*****On what has to be an Historic Night:Guilford County goes 5 for 5 tonight and has Five Team in the NCHSAA Regional Finals on Saturday…..*****
Regionals Round One….*****So far NG girls and boys win, NWG girls win, EG boys win and SWG boys win and now the NG boys win too….*****
This just in from our High Point Bureau:Southwest Guilford boys 63, Hoke County 51…Brandon Lamberth with 20 points and Keyshaun Langley with 17 to lead the C’boys….Now reporting from our Orange County extension service, Northern Guilford boys 56, Hillsborough Orange 48….Trey Johnsen leads the NG Nighthawks with 24 points….
Finals:
Northern Guilford girls 54, Rocky Mount 44
Elissa Cunane with 24 points, 20 rebounds and six blocked shots to pace the NG Nighthawks…NG vs. Jacksonville in the Girls 3-A Regional Final on Saturday in Fayetteville….More to come on this game…
Cunane with the 24 points plus:Kassie Robikawicz 10 points, Mercedes Wampler 9 pts./5 steals, Kelli Lomax with 9 pts. and Sami Furlough with 4 points for NG Nighthawks…
Rocky Mount scoring:Mya Pittman 12 points, Keyanna Spivey 11, Michelle Gainey 6, Asheley Hatfield 6, Shelby Meeks 5, and Vanessa Ward 2 points….
End of 1st Q:NG 19, RM 9…Halftime:NG 24, RM 20…End of 3rd Q:NG 38, RM 33…Final:NG 54, RM 44…
Rocky Mount took the lead in the second half 31-29 with 3:20 to play in the 3rd Quarter and then NG had a run of 8-2, to move back in front 37-31 and the Nighthawks never looked back….The scored was tied at 26-26 early in the second half, but once NG fell behind momentarily at 31-29, Rocky Mount never had a chance to move back in front again….
Key to the game for the Northern Guilford Nighthawks, NG Coach Kim Furlough said it was the team’s Defense, with solid effort turned in by Mercedes Wampler and Kelli Lomax….In the post game, NG center Elissa Cunane said the Nighthawks’ Defense made them winners and Cunane said the team got a huge boost from Wampler and Lomax….
On some of the missed free throws, Cunane said Coach Furlough told the team “to keep your head up and the shots will fall”….On some of Cunane missed shots from the field it was the same message from Coach Furlough, “Keep shooting, the shots will fall”…..And they did…
Cunane said they were expecting a challenge and the Nighthawks defense stepped up and Coach Furlough said that we saw two of the best defensive teams in the state on the court tonight and she was not surprised at all and she expected Rocky Mount to come out and play the type of defense that they did and she was pleased that her team was up to the challenge….Coach Furlough mentioned that her Nighthawks stayed composed and that were “made to long”….Long minutes that is, with the Nightahawks only going 7 deep and every starting player from Cunane, to Wampler, to Lomax, to Furlough and on to Robikawicz all knowing that they will have to go the “extra mile/minutes” and with the rest they had after Saturday’s sectional final win, Northern was rested and ready tonight…..Coach Furlough said her team always gives the “Gut it out” type effort….
Coach K, as in Coach Kim, also told us that Mercedez Wampler and Kassie Robikawicz did an “exceptional job” out front as the guards in the Nighthawk defense and that Mercedes and Kassie were able to “chop up and break down” the Rocky Mount offense before it could really get started, for most of the evening….(Had to very careful about RM’s outside shooting, a very dangerous three-point shooting team.)…The key was to cut off, disrupt, and not allow clear passing across and through the NG defense…..
Coach Furlough also told us it was sure good to have Kelli Lomax back in that Nighthawk lineup, after Kelli spent a few weeks in the Concussion Protocol and Kelli was and is starting to look like her “old self” again and with that being said about the NG senior, that is good news for the Nighthawks….
More to come on this game, as we turn our attention to some of the other games going on this evening/tonight….
Northwest Guilford girls 63, Ardrey Kell 48
Cayla King 24 points, Elizabeth Kitley 16 points, Lindsay Gauldin 13 points, and Thalia Carter 10 points…..
Final:Eastern Guilford 62, Northern Nash 52
Northern Nash boys 45-42 over Eastern Guilford with 5:30 left in the game at Nash…
End of 3rd Q:Northern Nash 41, Eastern Guilford 38
Halftime:Nash 25, EG 24…
End of 1st Q:Nash 17, EG 15
Wow 5 teams and 5 wins. At least one will be playing for a ring next Saturday since EG and NG battle each other. Any chance for a Freedom vs NG in both men’s and women’s. I’m hoping for a rematch of Vikings and Millbrook. Good luck to all the teams and great job tonight.