The Final Assessment of Guilford County Girls High School Basketball for the 2012/2013 season

This has been a very interesting season and congratulations Page for making it to the Championship game. Now its time for report card time based on the season that was just completed. Some teams did a great job and their grades will reflect that and some did not. Its has nothing to do with likes or dislikes or stating that every team hustled to the best of their abilities. Its about performance or a lack of. Some teams were loaded and did not perform well and some over performed with less talent. Some were middle of the road and their grades will reflect that. The grades are not personal but hopefully it inspires both coaches and players to work harder to get a more favorable grade next year. Making the playoffs or not making it is not the determining factor but it does helps as well as winning the conference or conference playoffs. Running scores up on inferior teams does not help to raise grades. Schools will be ranked in sequential order.

1. Page 28-2 and winning the Conference , Conference Tournament and advancing to the State Championship bold well. They kept their momentum all year long and never gave into the likes of Dudley. They are now the best team the Metro. They had great Coaching from Coach Debbie Jones and her staff after a complete overall from a few staff members of a year ago. They were the most organized team in the area at every level. They had good scoring from Paris Kea whom averaged around 13.8 ppg and 5.5 apg, Kayla Johnson nearly 10 ppg, Bailey Kargo 7.5 ppg, Chelsey Coleman 8 ppg and 9 rpg and Debrisha Barnes 6 ppg,and 6 rpg. Great help from the bench from Hannah Talton and Vivian Polite. Final Grade: A+

2. Southeast Guilford 23-7 did a great job in post season play. They were well coached by Shawn Newton whom knocked off Page and the Nations number #11 ranked team Mallard Creek. South east beating Myers Park may have opened the door for Page to advance. Southeast ran out of gas against Page in the Regionals. Southeast got great effort from North Carolina A&T signee Kenya Hailey 14.5 ppg and Kara Shutt 12.6 ppg, Kayla Upshaw 8 ppg and help from B.Hardnett and a host of others. The strong showing in the playoffs and the win over Page raised there grade significantly Final Grade A-

3. Highpoint Andrews 25-2 season ended earlier than expected in the second round to East Davidson but the continued strong growth is well in place. Coach John Shearin has done an excellent job and they are one of the teams that not many 4A schools in this area will put them on their schedule. Ask Ben L. Smith whom dominated Northern Guilford during the TIMCO Tournament. Thewy have a strong returning squad that could compete for the State Championship next season. Imani Watkins 13.2 ppg, Santia Davis 13.8 ppg, October Campbell 9.9 ppg and freshmen Jazin Taylor 9.4 ppg were consistent all season long. All returns next season except Davis on the starting lineup. They will be one of the most exciting teams next season. Just think two years ago they could hardly win a game. Final Grade A-

4. Northern Guilford 29-2 had the best season ever. They dominated their conference and was the first to go undefeated in conference play since Eastern Guilford did it in 2010. Coach Furlough has done a great job and they have been consistent winners in the last few years. Many questioned their moxy when they were blown out at the TIMCO Tournament by Smith that finished 5th in Metro conference. However they regrouped and won the conference tournament and advance to the Regionals before losing to Chapel Hill. Alijah Grinage(the most underrated productive players in the area) led the team with 14.6 ppg Campbell signee Amanda Cofer 14.1,8rpg and led the city with 38 points in a playoff game and career best, Gabby Boyd 10.6 ppg with a career and season high 35 pts and Sydney Wilson 8.8 ppg gave Northern a balance attack. This team was capable of beating any team in this area including Page.. Coach Furlough should get coach of the year but will not get it because the city will give it to Pages Debbie Jones. Final Grade A-

5. Southwest Guilford 19-8 and undefeated in conference play was a great recourse after losing Zena Lovett ( Area player of the year & All State 2012) and Jessica Pone. Solid play from Brianna Burgins whose numbers of nearly 15.9 ppg were either on the same level or above many of the players in the area that the papers tend to promote. Aja Mott averaged a career high nearly 8 points and had a couple of games over 20.Kennedy Porter9.6 ppg did a solid job that help to keep everything in balance. Coach Bryan rallied this crew after a slow start to have a very good season. Even though they loss in the first round, no one expected them to go undefeated in conference play before losing to Northwest Guilford on a very questionable call in the conference tournament. Final Grade B+

6. Eastern Guilford 18-10 under first year coach Krystal Britton. Gone are the days of dominate players like Miranda Jenkins( Area Player of the Year 2011 & All State), Capricia Small, Amber Wall, Natasha Huntley, Amerijah Jamison (rebounding) but emerging players Callie Patterson 12 ppg, Ariel Shears 6 ppg and Nneka Walson 7 ppg the future continues to look bright . The Wildcats finished third in conference play 11-3. Team advanced to the second round of playoffs by beating Vance. Getting back to winning 20 or more games in a season and advancing in the playoffs which had become a known, should become another reality very soon under Coach Britton. B+

7. Southern Guilford 15-14 ended the season playing very well for the first time in over a decade. Advancing to the sectional finals was enough to help raise their grade. Coach Whitaker has a good squad but can no longer keep laboring under ” We are a young team tag”. Its time to win on a consistent basis and they are positioned to do that this coming year. The belief barrier must be raised and hopefully advancing to the sectionals will do that. It will be imperative that the Storm get off to a great start next season or self doubt could raise its ugly head. Hailey Chandler, Ariel Ellis, Kelena Morris and Chavon Stalling should provide a good nucleus this coming year. Final Grade B-

8. Northwest Guilford 15-12 finished strong by winning the conference tournament over Southwest Guilford 52-49. Coach Darlene Joyner must find away to teach this team to be consistent all season. They had strong play from Erin Stauton 10.6 , Brandi Burrell 9.6 ppg, Morgan Pointer 7.6 ppg. They finished the regular season 9-3 for second place but loss in the first round to Southeast Guilford. They should have a nucleus next season and improve on a much better record. Final Grade B

9. Dudley 20-8 did not finish the season well. No conference champs and no conference tournament champs. It was there for the taking but Page decided that it was theirs by winning four straight from the Panthers. The most talented team in the area with college scouts recruiting many of their players did not get the job done. Coach Frank Mcneil had several players that did improve starting with Kennedy Currie nearly 10 ppg and 10 rpg and Akela Maize 6’4 whom showed modest improvement from the year before with nearly 7 ppg and roughly 10 rpg. Mo Davis 12 ppg improved over the year before and showed scoring flashes from time to time. Dudley must get more improvement from the guard position or Page will dominate again next season with Kea and Kargo at the controls. They have some good young players that could play alot next year in Harris and Hairston. 20 wins seems like it deserves a higher grade but in a season where the brand of basketball was really not that good Dudley gets a Final Grade C-

10. Western Guilford, Smith, Grimsley, Northeast Guilford and a host of others have a lot of work to do: Please report to the Principal’s office for Summer School assignments.