COLUMBIA — If the Mullins Auctioneers had not made it to this point, they would have had more than a few good excuses as to why:
- Last year’s lower state title game. The two-point loss to Burke after an undefeated season was crushing and difficult to recover from.
- Coach Mark Gerald’s illness. The man who guided them was diagnosed with colon cancer and his return was questionable at one point.
- The loss of Andrew Crawford. Mullins’ star player who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds a game lto reach the state championship with a bullseye on your back the whole season.
But one by one, the Aucs overcame every obstacle in front of them, and now have just one more remaining.
Mullins (22-3) faces Southside (31-2) today for the Class 2A boys state championship with a chance to erase the memory of last year’s disappointment, and a chance to give Gerald title No. 2.
“I think it shows just how much heart this team has,” Guard Eric Smith said of his team’s journey to Columbia. “We had a lot of things go against us, but we kind of reached down inside ourselves and did what we had to do to get to this point.”
Smith, a South Carolina commitment, leads the Aucs with 20.9 points and 7.1 assists per game. Stacy Wilson (19.1 ppg), Saquan McFarland (12.0), Donte Cooper (10.0) and Donnel Coleman (8.0) have given Mullins a well-balanced starting five.
“We had a lot of players coming back, a good core,” Gerald said. “We knew no one player could replace Andrew, but we’ve gotten a couple different people to step up. Donte leads the team in rebounding (9.0 rpg) and Bobby Crawford and Jeremy Legette have provided us with points and rebounds off the bench.”
In preparation for what was to come, Gerald also had the Aucs play a much tougher schedule, including games against Class 3A Wilson and against some of the top teams in the country at the Beach Ball Classic.
“Those games really helped prepare us for (today),” Wilson said. “That type of competition made us elevate our games and showed us what we were going to have to do to make it here and win.”
This is the second meeting of the season between the two teams. The Tigers, the defending state champs, beat the Aucs 64-52 at the Beach Ball Classic in December.
Southside is led by Carolinas All-Star Game selections Robbie Dreher and Quinton Thomas. Dreher leads the Tigers with 28.0 points per game. Thomas is second with 10.
“We obviously have to concentrate on trying to stop their two big-name players,” Gerald said. “Everyone else is very athletic. We’re working on some things to maybe spread them out a little.”
“We just have to do the dirty work,” McFarland said. “Rebound, take charges, really just out-hustle and out-work them.”
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