Closing Thoughts after Day Two of the Pizza Hut Invitational Tournament

Looking back at Day Two at the Pizza Hut Invitational Tournament, we had the following results with the shocker of:(One part of the Day Two news is that both #1’s, Greensboro Day and Northwest Guilford, are gone after Round Two at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center.)
Northern Guilford 53
Greensboro Day School 51
…..
*****We knew the NG boys would play well, but could they take out the defending champs? They did and now Northern has a team in the finals for the first time ever at the Pizza Hut Invitational…..

Jonathan Frye was doing a ton of things to help the NG Nighthawk cause and he along with Dylan Berry gave the young Nighthawks so critical senior leadership…..*****

Grimsley 60
Northeast 50
….I told Tom Keller of the News and Record after the games were complete today, that it could have easily been Greensboro Day and Northeast Guilford in the boy’s finals on Saturday night. NEG led Grimsley 35-25 at the half and then Grimsley out-scored the Rams 35-15 in the second half…..

How much will the injury of Burrell Brown effect Grimsley in the finals on Saturday night. The last time Grimsley was in the finals was 1997 and their topped Eastern Guilford for the title that year and the Whirlies’ MVP in the Championship game was Walker Holt…

With the girls it was:
Page 54
Northwest Guilford 41
….Both #1 seeds are gone with NWG falling on the girls side and GDS going down in the boys bracket….

Smith 51
Northern Guilford 41
…..You never know which Smith girls team will show up, but the right for the Golden Eagles sure was at the Coliseum this afternoon…..

20 thoughts on “Closing Thoughts after Day Two of the Pizza Hut Invitational Tournament

  1. Women’s Basketball:

    I watched the Smith-Northern Game today and I can tell you one thing: Smith is a much better “TEAM.” The Coffer girl is pretty good but she was shut down today scoring only 4pts. Northern has definitely played a cupcake schedule up to this point with Smith being their only truly talented opponents. This Northern team is good but in my opinion not good enough to beat Smith. The Smith Girls are quicker, faster, stronger, tougher, and more talented as a whole and they play team defense.

    ***The game that Smith lost was to Wakefield (Raleigh) and three Smith starters did not play and one played with injury. I’m not sure if any team in the state is even 20pts better than them.***

    I also watched the Northwest-Page game today. Page out played them tonight from beginning to end. It really had nothing to do with what NW was doing wrong but the tremendous job that Page was doing on both offense and defense. Northwest suited up its usual starting lineup and played a good game but were unable to match the effort from Page.

    The championship game tomorrow should be a good one!

    ***I’M SO TIRED OF THE NORTHERN/NORTHWEST GUILFORD FAN FAITHFUL MAKING EXCUSES FOR THEIR SHORTCOMINGS. THEY BOTH PLAYED GOOD GAMES BUT WERE BEATEN BY GOOD TEAMS. ITS TIME TO STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR WHY THESE SCHOOLS LOSE GAMES AND ACCEPT THAT THEY MAY NOT BE ALL THEY WERE HYPED UP TO BE***

  2. ***The game that Smith lost was to Wakefield (Raleigh) and three Smith starters did not play and one played with injury. I’m not sure if any team in the state is even 20pts better than them.***. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. I thought Smith lost…BIG…to HPC. on dec..1st. anyone have that score…I’m pretty sure it was more than 20.

  3. Smith-Northern game was two out of control teams on the floor-the championship game was yesterday & Page won. Page outplayed NW in the second half. Congrats to them. Page has a coach, that’s why they were able to win this one after losing to NW earlier in the season by 28. However, if Page isn’t hitting outside shots (like verses Ragsdale) they can have a tough time. Unless the stars line up bigtime, Smith will not beat Page. Smith is one of those teams that would rather try to look cool & lose, than do what it takes & win. So add another L to Smith’s record. Northern is way overrated & will also need the stars to align to beat NW. Watch the Coffer girl, she actually has to look at the ball when she dribbles in the open court. And no 30 point game again today for her. So add another L to Northern’s record also.

  4. After watching the game last night and thinking about it I think Northern did a good job in preparing for GDS. GDS had their worst game of the season which will probably be a wake up call to their team. There were some goood players on the court and sports go you can not play up to your potential every night. GDS will be just fine. I can not wait for the rematch. I am sure GDS coaching staff is disappointed but life goes on. Both teams keep working hard and get better for the playoffs.

  5. GDS coaching staff was out of control after they lost to Northern. They displayed poor sportsmanship after the game. GDS is not as good as the media makes them to be. The refs did miss some calls on both ends but the game was well control by the refs. GDS if the three is not falling for them they are in trouble like yesterday. I see why they don’t want to play ORMA again if I was coach Johnson I would’t either. The 1st meeting I was there GDS did win but it was early now ORMA is not the same team. GDS looked bad and the coaching staff needs to respect the refs and the fans. If GDS is allowed to play in the little four ORMA should be asked to play. And watch the attendance goes up yesterday was not a good day for attendance and they need to do something to get more people coming out and scouts. GDS is not the answer sorry!!!!! The refs let the kids play and northern won the battle.

  6. GDS beat your ORMA. ORMA when they win win by little. The GDS coaches have forgotten more than mos coaches know. Their recors showsx it. If you had any knowledge of high school basketball you shold know why they aren’t playing ORMA. They can only pay a certain number of games. NCIHSAA has rules ORMA HAS NONE.

  7. I was also very disappointed. We were very predictable, but if we had played with the same intensity the whole game that we did in spurts, then the outcome would have been different. Our staff is used to coaching when they are ahead, so we learned a lot about their style ( not relly pleased with it) last night. Actions at the end were totally unnecessary, I agree! I am just thankful that Northern does not have Lawson, Neil, and anyone else that would be eligible.
    The most laughable thing was that they won with only two assistant coaches—normally they have 7 or 8.
    Congratulations to Northern. As an aside, I felt the referees did a good job no matter what our coaches or fans thought.
    Good game for the fans.

  8. Neither the GDS boys or coaches showed up yesterday. The coaches either made poor decisions throughout the game or GDS only has about 6 or 7 guys that are floor ready. There were several guys on the floor that should have been benched due to poor play such as #1- Dorsett which is playing scared and cannot create off the dribble and #44- Williams which is 6’7″ but playing more like 5’7″.

    This is the worst GDS boys team that I have seen in several years. The big guys play small and non aggressive and the guards cannot penetrate or create their own shots under tight pressure. This team will likely lose 3-4 more times this year and have one of the worth records for a Freddy Johnson coached team in over 10 years.

    It is clear that Northern, Dudley and ORMA are far better teams than GDS this year.

  9. If Northern, GDS, ORMA and Dudley played a two day tournament next weekend my money would be on GDS and I have seen a lot of hoops this year. Also, I am very impressed with Northern.

  10. Dale, we were without our 6’6″ center, who transfered from Dudley by the way, and we still won. Just think if we had him playing last night. Be careful what you wish for, he will be back for the next match up with GDS. Both teams exibited great defense. NG just made better plays and better shots. You forget it was a close game and it could have gone either way in the end. Lots of things could have made a difference, but that’s the game of basketball. In the end NG played a better game. Congrats go out to the Nighthawks!!!! Way to go guys.

  11. Cat you got to be crazy!!! GDS would not score over 50 points and they would not play. GDS brain wash kids to play in there system and that does not make them better players @ the next level. Look @ the Thomas kid @ state, the best player on last year team did not get any offers. GDS does what Dudley is doing taking kids from other schools they took eastern guilford best player and reclass him. Real talk GDS is not good @ all. Over rated sorry!!! Orma, Dudley,northern, GDS that’s the order of the best teams in the area.

  12. I have to admit, the armor is very tarnished—-a 5 point win over a mediocre ( @ best ) NEG team does not bode well for 2010. I am not seeing the players that we are bring into the program getting better which was once the case. I truly felt that bringing Robby into the program would breathe some life into things, but it’s not happening. He’s not hungry enough ( no fire ) and the other three coaches may have peaked ( or @ least their teaching and ability to bring in kids with potential has peaked)—maybe our success was always tied to the aters a, Vic sapp, and Bob Smith. After all, Johnny Thomas was the last big-time recruit we had and he’s not getting any PT @ NCState. Who knows the answer, but we are going to struggle until something happens. Actually I’m glad we aren’t playing Dudley, ’cause they would wax us, and they are not very good either.

  13. All teams are getting better. All players are getting better across the board. If the tournament would be played again next weekend I am sure we would see different results. I would recommend not critizing Greensboro Day, but you should give praise to the other teams that are raising their level of play.

  14. Really funny to see you ignore 25+ years of history in turning out first class young men and first class basketball players. Freddy will beat you with his kids and/or beat you with yours.

    How many young men have had a chance to play at any level in college because of the GDS program? These coaches work with their guys on and off the court to become good at hoops and good at life. Name me another school that can do that over the years.

    This years team is very good. They will win most of their remaining games. Again, the proper order is

    1-GDS
    2-Northern
    3-ORMA/Dudley/Westchester

  15. B-ball fan…guess you don’t know what you are talking about….NG girls beat NW and the stars weren’t even aligned! Not a L, but a W! Stop being a hater!….Smith girls proved you wrong also….try another sport!

  16. It always amazes me how people will “guarantee” wins and losses in hig school sports. Sometimes we should just sit back and enjoy the game. People who criticize the kids via this outlet are either immature or are actually other students. I would like to believe that the adults in our community would like to see all of the kids succeed.

  17. so, you really think your center will be back for the rematch? he will probably be registered @ ORMA by this afternoon ( haha!). just kidding,!!!!!!
    he is probably getting ready for his 3rd school in less than 3 years as we speak.

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