Clint Thompson
THOMASVILLE — Twenty-four wins, a Holiday Hoopfest championship, a second straight Region 1-AA title and an appearance in the state title game — not a bad season for Thomasville.
The future could be even brighter for the Bulldogs. Thomasville will return nine players and four starters to a team that lost just five games.
“We’re definitely proud of how our kids played this year and the wins that we have and being able to be back-to-back region champs,” Thomasville coach Ben Tillman said, “and also play and win the Hoopfest, which is something we hadn’t done in a long time.
“It is very exciting to know that you have the core group of kids coming back. It’s also exciting to understand that you have to develop your bench. That’s what we’re going to go into this year, trying to develop some of the younger kids, so they can come and step in and take some of those senior places.”
Among the Bulldogs’ returning starters are three rising juniors, Willie Clayton, Robert Carter and Trey Gosier.
“I think they have emerged as the leaders of the basketball teams. Those sophomores have really done a great job this year with the way they worked and responded in pressure situations,” Tillman said. “We will lean on them hard next year to provide that kind of encouragement and enthusiasm in the locker room and throughout the games and throughout the course of preseason.”
Justin Forbes, a 6-foot-3 small forward and rising senior, is the Bulldogs’ fourth starter. Among the Bulldogs’ key returning bench players include rising junior Tyree Mitchell and rising senior Carlton Butts. Tillman also expressed excitement about the upcoming freshmen the Bulldogs will soon have at their disposal.
“I think we have a good group of kids coming up. We’re kind of guard-oriented coming in, which will be really good for us,” Tillman said. “We have a lot of good guards coming up. We’re really excited about our guard play in the future.”
Tillman is also very high on freshman Sha-jeed Sinkfield, a 6-3, 6-4 post player. He averaged about five points and six rebounds in junior varsity action this season.
“We’re looking for him to come in and be able to give Robert and Willie that needed break throughout the year,” Tillman added. “He’s going to get a lot minutes this summer.
“When Robert and Willie leave, we’ll have someone there that is able to fill those voids.”
