One of the most illustrious high school basketball careers in Baldwin County history came to a close recently when the John Milledge Academy Trojans fell in the Final Four two weeks ago.

Senior Andrew Prestwood averaged 24 points, three rebounds, three assists, and just under three steals per game in a spectacular farewell campaign. Prestwood was almost always the answer to the question: Who’s going to put points on the board when the Trojans need them most? The truth of the matter is that he was the team’s big ticket to back-to-back Final Fours and JMA’s first region championship in boys’ basketball since 1991.

Coach David Gallagher says he and his star player have gotten incredibly close throughout his tenure at John Milledge.

“Our relationship has definitely grown closer and closer over the last couple of years,” the coach said. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Andrew over the past three years. As a coach what a blessing it’s been to have guys like Andrew and others that we’ve had that just love the game of basketball and love to compete on a daily basis. It’s really a blessing and it’s made coaching a whole heck of a lot of fun the last three years.”

Prestwood was already an extremely dangerous player on the floor averaging better than 20 points per game in each of his previous two seasons, but added a new wrinkle this year that kept defenses on their toes. Opponents who had gotten used to seeing Prestwood pull up for a jumper from the outside were unpleasantly surprised when the senior zipped to the basket.

“I didn’t really have to rely on jump shots this past year as I did in previous years,” Prestwood said. “I got faster and stronger so going to the basket was a lot of easier this year.”

That increased strength came into play on countless occasions when he would take on significant contact near the basket, but still release a mind-boggling shot attempt that would find its way to the hole.

“He’s definitely gotten bigger, faster, and stronger every year so using his quickness and speed to just not settle but get the best shot he can get every time — that kind of means having the M.O. of getting to the rack,” Gallagher said.

The high point of Andrew’s (and the team’s) season undoubtedly came Feb. 17 when the Trojans faced Westminster for the Region 4-AAA championship. The Wildcats had stolen the championship from JMA the year before, but Andrew was not about to let that happen again. Anything said about his performance that night could not possibly do it justice, but being there everyone knew they were seeing something special. In a game that ended 53-49 in the Trojans’ favor Prestwood willed his team to the victory by scoring 40 points.

“I started kind of cold early in the game,” Prestwood said recounting the experience. “I think I missed my first three shots, but then I want to say I hit four in a row, so everybody just continued to give it to me. Our team’s always been good at giving the ball to someone who’s on.”

As if 40 points and a region championship weren’t enough, the now two-time All-County Player of the Year surpassed 2,000 points for his career in an absolutely monumental moment in the game. Down 38-33 with time winding down in the third quarter, Prestwood let loose 3-point attempt from way deep on the left wing that fell true and had the home crowd going crazy. The attempt was from so far out that he was only a couple of steps away from taking his seat at the quarter break.

What’s even more impressive about his season is the fact that every team knew going in that Andrew was the guy they had to stop if they wanted to have a chance against JMA on the floor. It was a task that few accomplished, and Prestwood says he had grown accustomed to the added attention coming into his final season. Opposition throughout the state playoffs threw junk defenses such as the box-and-one at Prestwood hoping to slow him down, but to no avail.

“Andrew did a great job of knowing as long as we execute a couple screens that he’s going to end up having two guys on him,” said Gallagher. “Once the other guys recognized that we were getting layups and inside weak side wide open looks because they were keying off of him. He still got his points somehow, but we did an excellent job of not only him but his other teammates just knowing where to step up and get good looks off of that kind of defense.”

For his accomplishments as a senior, Prestwood was selected to play in the GISA vs. SCISA All-Star Game last weekend. The Georgia team led by Coach Gallagher came out on top of a 110-103 shootout. Andrew shined bright amongst fierce competition by putting up 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc and said he enjoyed playing with and against some of the best athletes in Georgia and South Carolina.

“It’s a whole different game when you’ve got that much skill on that court,” Prestwood said. “It’s a different animal; it’s a different pace. It was definitely a privilege and honor to play in it. I got to play with some guys that I used to play against and it was fun.”

The all-star’s plans for after graduation are currently up in the air, as he says he has some workouts scheduled with a couple of colleges this spring. No matter what he decides to do at the next level, Andrew can leave knowing he absolutely left his mark on the Milledgeville basketball scene.