MACON — Ger’mir Gordon scored eight of his 13 points in the second half as the Houston County Sharks pulled away for a 49-30 victory over the DeKalb Silver Streaks in the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs wheelchair basketball championship game Saturday at Macon Coliseum.
Houston County continued its run of success, winning the championship for the 10th time in 11 seasons. The Sharks won a record eight consecutive titles before coming up short in 2021. DeKalb, which lost to Houston County 32-13 in the 2022 final, was seeking its first state title.
“It’s great to be able to have a chance to carry on the tradition,” first-year Sharks coach Stephen Roberson said. “It’s all about the kids putting in the work throughout the season. They’ve really done a good job for us this year. They’ve really pushed it and put in the work in the weight room, and the communication was great today. I’m really proud of them.”
The AAASP championship game is held in conjunction with the GHSA basketball finals each season. The wheelchair games are played in two halves consisting of three eight-minute quarters with a running clock.
Unlike last year’s game, when Houston County led 8-0 early in the second quarter and built on the lead from there, this one was tight throughout the first half. Although the Sharks led for a good portion of the first half, they were never up by more than four, and the score was tied 15-15 at halftime.
Houston County began to establish control in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Silver Streaks 12-3 over the final 5:49 of the period after DeKalb had taken a 17-15 lead on a basket by K.J. McMurray. Gordon and Adonis Brown had six points each in the run that gave the Sharks a 27-20 lead.
Houston County reached its first double-digit lead by scoring the first six points of the fifth quarter.
DeKalb’s Najee Smothers, who led all scorers with 20 points, fouled out midway through the period.
Houston County’s Brown scored 12 points, and Jacquavious West had 10. The Sharks also got six points from Dalton Crosby and MaKayla Moody and two from Elianna Stevens.
“We tried to spread the ball around and get everybody some good touches, get everybody some points and get them on the board,” Roberson said.
DeKalb also got eight points from Cameron Smothers, who made two long 3-pointers in the final period, and two from McMurray.
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