Humboldt's RJ, Ron Abernathy bond over basketball

Ron Abernathy knew that Humboldt’s final home game of the regular season was going to be tough for him. He’s not an emotional guy, but this was something different.

On Senior Night, he’d be walking his only son onto the court in front of a packed house.

“I’m not ready for it,” Ron said before the game. “We’ve had a tremendous career together, and I’m not ready for it.”

When the time came to walk RJ onto the court, Ron kept it together for the most part. He wiped his eyes a couple of times, but that was it. After a couple of minutes, the senior introductions were out of the way and it was time to play ball.

This season has been a special one for the Abernathys. Humboldt is 22-2 after beating Middleton 74-62 on Tuesday night, and its only two losses came in an out-of-state tournament.

The Vikings are led by a group of five seniors who all have aspirations of making it to Murfreesboro and winning the program's first state title since 2013. It makes it even more special that RJ is one of those seniors leading the team.

Ron has been coaching basketball in some capacity for more than 40 years. It’s what RJ grew up with, and because of his dad, it’s what he fell in love with.

RJ started playing when he was young, and his dad first coached him when he was in fourth grade. For the next nine years, outside of his eighth-grade year, the only head coach RJ knew was his dad.

“He’s definitely an old head,” RJ said. “He likes to do everything like it was done back in the day. You can tell the difference between young coaches now and him.

“He always tells us that this is not a democracy. It’s a dictatorship. He runs everything like he’s the king, and it honestly just makes it easier.”

Having the five seniors with RJ running the point has made Ron’s job much easier. While he’s still up coaching throughout the game, the pressure that he might have once felt isn’t there. The players know what he expects out of them, and this season, they’ve executed that game plan.

That senior core has been the key to Humboldt’s success. After losing in the quarterfinals two years ago, this team doesn’t want a repeat of that miserable night. Winning a state championship is the only way they see this season ending.

“It would be unreal. It would truly be a blessing,” Ron said. “Right now, I don’t see why we can’t make it to Murfreesboro and winning it all if we take care of business.”

RJ knows that the potential story waiting at the end is something that not many other players would have the chance of experiencing.

“Winning a state title would definitely be an unreal feeling,” RJ said. “One, to reach our goal of making it back to state would be awesome, but to win it under my father, it would just be a unique story that not many other people could tell.”

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Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com or 731-343-4923. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @joe_spears7.