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After nearly six months of waiting, the Calhoun Tigers boys basketball team was presented with its state championship rings Aug. 24.

The Tigers defeated Barbour County 64-61 in the Class 2A championship in February when Jerddarian Davison shot a 3-pointer with 1 second left on the clock.

Coach Ervin Starr was in pure shock when time ran out.

“At first it was surreal and I couldn’t really believe it,” Starr said. “It didn’t really set in until after I had left the court and got back to the postgame interview.

“We were playing for the memory of ‘Big John’ Williams, our sheriff that passed away early into the basketball season. It was also the fact that we had lost four starters and eight seniors off of the team the year before. No one thought we were going to make it to that point, much less the state championship. That’s what made it so special.”

Members of the team included Brown, Demareus Cheatham, Mason, Davison, Spencer Johnson, Tederius Scott, Jermain Benion, Jadarius Freeman and Rico James.

The Tigers were one of the last teams to receive their championship rings, but that didn’t make the moment any less special for the players.

“It was long overdue,” Starr said. “I think we were one of the last basketball teams to receive state championship rings, so we’ve been waiting for a while.”

This year, the team will be losing three of its starters from the 2019-2020 season.

“We’re just looking forward to building for next year,” Starr concluded.