We closed out the high school basketball season with our final hoops poll back on March 8th. Dudley won the State 3-A public school title and Greensboro Day School took the boys private school 3-A championship. The Bishop McGuiness girls went undefeated and grabbed the 1-A crown in their first year of public school competition.
In the overview of the season we saw many area teams show much improvement and the recent News and Record all-Area and all-Guilford teams gave us a good idea who the top local talents were for 2005/2006. The most improvement that I saw came from the Smith Golden Eagle boys. Coach Reggie Peace took a team that needed some direction and he gave his men the spark that made them one of the area’s top teams.
Smith was paced by Tavarus Alston and by Brian Wynn and the Eagles finished near the top spot for the Metro 4-A regular season and then went on to either win the conference tournament or take the top seed into the Playoffs. High Point Central had the coach of the year but Smith’s coach Peace should have been right there with Stan Kowalski.
Northeast Guilford showed much improvement but the Rams returned most of their guys from the previous season. Sam Grooms and Lamont Stokes formed a solid backcourt and Mezie Uzachukwu was a solid force on the inside.
Eastern Guilford was another Guilford County boys team that showed much promise in the recent season and although I didn’t see them in person, everything I read and saw about the Wildcats proved that they put the smoke on Reidsville this year. Tad Conner was the EG coach a few years back and it looks like Conner did not leave the cupboard bare at EG.
What do you as readers think? Who was the most improved team during the recent high school boys basketball season? Smith was a leader, Northeast made it all the way to the Regional Finals where they lost to Dudley for the 4th time in 2005/2006, Eastern Guilford showed their fans that the Wildcats now have a solid boys program too. Who was your team that shined this past season? What players made the biggest impression on you? Let’s keep this discussion on the front burner. Feedback is welcome in the Comment Box at the bottom of the story/blog……….
HP Central was by far the most improved team in the area, they just did not the playoff experience that alot of the other area teams have, the new coach will have them contending every year at the top, Armstrong at Central will be player of the yesr next year.
I think Eastern Guilford and here is why? Eastern Guilford team was 5 and 16 in 2004-05 season and were picked to finish 5th only because Atkins was a new school. They finished Number #1 in the Conference and went to the Sectional Final against State Champions Cummings. They finish with a 17 and 10 record. Conference Player of the Year and All Guilford Jeremiah Jenkins was not one of the players to watch coming into the season and finished 6th in the NCPREPS 3 pointers with 72. He average 19.7 against the likes of Grimsley, Ragsdale,Cummings, Burlington Williams, Cedar Ridge, North East, Rockingham Orange, Graham. All non conference opponents with winning combined records. I think he had the greatest overall impact on their program from whence it came. One of the most underrated players in the area.