Made the trek out Highway 29 North on to Hicone Road and watched Grimsley battle Northeast Guilford on Tuesday evening and the Whirlie girls were rude to their hosts and left NEG with a 56-44 victory.(the halftime score was only 19-15 GHS) Grimsley out-rebounded NEG in the second half and the Whirlies hit their free throws and the pressure defense caused the Rams to fall apart down the stretch. It is tough to beat a strong Phil Weaver-coached team and NEG found that out the hard way as Grimsley is too tall and too strong for most of the teams they will face this year with possibly the exception being Dudley. You can also see the Wayne Butler influence on the young ladies from GHS.
Dudley coach Kris Britton and her star center Sierra Little were at the game scouting out the competition since Dudley will face NEG in the Triad 3-A conference and DHS could well see GHS in the finals of the girls Little Four Tournament.
The boys game ended up NEG over Grimsley 56-50 and the Rams should have won by a wider margin but both teams for some reason were WAY off the mark at the foul line. Mezie Uzochukwu hit for 25 points for NEG but he missed a bushel of free throw baskets. You have to give Grimsley credit for over-achieving and the Whirlies actually out-scored the Rams 29-26 in the second half. NEG, coached by former UNC-CH Tarheel Curtis Hunter, will be tough but they have a whole crew of new guards to break into the Rams system.
Grimsley should be in every game if they keep on playing above their overall talent level and they look to Marlon Smith as their key man, but watch out in the future for David Dupont. Dupont is an Ed Cone-type player and Dupont’s dad DD Sr., was called the purest shooter to ever come out of Page HS, by Bob Sawyer the former Grimsley AD who was sitting beside me throughout the game. Dupont is skinny and coach Sawyer said he needs to eat beans, bread, and potatoes, plus drink 3 gallons of milk each day.
The scouts for the boys game included former Wake Forest standout Delaney Rudd, 2 assistant coaches from High Point Central, and Dudley assistant Big Kenny Ferguson. HS hoops are a big part of what we do here at greensborosports.com and we hope to be at many of the games in 2006/2007.
The brand new Northeast Guilford gym will open for the first time when NEG plays Page on December 20. I toured the facility on Tuesday night and it looks sharpe. I think they should call it the John Primm Gym in honor of long-time NEG Athletic Director John Primm.Â
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