The Laurens Boys Basketball team got a road win in a hostile environment at Wren, Friday night. It was a back-and-forth, see-saw battle and Laurens was able to get out of Piedmont with a 75-73 overtime victory.
There's a few different stories within the story of this game. First is the historical milestone nature of the win for Laurens. Until this season, Laurens Boys had not beaten Wren in Coach Armond Flood's tenure at Laurens.
There were years prior where the two schools didn't play, as Wren was 3A most of the time until recent years. However, under now retired Coach Fran Campbell Wren was a perennial power, regardless of what class they were in. The win Friday night gave Laurens a season-sweep of Wren. The Raiders downed them 73-58 in Laurens, January 16th.
The next story is the turnaround in the program at Laurens. Last year the program won nearly 20 games, the Raiders were 19-8 and were a home playoff upset loss to Berea away from getting to the milestone plateau. It was the highest single season win total in over 20 years for the program.
This year Laurens is now 15-7 on the season and 6-1 in play with the win at Wren. They have three games remaining in the regular season and then the playoffs. So they have a chance to match or eclipse last year's historic season and could even make this season more historic than last, but more on that later.
The story of the game itself was two teams who went toe-to-toe all night and had to go into an extra frame to decide the outcome. The other side of that story is Laurens Point Guard Quinton "Q" Watts. The 6ft2 Junior had a brilliant performance pouring in a game high 32 points. Watts scored from all three levels, knocking down threes, getting dunks in transition, and getting to the free throw line and converting.
Watts also had 9 boards in the game and while he is more of a combo scoring guard playing the point spot this year, he showed glimpses of tremendous vision and passing ability as well. Watts is one of the more overlooked talents in the state in my mind and to me has been underrecruited.
What makes him so intriguing as a prospect is his upside, he has a high ceiling going forward. 10-15 pounds of added muscle and a year or two in a college strength/agility program and maybe a growth spurt and Watts could be a factor at the next level. He has a nice skill set, has a plus wingspan and above average athleticism which gives him tools for the next level.
His classmates RJ Brewster Snow and Z Simpson were also in double figures for the Raiders. Simpson was saddled with foul trouble and eventually fouled out in overtime. However, his presence was felt the energy he brings to the floor sparked the Raiders. For Wren, Senior Guard Greyson Austin and Junior Center Beau Brannon both were in double digits, as well.
On Friday night, Laurens got off to exactly the start that Coach Armond Flood and his staff hoped for. The Raiders forced turnovers with there "Diamond" press and half court trapping style defense. Laurens is a team that is better on the run than the half court. They use the defense to kick start their transition offense. They did just that in the opening quarter and led 18-7 after the 1st.
Wren adjusted, Simpson picked up his 2nd foul and had to leave the game. The Hurricanes then took control of the game outscoring Laurens 21-10 in the 2nd quarter to lead 28-26 at the half.
Simpson returned in the 2nd half and Laurens took momentum back with a 12-2 run to open the 3rd quarter. Again, it would be punch and counter punch as Wren to their credit was not going to go away. Laurens led 49-42 after the 3rd.
The Hurricanes would come all the way back and take the lead 58-57 with 56 seconds left in the 4th. RJ Brewster Snow then delivered the go ahead bucket to make 59-58 with 45 seconds left. Laurens would get a defensive stop and got the ball back. Q Watts then got fouled and went to the line and hit two clutch free throws and Laurens led 61-58.
Wren had one last chance and on a scramble play off an offensive rebound Greyson Austin got the ball at the buzzer and knocked down a clutch three to send the game to OT.
The poise and composure Laurens showed at that point was impressive. The raucous crowd, the hostile environment and the momentum all favored the homestanding Hurricances. However, Laurens would play through all of that and made plays down the stretch. Watts was clutch from the line in the extra frame as well.
Laurens has been on fire since starting the season slow. The Raiders played a tough non-region schedule and dealt with injuries early on, They dropped 6 of their first 8 to open the season. Since then though they have lost just once since December 10th. During that opening stretch, I talked to Coach Armond Flood and his focus was on keeping the outlook positive and keeping the players locked in to get through that adverse start.
Now, the focus for Laurens shifts to trying to finish strong and possibly make history. The Raiders are 6-1 in region games, they are tied with Westside at the top of the region standings. The Raiders host the Rams on Tuesday night and the winner will be in the driver seat for the region crown.
Laurens controls their own destiny and if they win out they'll claim the program's first region title in over three decades. A historical nugget that the players were unaware of until after the win at Wren, Friday night.
The impact Coach Armond Flood and his staff have had can't be overstated. Quite frankly, Laurens Basketball was mostly an after thought until the Flood era. Laurens is guaranteed a winning season, which would give the program its first back-to-back winning seasons in the last decade. 2015-2016 was the last winning season there prior to Flood's hiring.
The former top Assistant at Mauldin came in and not only applied what he had learned in his tenure with the Maverick program, but his largest impact is on the culture of the program. I have known Armond Flood for a decade or so and it's always been clear to me that he's a culture building leader. That has been evident in his tenure at Laurens and was also evident when he was at Mauldin.
Now the question will be can the Raider program finish strong and can this year's team become a history making squad at Laurens? That remains to be seen and Tuesday's home game vs Westside will all-but decide the race for the region.