Antonio Johnson is one of four McComb seniors focused on bringing a 4A State Championship back to Pike County in their final season of high school eligibility.
The 5-foot-11, 155-pound Johnson has led the Tigers to a perfect 12-0 start to the season, including back-to-back wins over Wilkinson County and Brookhaven high schools in last weekend’s McComb Coca-Cola Holiday Classic.
For the two games, Johnson totaled 19 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and five steals, filling up box scores while helping his team in any way possible.
“I’m focused on playing the game, staying humble and just doing everything Coach (Hilton Harrell) tells us to do,” Johnson said.
The senior guard has scored in double figures in every game this season but one — last Friday’s 78-53 win over Wilkinson County. McComb was up by 21 points through one quarter, and most of the Tigers’ starters sat the second half, skewing their nightly averages somewhat.
But Johnson still managed to pull down five rebounds and dish out four assists in just one half of play.
The next night against Brookhaven, in a game that was tightly contested throughout, Johnson notched 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
“We just had our minds focused on playing hard defensively,” Johnson said following the Brookhaven game. “We did not want them to score at all. Apparently that helped.”
Despite standing less than six feet tall, the scrappy guard has proven himself as one of the Tigers’ toughest players.
Johnson has been a major contributor on the boards for the Tigers. His 41 rebounds this season are fourth on the team, and his 36 defensive rebounds are third on the team.
With a vertical leap second-to-none and impeccable body control in tight spaces, the Tigers’ star shooting guard rebounds the ball like an aggressive power forward. But thanks to Johnson’s perimeter-oriented skill set, he is able to turn routine rebounds into exciting fast breaks for McComb, creating easy scoring opportunities for a team that has shown few weaknesses to this point.
“I just play smart and box out every possession,” Johnson said. “I try and help my big men because they can’t do it all every night.”
Johnson’s athleticism helps him make plays in any situation on the floor. The guard averages more than 13 points per game, dishes out more than two assists for every one of his turnovers and averages more than two steals per game at the defensive end. He is second on the team in points, assists and steals per game, a model of consistency unmatched by most opposing players.
The Tigers have two games remaining before opening regional play later this month — McComb will host both Natchez and Callaway before traveling to take on North Pike in the Region 7-4A opener Tuesday, Jan. 14.
But Johnson knows the start of district play is just another step toward his ultimate goal: to be a state champion at McComb High School.
“We’re not really worried about the record. We’re just trying to play and continue to win so we can eventually get to the state championship,” Johnson said. “We can go very far if we keep our minds right and stay humble.”
