In a tightly contested game that came down to the final seconds, it was the Scott Elementary School Rams who came out victorious in the Usher-Collier Elite Elementary Basketball Championship on Thursday, April 23, at Douglass High School.
The Rams defeated the Usher-Collier Elementary School Lions, 28-25, in a rematch of the 2024 championship game.
“We worked so hard for this,” Scott Elementary School basketball coach Oneisha Smith said. “The practicing every day paid off and I’m super proud of my team.”
Photos by: Jessica Mynatt
The title game wrapped up a four-month season featuring 18 teams from elementary schools representing each cluster community in Atlanta Public Schools (APS). The league includes teams from Toomer Elementary School, Burgess-Peterson Academy, Miles Elementary School, Peyton Forest Elementary School. F.L. Stanton Elementary School, Deerwood Academy, Springdale Park Elementary School, Parkside Elementary School, Perkerson Elementary School, Fickett Elementary School, M.A. Jones Elementary School, and Boyd Elementary School.
“This is an organized basketball league that has kind of been a grassroots effort started by a community of believers,” Usher-Collier principal Jerry Parker said. “The students feel like they’re all-stars, and this gives them that opportunity to shine in a space that they normally wouldn’t, especially in an elementary setting. It gives them something to aspire to.”
The championship game, which was held the Friday before students begin Georgia MAP testing, was more than just a basketball game. By introducing competitive athletics into the student experience at the elementary school level, students gain another opportunity to build on the skills that will prepare them to be successful students and citizens when they eventually move on to their next grade level or school.
“It is a basketball game and a championship game, but it’s really much more than that for us,” Scott Elementary School principal Lami Ojezua said. “From our lens, you’re seeing a behavior incentive program, an attendance incentive program, making sure that the work habits are where they need to be.”
Scott Elementary School was one of the first four schools to join the co-ed basketball league when it started eight years ago in the Usher-Collier gymnasium. Now, the league has grown and has become a focal point where student development, family engagement, and community engagement come together to benefit students.
“Typically, with the district, [competitive athletics] starts in middle school, but we understand the type of character traits and everything that goes along with sports and athletics,” Ojezua said. “We know that it’s important for them to build in elementary school and get them hooked into the grit, the perseverance, the hard work, and really having that winner’s mindset all the way through. Why would we wait for middle school when we can go ahead and foster that now, in elementary school.”
The basketball program also extends the school day and provides students with another opportunity to receive after school tutorial. It also introduces students to the importance of working with a team, having good sportsmanship, and developing their social and emotional learning.
“We try to encourage collegiality and make sure that the academics are still first and foremost,” Principal Parker said. “This [league] has been our baby. It’s good to see it grow and flourish the way that it has.”
2026 Champions Scott Elementary School Rams Roster:
- 1 – Kelvin Bigsby
- 2 – Xaviee Booker
- 3 – Isaiah Bogle
- 6 – James Elder
- 7 – Ethan Luckett
- 8 – Osei Gentry
- 9 – Cesar Keith
- 10 – Wall Aiden Waller
- 12 – Rebecca Burger
- 13 – Harbin Burch
- 14 – Deontae McCloud
- 30 – Randolph Aiden Randolph
2026 Runner-Up Usher-Collier Elementary School Lions Roster:
- 0 – Jordan Jackson
- 5 -Kiyan Freeman
- 2 – Bryce Clemmons
- 11 – Curtis Green
- 35 – Tykell Storne
- 30 – DeAndre Mitchell
- 20 – Abraham Peeples
- 24 – Rudy Johnson
- 8 – Journee Thomas
- 1 – Samir Hall
- 10 – Dyanna Smith
- 23 – Ari Jackson