High blood pressure? Says who?

Ricky Gray’s abrupt departure from Adams County Christian School last August left his father John R. Gray, AC’s headmaster, sans a head basketball coach.

Leaving the elder Gray to scramble and find a last-minute replacement could’ve sent his heartrate through the roof. Instead, Gray calmly chose to coach the Rebels himself.

A decision applauded by The Democrat’s All-Metro first-teamer Glenn Williams, who led AC to a South State runner-up finish and a rare appearance in the Mississippi Private School Association Class AAA State playoffs.

Gray was &uot;who I wanted all along,&uot; said Williams, an MPSA All-Star who averaged 18 points, 9 assists and 8 steals per game. &uot;When he was deciding whether he wanted to finish the season, I went up and said, ‘I don’t want you to go.’ He said all right, and I’m glad he did.&uot;

Joining Williams on the first team are Block’s 6-5 post Jeremy Washington, Trinity Episcopal big man Robert Manson, Ferriday guard Ladrian Davis, Wilkinson County’s renaissance guard Bryant Spiller and Jefferson County’s floor leader Josh Nichols.

Perhaps Williams’ most flashy characteristic was his defense. A tenacious defender, Williams often never gave the man he matched up with any breathing room, and his bulldog behavior paid off for the Rebels.

&uot;I’m a points guard, so it wasn’t my job to shoot a lot,&uot; Williams said. &uot;So, if I step up and get a steal and an easy layup, it could change the momentum in our direction.&uot;

Even though the Bears finished a mediocre 11-11, Washington took great strides in helping his school flip the script on a sport it never excelled in until this season.

He averaged nearly 31 points per game for the Jonesville, La., school in District 4-1A ball and 27 overall for the season, while pulling down nearly 13 boards.

Block’s fast start was impeded due to grade problems, which ravaged the team of several of its key players in mid-season.

&uot;We brought in people to try to find the right mixture, but you never could tell what was working because they weren’t hustling all the time,&uot; said Washington, who’s headed to the University of Louisiana-Monroe on a football scholarship. &uot;We started to lose a lot of close ball games by four and five points.&uot;

Still, the season wasn’t a total loss. As Washington pointed out, the Bears won more games during the 2003-04 season than the two previous years combined.

Washington credited first-year head coach Whitney McCartney with bringing him in from the perimeter and stationing him down on the blocks where he overpowered fellow 1A posts.

&uot;It was an adjustment, but when I started using my size, it helped me out a lot,&uot; Washington said. &uot;The majority of the points I scored came off rebounds and in the paint.&uot;

Manson can relate to Washington. The 6-6 Australian exchange student fulfilled Trinity fans’ hopes of having someone replace Dudley Guice Jr., who transferred to Jefferson County.

While some of those expectations were unfair for a player in his first year of the American game, Manson performed admirably, scoring close to 17 points and pulling down 9 rebounds per game.

The addition of Guice in Fayette accomplished a lifelong wish he had of playing with his good friend Nichols. Together, the two helped the Tigers reach the Class 3A quarterfinals before losing to West Lauderdale.

Nichols averaged 17 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds per game.

&uot;We were more disciplined and played more team ball than before,&uot; Nichols said. &uot;Our goal was to get the big man involved. We were unselfish with one another and play ‘D’ on the other end. When times got hard, it took the pressure off of me. My game was going to come, but it was important for others to step up.&uot;

Spiller, who accounted for 18.5 points, 7 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game, believed his Wildcats shared a similar trait this season, as well. Despite ending his career without ever making the postseason, Spiller never allowed the weight of his team’s chances sink him.

&uot;I felt like we had other ingredients on this team,&uot; said Spiller, who is entertaining a scholarship offer from Southwest Community College. &uot;I didn’t do it all by myself. I had a lot of help. We had different people step up for us in different games.&uot;

The improvement Davis showed from his junior to senior year was vast. An All-District 4-2A first-team selection for the Trojans, Davis was a victim of inexperience.

While averaging more than 22 points per game, along with 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals, Davis accepted the role as a coach in tutoring the underclassmen that littered head coach James Davis’ team.

It was a stark contrast from the team Gray helped lead to stunning wins.

Williams still finds it funny that he entered his last two years not knowing who his coach would be, yet each time the Rebels exceeded the end results of past AC team.

&uot;We knew how to get along with each other,&uot; Williams said of his relationship with John Gray. &uot;He came to me whenever he had something to say to the team. It was definitely fun playing for a legend.&uot;