HS Hoops Tonight with the Cougars and Bengals set to battle at GDS

High Point Christian Academy(22-0) at Greensboro Day School(23-1)
If you can’t get in, we will have the game for you on AM950 radio and it will also be on www.wpetam950.com…We also plan to have updates on that game, so you can catch them while at your game, by checking in here at Greensborosports.com, with Don Moore on the post…..Pre-game radio is 6:30 and the tip-off is set for 7pm at the Greensboro Day School….

Also this evening….
Smith at Southeast Guilford….Very big boys and girls….The Smith girls gave SEG their first loss of the season and in boys, Smith is (5-2) and SEG(4-3) in the conference….Smith wants to hold down the #2 spot and keep working toward at shot at #1 Page next Tuesday at PAGE…
Grimsley at Western Guilford….Both boys teams in dire need of a win and the WG girls have to have this game to still be in the hunt/lurk….
Southern Alamance at Dudley…..SA girls do pose a threat to the Panthers at (6-1), but Dudley will look to put the brakes on Burnett and Boggs as much as they possibly can…Dudley boys are real hungry and Sam Hunt should push his team out front early and then let the his teammates take over….
Asheboro at Northeast Guilford…Huge game for NEG boys, as Asheboro comes in at (16-1) and the Blue Comets only loss was to North Forsyth, a team everyone in the Mid-Piedmont 3-A is trying to catch and beat….
Northern Guilford at Eastern Guilford….The girls game went into overtime last time and the boys battle should be equally as good, since for EG’s Brandon Hairston and Adam Gunn, this might be their last battle with Northern Guilford for basketball and the NG boys have been red-hot recently behind Chandler, Logan, McBeth, Mullikin, Downing, Markley and Prileau….
Southwest Guilford at Northwest Guilford…This ought to be a lot of fun, as in this ought to be a war, in both the girls and boys games….Girls, SWG has started to assert themselves and in boys, with recent injuries to the SWG Cowboys, this gives NWG a good chance to pull something off at home….In the girls game, Lovette will control the pace and in the boys, NWG will probably try and slow this one down and not let the Cowboys run….Matt P. for NWG can control the pace from the point and if Cody Hylton starts hitting, then SWG will have to get the same game from Jordan Hanner and the Bridges brothers outside and Cotton and Daye will have to rule the lane….

Also this evening….
High Point Andrews at Wheatmore
Trinity School at Caldwell Academy
Christian Faith at New Garden Friends School
Gaston Christian at Wesleyan
Bishop McGuinness at South Stokes
Elon School at Westchester Country Day

MORE on the High Point Christian Academy at the Greensboro Day School TONIGHT at 7pm…..

The HPCA Cougars are (22-0) and they survived a very tough test at the Greensboro Coliseum last Monday night, when they defeated Quality Education Academy 59-58, in OT…..

Greensboro Day has been on the way all season with their (23-1) record and the Bengals only loss was to the Christ School, by a score of 90-87….HPCA defeated Christ School 91-84….GDS played Christ School on the road and HPCA had the Greenies at home, in High Point….

You could go on and on, about the talent we will get the chance to see on Tuesday and with the Bengals, they have one of the top point guards in the state, in Jalen Ross and he has already committed to Eastern Michigan University…..The point guard for HPCA is Diante Baldwin and he can get to the rack/rim/basket in a hurry and Baldwin, like Ross, is a very good defender….The wings/what you would call two-guards, are outstanding in Reed Lucas for GDS and Jackson Kent for HPCA….Good matchup and not sure if they will be going face-to-face on Tuesday, but both are tall and they can shoot the three-ball as good as anybody around and that includes some adults, at least some I’ve seen in this town….If GDS were to put Reggie Dillard on Kent, that would give the Bengals a real strong cover-man on defense, but both teams will be expected to play some zone on Tuesday, to go along with their man-to-man schemes….Adjusting to the schemes, will be the key to the game….Split-second adjustments by the coaching staffs, will determine the outcome of this contest…

The inside battles with Michael Obacha and Chuck Ogbodo for HPCA and then Quayshad Williams and Julian Sampah(GDS) will be big in this game….Obacha and Ogbodo may have an edge…Both of the HPCA big men get around the basket so well, and they keep the ball alive and both Cougar big men give HPCA multiple chances to score, when the ball is live around the cylinder…Saw both Obacha and Ogbodo against Southwest Guilford and Quality Education and they both make things very active for HPCA on the inside…They, like Williams and Sampah, must stay out of foul trouble to become the keys to the game…It doesn’t happen very often, but GDS may have to go with Williams and Sampah on the court at the same time, to offset some of the combined efforts of Obacha and Ogbodo….Obacha plays with a ton of engery and very positive enthusiasm and he can keep you busy….At times Obacha almost becomes like a coach, in the manner in which he encourages his teammates…

The inside game will prove to be a big part of what happens Tuesday, unless the coaches decide to go with the smaller and quicker lineups…In the beginning both teams will have the option to run the ball up and down the court, or to slow it down, so they can see how the oppostion is reacting….I think HPCA will follow the GDS directive early on and play off of what the Bengals are trying to do…I think HPCA wants to be patient and hang in there and be around late and that the Cougars realize, they can’t come and blow Greensboro Day out of their own gymnasium….

Looking at other keys and matchups to follow, we talked about the point, the twos, the inside and now with more of the complimentary players….We had Ross, Dillard, Lucas, Williams and Sampah for GDS and then Baldwin, Kent, Obacha and Ogbodo for HPCA…Now you have to look closer at GDS with the tall lean shooter and defender Christian Hairston…He can be a difference maker and there is a very good chance that he will start…He plays like a wing-forward and GDS has several players in their system that fit that role….Hairston can kill you, since he can play the point and handle the ball, he plays off-guard and he can play the three-spot as in small forward…..At 6’7 Hairston can really help you on defense and could be a good man to put on Jackson Kent…If you have Hairston on Kent, you are matching up 6’7 on 6’7…..The Day School also has two more aces in the hole, who can take it to hole and both of these threats are just as good with their outside shooting, as they are inside, and that would be J.T. Terry as in one and then Jake White as the other…Terry can bury the three and he has gotten so much stronger in the past year and now he can go the hole and finish, as good as anyone else on the court, at any given time…Jake White may cause you to think you are looking at Reed Lucas…Both are long-range poppers and White has given GDS an extra-big boost this season…Minutes maybe 6-8 per game, but if you get 4-6 points in 6-8 minutes, that is real good…Another X-Factor for GDS would be if Montrell Goldston is available for his excellent defensive work, but he has been on the injured list in recent games….

HPCA has depth too, but it may be younger depth or just depth that hasn’t hit the headlines, as much as the GDS backups/reserves have….One of these other Cougar players will start, and we know Isiah Gill has filled that role many times this season and he gets help from Rick Mack, who provides a strong spark off of the Cougar bench….Mack is small, but he is very quick and HPCA has another guard that can play in Stevie Williams and Williams at times seems to be defender first and scorer second…..Joey McLean has hit for double-digits in many of the recent HPCA games and he can be counted on for at least 6 points per contest….HPCA has to get a complete night out of their bigs, because after Obacha and Ogbodo, they don’t have any help inside….If GDS were to get in trouble with Williams and Sampah, they can still drop down either Dillard or Hairston and they can help out inside…..Loads of talent getting ready to play in this game and overall, Greensboro Day seems to be a bit deeper….GDS must attack Baldwin, Kent, Obacha and Ogbodo on defense and that may need to be the order of attack…After those four, HPCA must dig down deep and find some resolve for their offensive productivity….

A very BIG GAME coming to Greensboro Day on Tuesday, with HPCA coming to town and will the experience factor favor the Bengals, or do the Cougars have the talent necessary to make their mark (23-0) when this game is complete???

(We will have game on AM950 radio….)