By Jeff Moeller, freelance correspondent
In middle school, Josh Mock felt he needed to make a change in his game, primarily his 5-foot-10, 115-pound physique. So once he reached his freshman year at Richmond Hill, Mock adopted a different approach and noticed the results on and off the court.
“Back then, I never got the minutes I wanted because everyone was more physically developed than me,” reflected Mock. “Since freshman year, I’ve been consistent in the weight room and put on 40 pounds. “My bench has gone up to 230 (pounds) and squat to 315. I grew from 5-10 to 6-2 my sophomore year. Overcoming the obstacle of being undersized has been I think one of my biggest accomplishments and allowed me to have a more impactful presence on the court.”
This year, Mock has played an integral role as the Wildcats’ starting shooting guard, serving as their leading scorer averaging 14 points per game as well as grabbing five rebounds per contest. He has doubled his scoring average from last year (7.0 ppg), and bumped up his rebound total (3.5). Mock sees his role clearly defined, and he will play his part to help turn the Wildcats’ fortunes around in the final stretch of the season. Richmond Hill began the week with an overall 8-9 record and a 1-4 Region 1 Class AAAAAA slate.
“I see my role at this point in the season as being a leader every practice and every game, through the wins, and the losses,” stressed Mock. “I often place blame on myself for losses as I feel I can always be better, and I think that comes with the role that I’ve taken on.
“This team has seen a lot of adversity, and it’s a team effort to make sure that we stay connected.”
Head coach Bill Henderson has been appreciative of Mock’s drive and determination.
“Josh has really stepped up as a leader this year,” emphasized Henderson. “He’s worked extremely hard on the court and off, and he has really established himself as a player that we count on.”
The Wildcats posted a 6-3 mark in December, and Mock is confident he and his teammates can regain that stance.
“December was a great month for us, and we found a lot of success early in the season,” stated Mock. “I wouldn’t say we’ve had any negative change that has caused some recent losses, if anything we’ve gotten players back like Brett Mock who was injured, and Marki Boone, who was ineligible, who have been contributing positive court time recently.”
Henderson also is optimistic that his team can play well down the stretch.
“I feel good about how we’re playing right now in terms of competitiveness and togetherness,” beamed Henderson. “The guys are playing hard and defending, but the next step for us is learning how to close — getting quality shots, taking care of the ball, and being disciplined late.
Those are the biggest areas we need to improve on as we hit this final stretch of the regular season.
“We pride ourselves on playing great defense and executing on the offensive end, but we’ve had stretches where we haven’t rebounded defensively well enough, which hurts our defense, and we’ve turned the basketball over, which hurts our offense.”
Like his coach, Mock is positive the Wildcats can make a last-season run. They were in the midst of a three-game losing streak when they traveled to Southeast Bulloch Tuesday. Richmond Hill will host Valdosta Friday in a regional matchup.
“What has changed is the difficulty of the schedule, as region one games are the norm now, and every game is competitive,” said Mock.
“Every game is winnable, and we’ve proved that. We just have to buy into staying connected and believing that we’re capable of beating any team, because we’ve proven we’re able to beat the ‘better’ teams in the region.”
Henderson also likes his team’s chances.
"We have a great group of guys, and I’m really proud to be their coach,” boasted Henderson.” They’re talented, connected, and have a chance to do some really special things. They know they haven’t always played up to their standards and expectations, but I’m confident they’ll continue to push each other and grow as we close out the regular season.”