By: Railey Ayers

On Wednesday, Crenshaw Christian Academy’s Athletic Director Mike Sims knocked on the door to each classroom that a CCA boys basketball player was in and quietly asked that they meet in the locker room as soon as they finished taking exams.

As senior Morgan King walked into the locker room with the rest of the small team behind him, he met a solemn Sims waiting to address the team. He informed King and others that he would be taking over the 1-11 team with only two games before region play begins.

This added a surprising twist to the season that had left a lot to be desired for King, who had a state ring on his finger and two region titles from previous years. Sims then informed them that the clock was ticking, and that it was time to install a respectable offense– they only had two days to do so.

King hopped up and prepared to change the fate of his senior season, knowing it wasn’t too late to turn things around.

Two days after the shake-up, the Cougar basketball team traveled to Northside Methodist Academy to participate in their annual Knight before Christmas tournament.

In the double-elimination playoff, the Cougars fell to Westwood (Georgia) on Friday, and Emmanuel Christian, whom they had beaten the previous week, on Saturday.

Though Crenshaw went 0-2 on the weekend, they are confident that they are making strides in the right direction.

“This tournament was about adjusting to our new offense; we played it as well as possible, but we just couldn’t put two good halves together,” said junior guard Ben Archie in reference to the tournament that capped off the team’s hectic week.

In the wake of the controversy, Archie defied odds and tacked together a stellar performance with a new playing scheme and earned all-tournament honors at Northside. Archie boasted 13 points against an oversized Westwood team, and added 17 more against Emmanuel, as well as a lockdown defensive performance.

“Our season hasn’t gone as expected so far, but we still have time to change it before January starts,” said Archie.

“As of right now, we’re 0-0 in region play, so everything is wide open. We can still make a run at something special.”

The Cougars resume their run for a complete turnaround in January of the new year when region play, and their new season, officially begins.