To say Shumbe Hunter’s fifth Williamson boys basketball team is young would be … well, yes, an understatement.

For most of the season, the Lions’ 11-man roster has included eight freshmen.

Eight!

As area tournament play begins, the now 15-man roster includes seven freshmen and four eighth graders.

“We’ve had a growth mindset all year,” Hunter said. “I wouldn’t call us young, just inexperienced in some areas especially early in the year, but through the year we’ve definitely grown.”

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Williamson started the season just 3-11 but has won 11 of the last 12 games since the Christmas break. The only loss during that run was a last-second, 46-44 defeat against Murphy on Jan. 26.

The Lions won the 5A, Area 1 title with a 6-0 record and host the tournament beginning Tuesday. Williamson will play fourth-seeded Elberta at 7:30.

“I’ve never had a team this young,” said Hunter, who led the Lions to the Class 4A state title in 2020. “I don’t know if anyone has had a team this young and been successful. We are up-tempo. We try to mix it up, keep people off balance, get everyone touches on the court.”

The Lions are led by their two seniors, 6-foot-1 guard Robert Brown and 6-foot-1 forward Jarius Cross. Brown is averaging 13 points and 3 assists a game. Cross is a hybrid player who can fill any position on the court as needed.

“Both of those guys have been around for a while,” Hunter said. “Four years ago, when they were young, we won the state title and they hid in the shadows of guys like Justin Brown, Robert Woodyard and Jordan Bell. Now, they’ve been thrown into the forefront. There were some hiccups early, but they’ve adjusted well.”

Silas Evans, a 6-foot-8 sophomore transfer from Blount, has given the Lions some needed height in the frontcourt. Hunter said he is averaging 10 points, 8 rebounds and “a couple” of blocks a game. “He has blossomed into a force,” Hunter said.

Other key players include 6-foot-2 freshman guard Corien Hawthorne-Coleman and 6-foot-2 freshman forward Mikel Bonner.

“Mikel leads the team in rebounding,” Hunter said. “He will get 12 rebounds or more a game. He’s long and athletic. He’s more of a defender, rebounder, putback guy.”

A young team got even younger recently when Hunter moved the four eighth graders up from the middle school championship team to join the varsity roster.

“We are getting younger and younger,” he joked.

Despite the team’s youth, Hunter said he hasn’t necessarily been surprised by the team’s success since Christmas.

“We are talented,” he said. “We have some size. We are probably the biggest we’ve been across the board since I’ve been here. The talent level is always there. Just the inexperience concerned me a bit. But we gained some valuable experience early against some tough teams, played in Mississippi and Florida a few times. I thought as long as we stayed locked in and kept growing, we would eventually be good.”

Hunter said overall the year has been one of his more enjoyable as a head coach.

“We were able to learn and teach more than we have the last four years,” he said. “You do both of those things throughout the course of life. You never stop doing that. As a coaching staff, we’ve been able to evaluate things practice by practice and game by game and come up with a solution and plan to be successful.”

CLASS 5A, AREA 1 TOURNAMENT

At Williamson

Tuesday

Girls: Gulf Shores vs. B.C. Rain, 3 p.m.

Boys: Gulf Shores vs. B.C. Rain, 4:30 p.m.

Girls: Williamson vs. Elberta, 6 p.m.

Boys: Williamson vs. Elberta, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday

Girls: Championship, 5:30 p.m.

Boys: Championship, 7 p.m.