BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN —
When the Auburn High School boys followed Ja’Keith Carr’s showout performance to an overtime win over Central on Friday night, it placed the Tigers in a favorable position to win the area title.
Sitting at 20-2 and 4-0 region play, Auburn is riding high on six consecutive wins, but there is still work to be done as its final four opponents are Smiths Station, Opelika, Loachapoka and Tallassee. All those games, except for Opelika, are on the road.
“We have been very successful this year,” said head coach Chris Brandt. “There’s not many teams in Auburn High history that’s had this record at this time of year … it’s been very few. It’s more about keeping our focus and hunger and not be complacent to what we’ve accomplished so far.”
The Tigers are a team on a roll. As showcased against Central, the team is known for wearing down opponents with great depth, rotating between 12 and 16 players a game. Brandt says he has no locked-in starting five. Outside of Carr, the team’s leading scorer, the other four positions are decided by matchups.
Each of his players offers a unique skillset: sophomore Tabari Allen crashes the board and fights for second-chance points, junior Jordan Franklin can defend anybody on the court and junior Dashawn “Dash” Thomas is one of the team’s best ballhandlers, playing to the team’s strength of ball security.
Brandt excitedly remarked that he can substitute players every three and a half minutes or so. This gives everyone a chance to contribute as well as allow key players to rest up so they can play their best in the fourth quarter. This strategy unites a team that knows each other well.
“You’re not going to see anybody have huge numbers for me because our strength is we try to wear teams down,” Brandt elaborated. “I think the biggest thing about this being such a tight-knit group is they’ve all been playing together since elementary school.”
The team has played in four overtime games this season and won all of them. The season consists of a 3-0 start before a loss to BRHS, then an 11-win stretch before its only other loss to Newnan, Georgia, and now a six-game win streak with four area wins and revenge on BRHS and a win over Woodland, Georgia.
Displaying its resiliency, Auburn completed a season sweep over Central in two games where the Tigers didn’t lead until the fourth quarter. The team’s cohesiveness plays to its advantage late in games.
“I think the biggest reason why we’re successful is because they trust each other, and I think that’s because they spend a lot of time together,” Brandt said.
While Auburn has plenty of flexibility in its lineup, it has one constant it can turn to, and it did just that down the stretch against Central. Carr, senior four-year starter between two years at Opelika and now Auburn, leads the team with averages of 17.6 points per game, four assists per game and 2.1 steals per game. Along with his electric play, he is a vocal leader the team can turn to in tight contests.
With 20 points and clutch free-throw shooting to maintain Auburn’s lead over the Red Devils in overtime, Carr helped his team stay undefeated in area play. Now, he will be asked to lead Auburn in three more away games, including area games at Smith Station and a rematch with Opelika at home.
“This team believes, and as long as they believe, big things are going to happen,” Brandt said after the win over Central.