Three Years ago, Smith named a new basketball coach for it's Men's Varsity Team: Derrick Partee. He came with a goal in mind; To make Smith a premier basketball program and to win a title. Three Years, 79 games, and 4 playoff games later, he's still reaching for the top.
It started off a great season for the basketball team. They went 6-1 until East Forsyth in December and the Rock Classic in Florida in which they went 0-4. Many can attribute this to them going up against powerful schools. They did play a tough non-conference schedule taking on teams such as Pinecrest, Northern Guilford, and East Forsyth. They also played against some nationally ranked teams in Florida. One can also attribute the down slide to lack of leadership. Coach Partee tells Eagle Sports that" One thing we lacked was leadership which is something we need to work on in the off-season, to develop those traits and characteristics." The Golden Eagles came back and played in the HAECO in which they went 1-2, the two losses being to Page and Northwest, Powerhouse schools, but they played a tough non-conference. The trouble really started after the Dudley Game. After beating a weak Dudley team the Eagles dropped three in a row starting conference play to Page, Southern Alamance, and Grimsley. They didn't shoot free-throws well at the beginning of the conference schedule, they overcame that during the 2nd half avenging losses to Southern Alamance and Grimsley but not to Page. However, this led them to a 13-11 regular season finish and a 6-4 finish in Conference, due to tournament being cancelled to weather, giving them Second Place for the first time under Coach Partee. He said that the feels good with the second place finish and his guys played hard the 2nd half of the conference schedule. They became a better free-throw shooting team which helped with wins against Grimsely, Southern Alamance, and Dudley the second time around. However, the joy would be short-lived as they lost in the first round of State Playoffs to Richmond County High, 89-65, an emotional loss for a team that overcame much. With the withdrawal of JJ Watson, Senior Aaron Simpson had to take over as leader on the court giving him a good reputation for Smith Basketball for years to come and someone for Coach Partee to replace next season. Coach Partee will also have to replace Kendric Lowe and Jumaul Wallace two other seniors who significantly contributed to the Eagles run. This means the goal, you have to get it. Coach Partee said that his goals are to "Win the HAECO, Finish First in conference, and make a deep run in State playoffs." So, even despite the loss of a few good players, the Eagles do return Jacob Cructhfield and Raymon Pratt, scoring leader for the team, and there are several JV players who proved that they have talent to play in the next level. The JV Team went on a 6 game winning streak to round out the season, beating everyone in conference with the return of Brain Jones, former coach of the Varsity Team, and even though this season didn't go they way he wanted it to. You have to move on and keep climbing towards the top, something Coach Partee feels like he could do in the near future and give Smith their first legitimate run to the State Championship since 1995 when that team became the runner up but until then you keep trying and keep climbing until you reach the top.