Four years ago in Lindale, basketball coaches David Stephenson and Jim Williams squared off as coaches of opposing teams.

Today, they both work for the same school, and today, both Georgia Northwestern coaches are being honored as Co-Coaches of the Year for the TCSGAA conference.

Williams served as the head coach of the Lady Bobcats in this inaugural season of varsity competition.

He guided his seven-player squad from down 17 points in the second half of the conference title game, to a 72-65 win over West Georgia Tech for the state crown.

“This was our first year ever,” said Williams. “Wow, what a way to start it all off.”

Stephenson just wrapped up his fourth year as the men’s head coach.

Despite playing with only seven players for most of the season, the Bobcats finished third in conference.

“We had a bit of a rebuilding year this season,” he explained. “In the end, I feel we finished strong. This team had plenty of excuses to quit, but they didn’t. If I knew I could only have seven guys on the roster by the end of the season, they would have been the seven I wanted to be left with.”

Williams shared his honors with the Kenny Hill of West Georgia Tech, while Stephenson shared his award with Niki Okolovitch of West Georgia Tech.

Stephenson was the first coach of the old Northwestern Tech Mustangs while Williams served the same role for the old Coosa Valley Tech Bruins.