How Thomson's loss to Windsor Forest already has it thinking about next season

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Thomson boys basketball coach Michael Thomas gathered with his coaching staff right outside the Bulldogs' locker room after the 60-53 Class AAA Final Four loss to Windsor Forest Saturday and discussed all the "what ifs."

What if Marcellus Brigham's hand isn't injured? Will he come down with the pass from Tydrekus Braswell to get up a potential go-ahead shot while down by one late in the fourth quarter?

What if sophomore point guard Jahkius Jones doesn't get poked in the eye in the third quarter, causing it to swell shut and forcing him to miss the rest of the game?

What if the Thomson defense, which played well for most of the game in limiting Georgetown signee D'Ante Bass to just 13 points, could've gotten one more stop down the stretch?

Ultimately, Thomas says the what ifs don't matter. Rather, it's what his young Bulldogs squad will learn from the setback that'll make the difference.

"Marcellus cut his hand earlier, and he was basically out there playing with one hand, but that's not an excuse," Thomas said. "He's good enough to make that play. And I have no doubt in my mind if Jahkius was in the game, we get off a good shot at the end while down one, and some of those turnovers don't happen. But that's not an excuse either. (Windsor Forest) played without one of their players too. Tonight we learned you've gotta win with what you've got."

Heart of a champion

What Thomas also learned from his team is that it has plenty of heart. And the veteran coach knows that heart (and a good defense) is one of the foundational ingredients to create a championship squad.

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"I was pleased with their heart," Thomas said. "Their defense and their heart, I was very pleased with. They had the ball late and we needed it back and we found a way to get that ball back three or four times when they weren't trying to score. That's big. It gave us a chance to score to either tie or take the lead. We had a chance. That's what we hung our hats on."

Thomson's stellar defense finally bent just enough to give Windsor Forest room to put away a tight game that no one led by more than seven points the entire way.

While clinging to a one point lead, a late flurry of points from Abasi Scott and Donte Dorman helped Windsor Forest to a 60-53 win over Thomson Saturday at the Centennial Center in Milledgeville. Scott put the exclamation point on things with a two-handed dunk off a Thomson turnover to create the final margin.

After the game, Thomson players and coaches lingered on the court long enough to take in some of Windsor Forest's celebration on the other side. Sophomore guard Lavonta Ivery, who scored a game-high 16 points, said it was a painful sight he and his team needed to see.

"I was heartbroken," Ivery said. "I just really wanted to win and make it to the state championship for the first time. But this right here, it’s the farthest we went in a long time, so it was really good to experience this atmosphere. We'll better prepared and we know we don't want to feel this way again."

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Things shifted for Thomson when Ivery's backcourt mate Jones got injured in the third quarter.

"I was flashing to the middle, caught the ball and someone poked me in the eye, I guess," Jones said. "It was very tough for me to not be out there. I wish I could've been out there to help my team. I know if I were out there we would've won."

Thomas said they tried to get find a way to get him back out there, but the swelling in his eye never relented enough for it to open back up. But he knows things would've been different with his other floor general in the game.

"No doubt, no doubt, no doubt, we would've gotten a good shot at the end," Thomas said. "I have no doubt in my mind that if he's in there, some of those turnovers down the stretch don't happen."

Ivery agreed with his coach.

"When he got hurt, everything went down hill, really, because we really needed him out there for the fight we were going through," Ivery said.

Eyes on the future

Both sophomore guards, along with their coach, are already looking to how this moment can spin positively for them in the future.

"It's just a lesson for us for next year," Jones said. "We're still just a young team. We still have more to learn and we still have some growing up to do."

Said Ivery: "By next year, we’ll be more prepared for it. This was our first year in a big gym like this and, like I said, it was a good atmosphere though. I loved it. I loved the energy it was giving."

With just three seniors on a team that was a few plays away from playing for a state championship, Thomas said he's wasting no time getting back into the lab to prepare for a return trip next season.

"We're going to watch the film on Monday," Thomas said. "We've got a lot of the same guys, so we're especially going to watch those last four or five minutes, not to rub salt in the wound, but from a learning experience standpoint so we'll know how to handle these moments better next time."

As for Ivery, he said the fire to win it all has only been stoked in defeat.

"I'm definitely going to win a state championship before I graduate," Ivery said.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Thomson heartbroken, motivated by GHSA Class AAA Final Four loss