February 13, 2026 — Friday serves up the week-ending gameday and the last installment of our five-part “A Week in the Life of Cobb Basketball” series. In keeping with the excitement and energy of a Friday night game, today’s segment offers up a double dose of player perspective, featuring two student-athletes. We followed players on off days in Monday and Wednesday articles, and we tagged along with a head coach on a gameday in Tuesday’s article. Now we gain insight from those inside the game as they wake up, move through the day, and ultimately take the court in competition.
Shekinah Hurst is a junior Team Captain and shooting guard for the Pebblebrook Falcons. She is averaging more than 10 points a game this season, and if the defense doesn’t check her, she can make the net cords sing from behind the 3-point line. That’s fitting, because Shekinah is also a multi-talented student in the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts (CCCEPA). She can just as easily wow an audience with her music as she can scoring buckets.
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Will Griffis is a 6-foot-5 senior center for the Lassiter Trojans. He is averaging 7.7 points per game and 7 rebounds per game, but his contributions are felt far beyond the gym floor. Will is also President of Lassiter’s National Honor Society chapter and their Fellowship of Christian Athletes group. Clearly, he is a leader in all phases – athletically, academically, and socially.
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Shekinah has the earlier alarm, so she gets things started.
Day: Friday (gameday)
Location: Hurst family home
Player: Shekinah Hurst
Time: 6:10 a.m.
“I’m out of bed and go to check on my sister to see if she needs anything. She just had surgery, so I sit with her in case she needs anything. Once I am done with her, I go back to my room and finish some homework I started last night.”
Shekinah showers and dresses, and since it’s a gameday, the outfit is business casual. It’s a visual representation of it being a workday.
Several miles north, Will’s day has begun as well. After getting ready, he drives to school early to prepare for the day. That preparation begins with some quiet reflection sitting in his car.
Location: Lassiter High School parking lot
Player: Will Griffis
Time: 7:15 a.m.
“Once I get to school, I take some time for my daily Bible reading. I read one of the Psalms to get my day started right.”
Location: Lassiter High School
Player: Will Griffis
Time: 7:45 a.m.
“I hit the gym to get some morning shooting in. Today, I put in extra work on free throws.”
When school begins, both athletes transform into academics. Will tackles Statistics, but not the kind seen in a scorebook. Shekinah’s first class period reflects her bent towards the performing arts. She starts her school day in the piano lab, working on the notes and tempo of the song “Standing in the Need of Prayer.” The two athletes living the line between rigor and rhythm.
The second period sees the two roles reverse somewhat. Shekinah moves into a traditional classroom, but Will finds himself performing.
Location: Lassiter High School
Player: Will Griffis
Time: 9:30 a.m.
“We’re having a pep rally today to celebrate both winter and spring sports. The basketball team had a 3-point contest and a dunk contest, then one of my teammates and I spoke to everyone about our upcoming games.”
Location: Pebblebrook High School
Player: Shekinah Hurst
Time: 10:01 a.m.
“It’s Honors Literature 3. We watch a few chapters of The Great Gatsby movie, then we proceed to read the book and do assignments.”
As their school day progresses, Shekinah and Will have several moments that reflect the kinds of students they are. Each of them displays a conscientiousness about humanity and their potential to improve it.
Location: Pebblebrook High School
Player: Shekinah Hurst
Time: 10:45 a.m.
“I have to go to the gym to take yearbook pictures for Sources of Strength. Sources of Strength is a program where teens help their peers address mental health issues by coming together, helping each other, and doing activities together.”
Location: Lassiter High School
Player: Will Griffis
Time: 11:30 a.m.
“I have a presentation in class for a year-long project update. It’s about prison basketball programs and the effects they have on maximum security prisons’ recidivism rates. Recidivism is repeating criminal behavior after being released from prison. I’m conducting a survey on individuals at a South Carolina prison and analyzing results.”
Basketball certainly has many different impacts on our society, and Will hopes it is a factor that provides incarcerated individuals with the incentive to change.
Lunchtime arrives at both Pebblebrook and Lassiter. Shekinah gathers friends and teammates around a lunch table and eats nachos. Will and his teammates take their lunch in front of a monitor, but not for entertainment.
Location: Lassiter High School
Player: Will Griffis
Time: 12:30 p.m.
“During my lunch period, I go to watch game film with my teammates. It’s just a part of preparing for tonight’s game.”
Post-lunch classes fill both players’ schedules before they can make the mindset change to solely basketball. Being a senior, that moment comes sooner for Will.
Location: Lassiter High School
Player: Will Griffis
Time: 2:30 p.m.
“It’s time for after-school shooting. I took more time shooting free throws, but also worked out with my ball-handling and finishing."
Location: Lassiter High School
Player: Will Griffis
Time: 3:30 p.m.
“I go into the training room for treatment and icing. I iced my Achilles, which has been injured this year, so I’ve had to continue to manage it with treatment.”
While Will gets some extra court time, Shekinah is still in student mode. However, her fifth-period class brings a return to a music sheet.
Location: Pebblebrook High School
Player: Shekinah Hurst
Time: 3:38 p.m.
“It’s my last class of the day. It’s Vocal class and singing. Once I’m done here, it will be time to head to the locker room for my pregame meal.”
At 4:30 p.m., Shekinah’s mom provides the pregame meal for the Pebblebrook girls’ basketball team. Today’s treat is chicken and cheese quesadillas.
At the same time in the Lassiter gym, Will and his teammates gather for a walkthrough on the court. They follow that by watching more film, focusing on their opponent’s baseline and sideline out-of-bounds plays. Then they return to the court to walk through their own plays. Eventually, they grab their pregame meal of subs from Jersey Mike’s before boarding the bus at 5:30 p.m. to travel to their away game. The bus arrives in time to watch the girls’ varsity game.
Shekinah’s girls’ team has a home game, so they won’t be taking a bus today.
Location: Pebblebrook High School
Player: Shekinah Hurst
Time: 6:00 p.m.
“It’s game time!”
Shekinah’s team does not have a great showing and loses to South Cobb. Still, Pebblebrook Head Coach Shani Jones is proud of how Shekinah played.
“Shekinah provides us with a calmness,” Jones said after the game, “Her ability to remain cool under pressure helps guide the development of our young team. Tonight, she helped pace us versus the pressure with her trustworthiness and determination.”
After their game, Shekinah stays to watch the boys’ game. Meanwhile, Lassiter’s boys’ game is getting underway in Woodstock.
Location: Woodstock High School
Player: Will Griffis
Time: 7:30 p.m.
“It’s game time. Tonight is an important region opponent.”
Will’s team suffers the same fate as Shekinah’s. While his team didn’t play well, Will had a good game, scoring 13 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and adding two blocks. He would trade his personal stats, however, for a team win.
As Will rides the team bus back to Lassiter, Shekinah is helping to clean and clear out the Pebblebrook concession stand at 9:50 p.m.
Both players arrive home between 10:15 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.. It has been a long day, but now they have a weekend to recover.
Likewise, it has been a busy five days in our series “A Week in the Life of Cobb Basketball.” The stated goal of this series was to shine a spotlight on the unseen preparation behind a Cobb Schools basketball season. The commitment and dedication of the student-athletes and coaches are commendable and worth sharing. Hopefully, a greater appreciation for all they do has been gained.
h/t non-branded, Lassiter photos provided by Audrey Moss/Moss Media
