“Many parts but one body.”
As much as Immanuel Christian School boys basketball coach Greg Watkins stresses a team approach, he realizes there are times when one player has to make a difference.
Last week against Kemper Academy in the title game of the district tournament was one of those times. Faced with a difficult matchup, Watkins hoped eighth-grade RJ Deloach could use his scoring and playmaking ability to turn the tide. Deloach did that and more, scoring a team-high 16 points to lead Immanuel Christian to a 46-37 victory in the championship game.
“I was really proud of how RJ took control of the game,” Watkins said. “We rely on everybody, but that night he stepped it up and took over the game and really turned the momentum our way.”
Dawson Shaw had 14 points for Immanuel Christian, which led Kemper Academy 42-22 entering the fourth quarter. Watkins said his team battled foul trouble in the final eight minutes, so it pulled the ball out and attempted to slow the game down.
The victory helped the Rams finish the season 18-3. In the semifinals, Deloach had 11 points in half a game as Immanuel Christian rolled to a 45-25 victory against Calhoun Academy.
Deloach enjoyed being named MVP, but he said he didn’t go out trying to earn an individual honor. He said he only wanted to look for the open space and not force the action.
“I felt we did pretty good,” Deloach said. “We did the best we could.”
Watkins said Deloach and Shaw were starters on last year’s team that came up short to Oak Hill Academy in AA. The year before, he said the team won one game, but he said it wasn’t satisfied with just getting to the title game in Class A.
“Those two really worked hard,” Watkins said. “RJ grew a lot over the summer. He has the ability to just take over a game. Dawson is our defensive pest. He will wear you out all over the court. RJ is real good defensively, but offensively with him we can do a lot of isolation.
“(Kemper Academy) tried to take us out of our game from the outside and we were able to iso RJ. He made them do a whole lot of adjustments at halftime that opened some of our outside game with Dawson and Jack Baker. I think between the two of them they hit about five threes.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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