Collins Hill soars past Kell in season opener, Kaleigh Heywood 19 pts
The 2023-2024 Georgia High School Association basketball season has officially begun with teams throughout the state opened up their seasons over the course of the weekend, including the Collins Hill Eagles and the Kell Longhorns, coming off their 2022-2023 GHSA 6A State Title win. For the Eagles, the new season also means new leadership as Kevin Long begins his for season as the Eagles’ head coach, replacing Brian Harmon, who coached Collins Hill for eight seasons.
The Eagles get out of the gate with and find themselves with momentum in their favor midway through the first quarter, leading by as much as nine points in the opening period of play, and by halftime, Collins Hill was in full control as they held a 20 point margin, leading 33-13 at the break. In the second half, the Eagles picked up their defensive intensity which helped the offensive momentum going as they would go on to pick up the 66-33 win.
“I was impressed with our effort and energy,” which Long said was his team’s main points of focus as they took to the court in their season opener. As he continued, Lang added that while they know that they may not have perfected their system just yet, as long as they know that they are “playing hard, and “giving it everything that we’ve got” along with solid defense, they are on the right track and he believes that the Eagles performed to those standards on Saturday. “I think we did that pretty well,” Long said. Collins Hill will be back in action on Monday when they host Gwinnett County rival, North Gwinnett.
