This article seeks to recapture the journey of the 1996 State Basketball Championship. That journey would take them on a trip from Augusta to Savannah, a national tournament in Florida, locally to Vidalia, defeating their demon Dodge County, and finally end up in the Macon Coliseum
Before the 1995-96 basketball season, neither the Swainsboro boys nor girls had won a state championship. There had been several outstanding teams, but the championship had evaded us. The 1994-95 boys and 1975 girl’s teams came close but finished as runner-up.
The 1995-96 boys’ team was one of the most complete rosters in Swainsboro history. They had size and athleticism. They had stars in Sergio Washington and Randy Hughes. They had steady, consistent players who could have been stars on other teams. Michael Richards, Darrell Archie, Mark Wise, Tim Fields, Ronnie Thomas, Shannon Carswell, and Juan Brown. Zeb Givens, Nathaniel Johnson, and Dedrick Doyle all contributed to the team's success. They had one of the purest shooters with one of the smoothest jump shots in Alverso Cook. They had a blooming star in sophomore Dwayne Foots. They had coaches who had been there before, in Leroy Jordan, Isaac Bright, and Dewayne Davis.
Swainsboro had everything needed for a championship team, but it would not be easy. In addition to all the obvious qualities, Swainsboro had the most important intangibles of a championship team. They had leadership and a strong desire not to lose, but a will to do whatever it took to win.
The season began in December 1995. Some say the pursuit of the championship began after the loss in the finals the previous year, but I believe it started long before. It started in the recreation league and the parks of Swainsboro. It started with hearing the stories of previous teams. These young men and coaches of the 1995-96 Tiger team carried the load for so many other teams that had come up short. This team not only represented themselves, their families, school, and community, but they also represented Swainsboro basketball.
Swainsboro started the season ranked #1 but dropped as low as #5 after a couple of tough losses. There were challenges and intense competitive games. In the end, Swainsboro prevailed. They finished the season with 29 wins and 3 losses, finally bringing the state championship trophy to Swainsboro.
The first game of the season was a win over Richmond Academy 96-84, followed by a win over ECI 85-54, a win over Metter, and another victory over ECI 56-45. Their next stop would be a tournament in Ocala, Florida.
The 1996 basketball class included the late Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, Mike Bibby, Stephen Jackson, Mateen Cleaves (all future NBA players), and many more. Some of the top players in the country gathered in Ocala, Florida, for the Kingdom of USA Invitation tournament from December 27 to December 30, 1995. This tournament featured Jamal Maglorie (Eastern Toronto), Randy Hughes (Swainsboro), and Sergio Washington (Swainsboro).
16 of the best teams from Florida, Memphis, Kentucky, and Georgia would compete for the championship. The tournament also featured 8 of the top 100 players in the country. Swainsboro entered the tournament 4-0 and ranked # 1 in class AA in Georgia.
Swainsboro opened the tournament with a 68-58 win over Tallahassee FAMU on Dec 27, 1995. On Dec 28, 1995, Swainsboro defeated Cape Coral Mariner (Florida) to move to the next round. Swainsboro prevailed despite a scoring outburst from Mariner’s sophomore Teddy Dupay. Dupay is still the all-time leading scorer in Florida High school history with over 3,700 points, and he averaged over 40 per game during his senior season.
Swainsboro’s next opponent in the tournament would be Eastern Toronto (Canada), led by center Jamal Maglorie (NBA). The winner of this round will play for the championship. In a close contest against Eastern Toronto Swainsboro lost its first game of the 1995-96 season on Dec. 29, 1995, by a score of 50-45. Some say the officiating played a role in this game. Eastern Toronto advanced to the final round and defeated Dr. Philipps of Orlando 69-50 for the championship on December 30, 1995. Swainsboro finished the tournament in third place by defeating Santa Fe of Alachua, Florida, 73-63.
Any loss is difficult, but the loss in this tournament against such high-level competition only made Swainsboro a better team and better prepared for the next phase of their journey as they moved into 1996.
After returning from the tournament in Florida, the Tigers began 1996 with a 46-42 victory over Richmond Hill on Jan 2nd to improve their record to 8-1. However, the next game brought a stunning upset to Richmond Academy, 62-80. The Tigers responded with a 67-48 win over Washington County, a 74-50 win over Tattnall, a 78-51 win over Wilkinson County, and a 48-41 win over Screven County to move their record to 12-2.
The Tigers continue to be led by SHS's all-time leading scorer (unofficial 1,900 points) Sergio Washington and the second all-time leading scorer (1,800 points), leading rebounder, and shot blocker (unofficial) Randy Hughes. Mike Richards, Darrell Archie, Timothy Fields, Mark Wise, Dwayne Foots, Dedrick Doyle, Nate Johnson, Ronny Thomas, Juane Brown, Zeb Givens, Shannon Carswell, and Andre Buie continue to be big contributors.
Swainsboro continued the second half of January 1996 on the 19th game against ECI. This game was cancelled because of a fight in the stands. They followed that with a 68-63 win over Wilkinson County. Then came the big rematch against Dodge County. In one of the biggest games in SHS history, the Tigers defeated Dodge 86-73 to improve to 15-2. Next, they defeated Vidalia and Screven County before playing Dodge County again on Jan 30th in Dodge County. This time, Dodge won 57-52, giving the Tigers their third and only other loss for the season.
Our next coverage will include the final two months of the 1996 season, including the last regular season games, followed by the sub-region and region tournament, and concluding with the state playoffs.
