This is the high school basketball roundup for Saturday January 26, 2008.
Boy or girl, we saw another great run of hoops action last night at Grimsley’s Bob Sawyer Gym as the Grimsley boys pulled one out of the fire with their 65-63 overtime victory over Northwest Guilford. The Grimsley girls made it a doubleheader sweep for the Whirlies with their 71-43 win against NWG to go (18-0) on the year. The NWG girls fall to (16-2).
The Grimsley boys(14-3) (4-0) Metro 4-A were in their second OT game in the past week after last Friday’s 70-65 extra session victory at Page. The Grimsley boys needed every extra ounze of energy they could muster up last night because Northwest coach Mike Everette had his kids ready to play and he got an excellent effort from all the guys he used and he played quite a few kids. NWG led by the play of Kyle Vebber, Chris Ford, Joe Graves, and Andy Fox was up early and had a six point lead at halftime. NWG built an 11 point lead but in the third quarter Grimsley, led by Christian Tonkins and Keith Manley, came flying back into the building.
In the process of making their comeback Grimsley was working without senior guard JB(Jaquan) Beloved, who was kicked out of the game in the second quarter for a double-technical. JB got teed up with one “T” for arguing a sideline out of bounds call and then when he got that “T”, he got the second for pulling his shirt tail out and mouthing off to the ref as he walked to the bench. Two “T’s” and JB is on the bench for good. Chances are he will have to sit out Grimsley’s game at Smith next Tuesday.
Grimsley msut have found a way to dig down deep and use this outbreak as a motivational factor because the Whirlies came together and with Aaron Wise at the point guard spot, and Jonathan Leonard manning the two guard, Grimsley went to work. David Dupont stayed in foul trouble so coach Darren Corbett had to call on men like Chandler Morris, Michael O’Rourke, and Eldra White to come in and help and they did, plus they were big at the end. Grimsley’s Keith Manley fouled out right at the end of regulation so you can see again how those, in some ways seldom-used subs, had to step up. Chandler Morris will get the nod on this end as the biggest plus off of the bench last night. Carter Gourley was out with a high ankle sprain and that made the bench minutes even more important.
Christian Tonkins led Grimsley with 22 in what may have been his best outing of the year and maybe even a career-best. Keith Manley was huge again with 17 points and double-digit boards and we’ve already mentioned the other kids, but one more nod for Aaron Wise and the job the “little man” has been doing while running the club at the point.
Northwest,(5-14) (2-2) Metro, could taste the win but they never had the opportunity to chew it up and swallow the victory and I’m positive they will be digesting this game for the entire weekend. Spencer Marzouk, Jarquise Lucas, and Craig Cooke came off the Viking bench to hit some big buckets and Marzouk had a look on a shot at the end of OT from 3-range that went down and then came back out of the basket and that could have won it for NWG.
When speaking to Jim Modlin and Paul Lambeth we thought the Grimsley-NWG girls game, which was a Little Four Finals re-match, might turn into something but it never did as Grimsley(18-0) ran away from NWG(16-2) and the Whirlies led by Jasmine Alston, Turmae Lucas, and Kristin Fields never looked back. Alston had 20, Lucas 19, and Fields 14 for Grimsley while Gretchen Bennett tallied 15 to lead all NWG Viking scorers.
I’m not here to say I told you so, but I mentioned yesterday that I thought the Ragsdale-SEG girls game might be a keeper and it was with Southeast Guilford upsetting the Tigers 43-38 at SEG. Gibbs, Beasley, Hackett, Alston, and Reddicks all had huge games for the Falcons. Both teams are now tied for the top spot in the conference. In the boys game Ragsdale(16-2) out-scored SEG 31-10 in the second quarter and went on to win 85-64.(Wally Jones had 23 for the Tigers) The Dudley boys(13-2) thumped Rockingham County 82-50 and the Dudley girls had to go OT but they defeated the Cougars 56-46. Page took two from High Point Central and both were blowouts, Page boys 85-45 and the Page girls 58-27. Northern Guilford swept Bartlett Yancey with the Nighthawk boys(12-6) winning over the Bucs 73-48 and the NG girls came out on top 65-30.
NEG rolled over Western taking the girls contest 54-21 and the Ram boys(12-6) won going away over WG 59-43. Eastern Guilford grabbed two wins from Southern at UNCG, with the Wildcat boys coming out on top 76-52 and the county’s most-improved girls team, the EG Wildcat ladies(14-3), win it over SG 63-28. I didn’t see anything out of Capricia Smalls from last night but Lashonda Anderson was big and April Totten showed up from someplace and had 14 points. The Smith boys good fortunes came to and end as they fell to East Forsyth 65-53 but the Golden Eagle girls got back into the winner’s circle with a tight 43-42 win over EF.
High Point Andrews won a dobleheader over WS Carver 53-34 boys(12-4) and 55-48 girls. Southwest Guilford won big as the Cowgirls beat Reagan 51-15 with Tyisha Bridges hitting for a game-high 17, and the High Point Wesleyan Trojan young ladies moved to (18-5) on the season with their 47-30 victory over Charlotte Country Day.
GO WHIRLIES!
You didn’t see anything at all out of Capricia Smalls because she didn’t play. She was injured, along with 2 other teammates. and sitting out for a couple of weeks.
DO YOU EVEN WATCH THE GAMES? or do you just report back on what you heard?
I was broadcasting two games at Grismley on Friday night. The information I use is what I pick up from the N&R, WS Journal, and the HP Enterprise. I also rely on fans who send me inside info on the teams since I can’t be at every game. I have attended 2 Eastern Guilford games this season and I broadcasted one of their games on the radio last year and that was EG girls and boys both on the radio.
I check the box scores and spend time giving the local kids coverage. If a player is missing, then I ask questions. I have called the EG girls team one of the most improved teams in our area and they have received notable mention in my weekly basketball polls.
If you don’t want or appreciate the coverage then I can always send it toward another team and not tell the college coaches that ask me about area teams, anything at all about Eastern. That would be a shame for EG.
Again, I can’t be at all the games on the same night. but you and all the area schools are getting more and better converage here than you are anywhere else.
Remember how you treat the messenger! Any news at all is better than no news and every time a kid’s name gets mentioned here, they are getting coverage by someone that knows the area, the sports, and the teams, and smart people realize that.