Jags win third straight ECI, finish summer undefeated

For a Farmville Central basketball program that’s gone to six straight 2A state championship games, winning four and losing the other two by a possession each, head coach Larry Williford expects excellence.

Over that span, the Jaguars are 163-9 overall and 65-0 in conference play.

“Every year, the expectation at Farmville Central High School is to win the league, be a No. 1 seed and go as far as you can in the playoffs,” Williford said. “Hopefully in the second week of March you’re playing for a state championship. A lot of pressure? Yes. High expectations? Yes. That’s what it’s like being a Farmville Central basketball player where we are today. There’s a lot of fun but also a lot of hard work ahead.”

After a corner three-point attempt that could have given FCHS its fifth championship in the last six beat the overtime buzzer but hit front rim and bounced off in the state final versus Reidsville in March, the Jaguars responded with an undefeated summer.

FCHS won its third-straight East Coast Invitational on June 23 in Jacksonville before turning in a 4-0 showing at the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association Live Period the following weekend in Bermuda Run to wrap up the summer 15-0.

“We got to play some really good competition and learn a lot about some new guys, some JV guys,” Williford said. “We had a large influx of JV players move up. Anytime you have that much turnover, the earlier you can get them together and see what guys can and cannot do makes other people better.”

The Jags started the summer with an 8-0 run through pool play at the ECI, beating fellow 2A powerhouse Kinston, Northside Jacksonville, New Bern, North Brunswick, North Stanly, South Mecklenburg, West Caldwell and Harrells Christian Academy.

After knocking off Southwest Onslow in the quarterfinals, FCHS defeated 2024 4A East champion New Hanover in the semis, then knocked off 4A Raleigh power Millbrook, 90-85, in overtime in the championship game.

The Jaguars beat East Forsyth, Swansboro, St. James (SC) and John Handley (Va.) in Bermuda Run.

In the ECI title tilt, FCHS senior guard MJ Williams closed with 13 straight points in overtime and totaled 38 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

“MJ Williams is very talented and continues to get better and better,” Williford said. “I think people are going to see another jump. For most guys, their biggest jump is between 10th and 11th grade. I’ve seen the same jump going from 11 to 12 with (Williams) and only your really special players do that.”

Williams, a four-year varsity player, led the Jags with 15.7 points per game last season, including a 35-point eruption against Northwood and current five-star UNC freshman Drake Powell in the regional finals. Williams also paced the Jags with 2.3 assists per game a season ago.

Although Williams is back to lead the offense, Farmville Central’s next six scorers from last year graduated.

“I think overall our team speed is maybe faster than last year,” Williford said. “We might not have as many guys that can shoot the 3-ball as we had last year, but we’re an attacking basketball team. I think we can maybe press full-court and three-quarter-court a little bit more than we did last year.”

Williford was pleased with what he learned about the squad and with what the new players learned this summer, especially since that learning coincided with winning.

“This year, we had to work in some of the games,” Williford said. “We got down double digits. The first game we got down 12-2 against a Northside Jacksonville team that was fired up to play us. Our guys had to learn that even in the summer when you step on the basketball court wearing a Farmville Central jersey, you’re a marked individual. They’re going to play even harder against you than they’ll probably play against anyone else the rest of the summer because they want to be able to say they beat you … The younger guys have had to learn that.”

Williford expects the depth of this year’s team, along with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s decision to reset team fouls after each quarter, to allow the Jags to play an even faster, more physical and aggressive style of defense.

“We’ve always had good depth, but really with this team here, I’d say there’s not a lot of separation between six, seven, eight, nine, 10 and 11, which is difficult as a coach to find guys playing time,” Williford said. “But there’s a very thin margin and there’s two things that creates: depth and intense competition in practices.”

Williford said he expects four-year varsity player O’Maurie Phillips, who missed the ECI to attend Division I football camps, to help lead the team along with JV call-ups such as Amarion Williams and Steven Johnson and transfer Josiha Crandell.

“We took (Phillips) to Bermuda Run with us and defensively, he was the hardest player on the court there with his tenacity,” Williford said. “We had multiple college coaches asking about him because of how hard he plays and his high motor … (Phillips) and MJ will kind of anchor us as far as being our veterans, then we’ve got other four-year varsity guys. Jocquez Dixon is a 6-foot-5, big-body banger. You need those guys as the playoffs come and you play different styles. Xavier Sheppard is another 6-foot-5, long guy that’s been in the program four years now who’s going to get a chance to see the court.”

Amarion Williams led an undefeated FCHS JV team in scoring last year and Williford liked what he saw from Johnson over the summer, especially defensively.

Williford is excited about the tools Crandell brings to the table.

“Josiha is a long, lanky, athletic, 6-foot-4-ish kind of hybrid wing/forward,” Williford said. “He’s an excellent shot-blocker. Probably one of the dimensions that we didn’t have last year was a true rim-protector, and he gives us that … I think once he gets in our practices, he’ll have a chance to flourish because he can do things athletically that other people can’t.”

Williford also has high expectations for 6-4 sophomore Jordan James, who made varsity last year but tore his ACL in preseason. Williford said James ‘does a little bit of everything,’ can guard and is one of the team’s better passers.

The high school basketball season tips off in November.