3, Sr. G Montese Green, 6-2, Jr.
Alexander Barrett, 6-7, Jr. F Rinaldo Callaway, 6-5, Jr.
Last loss: Feb. 13, 71-65, St. Francis/Jan. 17, 39-37, Bleckley County
Top scorer: Jacob Mickell, 18.1 ppg / Dupree, 20.3 ppg
Top rebounder: Barrett, 6.9 rpg / Dupree, 6.7 rpg
Top assists: Dozier, 4.0 / Howard, 4.8
Common opponents
East Laurens: B.E.S.T won 75-58 (playoffs); Southwest won 76-71,59-52
Bleckley County: B.E.S.T. won 58-51 (playoffs): Southwest lost 39-37, won 62-36
Scoring offense: B.E.S.T. 68 ppg, Southwest 67.1 ppg
Scoring defense: B.E.S.T 56.5 ppg, Southwest 52 ppg
While Southwest languished in mediocrity with, well, most of the rest of the county, Hardnett was part of the only public high school program in Bibb County that had much of anything to brag about on a consistent basis.
He spent seven years on the Westside staff of Josh Grube, who in February passed the 300-win mark with the Seminoles.
That's likely not too much less than the other five public school programs had combined in the same span. Central reached a Final Four in 2020, but that was countered by Howard’s 0-42 stretch. Northeast got to the semis in 2022. Rutland made some playoff runs, including to the 2015 semifinals, followed the years later by Westside.
This is rare air not just for the Patriots, but for the county, which had a girl’s runner-up in 2020 (Southwest), and a state champ back in 2002 (Northeast).
Alvin Copeland was the last Bibb County public school coach to walk off the Coliseum floor with a trophy. The longtime Northeast girls basketball and track coach won multiple titles in both sports during his 41 years at the school, and he’s a little surprised it’s taken so long for the county to represent again.
He was part of that golden era of Bibb County basketball, when Northeast and Southwest regularly played in the Coliseum, which all but filled up for the girls games. Copeland and Richardson battled on the junior high level in basketball and football before each got the jobs they so excelled at.
Southwest had Northeast’s number on the boys side, and Northeast had Southwest’s number on the girls side. He didn’t think it would take so long for a local boys’ team to get this far.
“It does surprise me in several ways,” he said. “I don’t think our kids are putting in the worked that they need in order to be successful.”
Copeland spent 41 years at Northeast, but he’s a Bibb County guy and a basketball guy.
“Oh yeah, I’m pulling for Southwest,” he said. “I’d love ‘em to win. Somebody needs to win here.”
For several years, Copeland has been a Coliseum mainstay for championship week working at the team check-in gate, and will be in that spot again Saturday.
The trip is the second part of a rare statewide statement by a Bibb County public-school team. Northeast reached the Class A/Division I state football championship game in December, falling to Toombs Academy, with Copeland on hand.
Hardnett is a Central grad who went from Middle Georgia College, then a junior college, to Connecticut. He enjoyed success at both places before embarking on a minor-league basketball career, and then getting into coaching.
The Patriots were 3-9 in 2020-21 under Darrin Clark. On came Hardnett, who went 13-10 and 11-16, a two-year mark of 24-26 that was a notable improvement over the preceding decade.
Then came a huge rarity: a 20-win season, setting the table for 2024-25, this sterling 27-2 record Southwest takes into Saturday’s state championship game.
A chunk of Southwest’s fan base – like most – don’t realize, perhaps by choice for some, that the Patriots have been, well, often pretty bad since those days. According to the Georgia High School Basketball Project, Southwest has made the state playoffs only 13 times since that 1988-89 championship.
The Patriots, the site indicates, went from 2003-2015 with no state postseason. The key word in “Southwest’s past” is indeed, past. But they’ve had some nearby company in those struggles.
Knowing the struggles that precede success is one reason why Hardnett was cool with his team cutting down the nets at home after simply a quarterfinal win. There haven’t been many of those to witness.
Enjoy the taste, Hardnett believes, of success as often as possible.
“I want them to get their flowers,” the 48-year-old said. “I want them to do as many interviews as they can. I want to highlight it and spotlight it. They've earned it.
“We were fine for them to cut down the nets. I’m OK with that, because the smiles on their faces and the way they celebrated, it was just a big thing.”
Which will pale in comparison to the smiles of those in uniform and the few thousand likely to be on hand Saturday, who were on hand in 1989, and the many other trips to this stage. Emotions may be stronger for those who lived through those glory days if they’re able to experience it again.
But this is about 2025, and, for example, the younger Dupree on this team, not the old man on the 1989 roster. Joseph Dupree was No. 14 on that team, and the son of Southwest’s head football coach and athletics director wears No. 0.
“He's trying to put not much pressure on me,” the junior guard said. “We don’t talk about it much, but he’s been telling me just to keep my composure and stay calm.”
Dad hasn’t offered any basketball lessons to Son in awhile.
“Nah, he can’t,” Son said with a growing smile. “I played him like two years ago, and I beat him, I skunked him. He ain’t picked it up since. He went upstairs.”
Hardnett bears no resemblance to the man for whom Southwest’s court is named, Duck Richardson. He’s not a splashy dresser. He doesn’t smoke during games. The pregame warmup doesn’t stop people in the aisles. While personable, he’s not quite as, oh, colorful as Richardson was.
There are no stars, as of now, on this team similar to the long list of old-time Patriots that people still remember clearly from 46 years ago – when Southwest went undefeated and was “crowned” a mythical national champion by Basketball Weekly and something called The National Sports news Service – or 50 years ago – when Southwest won its second state championship – or 35 years ago, the last state title and visit to the finale.
Hardnett has had to mix pointing out what Southwest did a long time ago and how that’s led to a level of expectation – which hasn’t much been reached in 30 years – to ignoring that and focusing on the present.
“We don't really talk about it, but I do want the guys to know what came before them, what allows them to do what they're doing,” Hardnett said. “Know what kind of history they're playing.”
Hardnett has had some former Patriots visit with the team to share that history and how it came about. It was only six years ago that the undefeated team was feted at the Coliseum by the GHSA during state championship week, the 40-year anniversary of that legendary team.
Southwest finished 4-19 that season.
Long-time Patriots fans on hand Saturday will no doubt see and feel ghosts from the past, starting with Richardson, his long line of assistants, and all those players. They’ll compare somebody from 2025 to somebody from 1975, fair or not.
But 2025 has nothing to do with 1975, or 1989¸ except in the desire to repeat the final-game result.
Indeed, some may be so amped with Southwest in the championship game, they’ll forget it actually has to be played.
The contrasts are many.
Southwest first began playing basketball in 1970. B.E.S.T. Academy opened its doors barely a decade ago.
Back in those first years, Southwest’s enrollment – the result of consolidation of Willingham (boys only), McEvoy (girls only), and Ballard-Hudson (predominantly black) –was huge, reportedly the largest high school in the nation with more than 4,000 students.
B.E.S.T. – which stands for Business, E, Science, Technology - was still decades away from forming.
When the two meet Saturday at 1 p.m. in the GHSA Class A/Division I boys state championship game at the Macon Coliseum, those early days for both are lifetimes ago.
Southwest currently has about 800 students in grades 9-12, maybe 20 percent of the figure five decades ago. B.E.S.T. has almost 150 students, almost 20 percent of the current Southwest tally.
But only five can be on the court at one time, and neither program has been anywhere near this stage, ever for B.E.S.T and, well, not since the last century for Southwest.
B.E.S.T. cares not a lick about 36 or 50 years ago, and Southwest players can’t relate to 36 or 50 years ago, so Saturday is about Saturday, and 2025.
A STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) school, B.E.S.T. stands for business, engineering, science, and technology. Head coach Brian Weeden said the school – located inside the perimeter west of downtown Atlanta - has a 100-percent graduation rate.
Brains no doubt helped the Eagles get off to the best start in program history. And the best record in school history, longest winning streak in school history, and first playoff run of more than one win.
It’s all quite unexpected for a team that in the last five seasons – under five different coaches -won 9, 14, 4, 2, and 2, a total of 31 wins, only seven more than this year.
The Eagles have three 1,000-point scorers: Joshua and Jacob Mickell and Nicholas Dozier. But contributions have been spread out.
“Xion Evans has really improved his game and shot-making ability,” Weeden said. “Jacob and Joshua Mickell have both developed and (are) getting a better feel of what we are doing on the floor.
“Nicholas Dozier has improved his shooting and mid range, and Alexander Barrett has improved tremendously, (this) being his first year with varsity experience. He’s had almost a double double the last 2 road trips.”
There’s some size, with 6-7 Barrett, the Mickells both going 6-3.
Despite the youth of the program and playoff inexperience, Weeden thinks his group is ready for what awaits them.
“We’ve been on the road to hostile environments since the second week of the state tournament,” he said, nodding to wins at second-seeded Rabun County and 10th-seed Fannin County before beating East Laurens at Georga College. “And here we are again, traveling into the hometown favorite team (home) and knowing it’s going to be packed and hostile.”
Southwest has a depth advantage, but B.E.S.T. may have more balance, with four players in double figures to three for Southwest. They’re even in 3-point accuracy, Southwest rebounds slightly better and is a bit sharper at the free-throw line.
“I always tell people (that) guard play wins championships,” Hardnett said. “And in this game, it’s going to be at a premium. They have three quality guards, we have three quality guards.”
But …
“The game will probably be won by so-called non-stat guys that do the hustle plays and things like that,” Hardnett said. “They’ll be the difference because the guards can offset each other.
“It’s going to be an interesting chess match between me and their coach.”
The coaches hope that the stage – for different reasons – isn’t too big for their team.
“I do want the guys to know what came before them, what allows them to do what they’re doing, what kind of history they’re playing for,” Hardnett said. “But we can’t play based off that. We’ve just got to play (like) who we are now, which is a very talented basketball team, is very well-coached.
“We’ll go out and we’ll lay it on the line Saturday afternoon.”
Just like the old days.