Congratulations to the Bainbridge High School Bearcats and Lady Cats basketball teams and their solid seasons and strong playoff runs.
Coach Rickey McCullough’s Bearcats, who finished first in the regular season and second in the Region 1-AAAAA Tournament, were led by Tyree Crump, Myles Thomas, Stephen Johnson and Trevon Shaw.
Coach Kelvin Cochran’s Lady Cats, who finished fourth in Region 1-AAAAA, were led by Alexandria Carter, Patra Parris, Tameria Levens, Longesha  Emanuuel, Beonka Madge and Alexis Russ.
The graduation losses for each team will be very small. Crump is just a sophomore and he has demonstrated his great ability to take over a game. He can drive to the basket for layups and short jumpers, but he is also a deadly shooter from 3-point range. He is so quick off the dribble that he is very difficult to effectively double team.
Bearcats seniors who contributed this season are Greg Cooper, Dominic Douglas, Stephen Johnson, Tavarius Boen, and Franklin Bryant.
Lady Cats seniors who contributed this season are DeAndrea Green, Ni’Jala Jackson, Teena Jeffery and Dixie Landy.
Some other very special non-playing seniors played a very special role for the Bearcats and Lady Cats this season. One of those is Devon Thompson, the public address voice of the Bearcats and Lady Cats at home games. Thompson was also a drum major with the award winning Bainbridge High School Marching Bearcats Band.
Thompson is an outstanding young man and I am looking forward to hearing a lot of good things about him in the future.
There were also some dedicated senior cheerleaders who kept the crowds fired up during the season. I am talking about Austin Taylor, Haley Chandler, Alisha Doss, Jocelyn Grimsley, ReQuan Parris, Jasmine Sheffield and Jamaria Washington.
I have been truly blessed to have the opportunity to cover Bearcats and Lady Cats basketball for this fine newspaper for 43 years. In addition to McCullough and Cochran, other outstanding coaches I have covered included the late coach Charles Bess, coach Bobby Trawick, coach Larry Slaughter, the late coach Ken Byrd, coach Bill Henry, coach Jeff Page, coach LeAnn Harrell Inlow and coach Babs Coyle.