Both the boys’ and the girls’ basketball teams at McIntosh have had successful regular seasons.
One of the major highlights of the season is both teams went 2-0 against their rival, Starr’s Mill, this season. The first games were extremely competitive for both girls and boys with the girls winning in the last few minutes and the first boys’ game going into overtime. However, coming back for the second game, both our girls’ and boys’ maintained control of the games and won by larger margins than before.
Throughout the season, the Chiefs came a long way. Coach Eisele said, “[Since summer workouts], the players built themselves into a team, and the transformation [was] truly remarkable to watch.” Freshman Jordan Lyons led the team before playoffs in points with 341, followed by fellow freshman Will Washington III with 195 points at the end of the regular season. Senior Joey Bolen was also one of the leading point scorers on the team with 152 points before playoffs, and fellow senior Peter Talisse had 108 points at the end of the regular season.
This year, two freshmen started for the Chiefs in most of the games throughout the season. Will said, “It [was] exciting to be a freshman going to the playoffs in my first year! The team…improved over the course of the season.” Jordan was also excited about going into playoffs. Jordan said, “We [got] way better as a team as the season went on.” At the end of the regular season, the boys were ranked number 1 in their sub-region with a record of 17-7. However, they experienced a devastating loss on February 11 to Northgate in the first round of the region playoffs with a score of 40-33.
With the regular season over and post-season here, the girls entered the playoffs reigning as number 1 in their sub-region with a record of 22-2.
Entering the season with five returning seniors, the Lady Chiefs basketball team had large goals and has accomplished many of them. Coach David Dowse said, “One of our team goals is to host a state tournament game at McIntosh High School. In order for that to happen, we must advance to the 4-AAAAA finals.”
Senior Gabby Seiler led the team in scoring, in the regular season with 519 points. She has a career high of 1900. Sophomore Cassidy Williams had 248 this season before playoffs, and following closely behind, senior Amanda Lindsey had 225 for the season before playoffs and 757 throughout her career.
Senior Abby Birrell said, “We have had an outstanding regular season, and as this is my last season, I want our class to leave many legacies behind including a new banner hung in the gym.” Senior Gabby Seiler agreed and said, “I expect our team to advance to the finals in the region tournament. We are really close as a team, and we work hard every day to be the best team we can be.”
Amanda Lindsey, a senior on the girls’ team, said, “Being a senior on this team, I’m so proud to be a part of the success that we have achieved, and it’s been a great season for my least year of McIntosh basketball.” Abby Birrell, Lindsey’s teammate, agreed and said, “No matter the end result of the post season, I’m beyond proud to be a part of Lady Chief Basketball.”
On February 12, the girls competed against Mundy’s Mill in the first round of the tournament and won 49-27.
Coach Dowse said that he is confident in the continued success of the girls. He said, “We have improved for sure, but so have most teams in Georgia. The key is to ‘peak’ at the right time and to be playing your best basketball at tournament time. I feel good about our team…” Dowse said that he plans to continue to work hard and prepare for the upcoming games throughout the region tournament.
