The BIG Game usually draws a BIG crowd, and last night was no exception as Oak Hill downed the Northern Guilford Nighthawks 78-67 at NG. There were coaches, scouts, players from other teams, I even saw Coach David Price and Coach Freddy Johnson in the stands. People turned out to watch this contest because this was the BIG game of the week. Last week it was Word of God at Dudley, this week it was Oak Hill at Northern Guilford.
Friday night it’s gonna be Page at Ragsdale in a local battle of unbeatens as long as Ragsdale gets past Southwest Guilford at SWG tonight. There’s only one thing that tops all of this, why did the Charlotte Bobcats get rid of their top player, leading scorer, the man that would help take them to the playoffs; Jason Richardson????? When I saw that this morning, I couldn’t believe they had traded him away to the Phoenix Suns.
There were again scouts all the over the place last night and we have video on the Word of God at Dudley game coming up at the site soon and Oak Hill at Northern video will follow. Now you know where to get it. Those in charge at NG have started to look at me as a Scout since I have been out there to so many games, but they can’t clairfy if I’m Cub Scout or Boy Scout.
As for the game, Oak Hill was missing their BIG man who is 6’7 and weighs 320 pounds as he was dressed in street clothes last evening, but Oak Hill is very athletic, much like Winston-Salem Prep, but Oak Hill is taller and quicker around the basket. Oak Hill was hitting right at 40% of their 3-point shots last night and they usually go for a 25% clip. Not to make excuses, but I spoke to family members and Jonathan Frye was not right in this game. Frye has been suffering from a bout with the flu and it definitely was effecting his game last night. He had 8 points and dished out a respectable 6 assists, but again he was not himself and I would have liked to have seen the Nighthawks with Frye at 100%.
Frye was not at full-strength, but I was very impressed with the work Christian McCain was doing for the Nighthawks on the inside. Oak Hill was looking for the block every time McCain and Jacob Lawson would go up for a shot, so Lawson and McCain started to fake pump the ball to get Oak Hill’s defenders in the air and it was working. McCain battled hard on the boards and he also did well for NG at the foul line.
Lawson is really improving(he’s developed the left-side/right-side short baseline shot), but he got into some foul trouble again, although he still helped lead the Nighthawks in scoring with 20 points to go along with his nine rebounds and four blocked shots. That’s the new thing about these athletic teams, they are constantly looking to block your shot, it is rare to get a clear look at the basket, especially on the inside. Michael Neal also had 20 for NG and he seemed to be on his game and he was not intimidated by Oak Hill. We didn’t hear anthing from Asad Lamont or Dylan Berry, but John McBeth did have 7 points off the bench for NG and I believe he had at least one long three-pointer.
Oak Hill won, but the game was close. It stood 22-17 Oak Hill after one quarter, 36-30 Oak Hill at the half, 56-48 OH after three periods and then the final horn saw it as 78-67 Oak Hill. I was on the phone with one of the High Point scouts after the game and I told him it was OH by 11, but I couldn’t remember the final score as I was driving down the road. I am glad I told him the right thing.
Northern Guilford falls to the second-ranked team in the nation by ESPN and #6 in USA Today, but it was a great game with a super turnout on the Nighthawks’ home court. Very nice photo shots in today’s News and Record by Nelson Kepley.
*****I was WRONG in my earlier statement that said I was hearing about a blowout from the Smiths. It was not them that made that statement and again no disrespect meant toward Johnny, Jason or their families. I had heard it somewhere prior to the game, but it was not from them. I work hard on reporting and covering these games and sometimes I get my information WRONG. I will be WRONG again so this was not the first time and it won’t be the last. Again, my apologies to the Smiths and I hope you all understand we are doing our best to cover the local sports and to make it as interesting as possible, but sometimes I will make mistakes and if this was one of those times then, I was WRONG, Sorry, and we will move on the next game and I hope you all will too.*****
Also last night in our area we saw:
Girls….Grimsley over Western Guilford 51-32….
Boys game:The Whirlies pulled it out 47-46(Balanced scoring for Grimsley with Keith Manley 12, Kreshawn Williams had 8, Logan Dunn 6, Big Max Miller had 5 and his personal coach Jan Pritchett will have to buy us all lunch…Jim Gentry’s protege Carter Gourley hit key free throws down the stretch for the Whirlies and the Wise brothers played well. Jordan Williams went BIG for Western with 20 and Reggie Perkins had 8.
Girls game:East Davidson ripped Southeast Guilford 46-29 and Paris Alston only had 3 for SEG. SEG won the boys contest 56-42 with Josh Cobb having 15 and Trey Artis 13 for the Falcons.
High Point Andrews has found the man in Charles Goodwin with CG going for 15pts./12 rebounds/ and four blocks as the Red Raiders stopped Trinity 46-39. Girls game HPA over Trinity 48-35 to send HPA to (5-1).
Northwest Guilford took two from the Australian National team winning boys 74-66 and it was NWG in the girls game, 57-44 over the Aussies.
Eastern Guilford got a split with Rockingham County taking the boys game 72-53 while the Cougar girls were winning 44-39 over the Wildcats. Lashonda Anderson and Miranda Jenkins led the ‘Cats in the losing cause. Anderson had 15 and Jenkins had 12……..
Tonight’s game:
Ragsdale at Southwest Guilford
No problems with the talk prior to the game about the score…NG played hard and I probably put too much in all the idle chatter that I hear. When you get a large group of people talking together who knows what all is being said.
My fault again if there are any confusions. I am doing too much digging and not enough writing and I better get back to the computer and leave the game talk to the coaches…..
You do a great job Andy keep doing what you do.
You are proably just like me we get in trouble when we say certain things or tell the truth.
Cant they take a joke??????????
lol
Andy,
Let me make a few things perfectly clear…..
1. I have no idea who views this site. I can tell you I do not (someone called and asked me about it). I have a wife, two small kids, and a job that take up my time.
2. I never even spoke to you, at the game, other than saying “Hello”. As a matter of fact I actually felt bad for not being able to talk to you, but I had to watch my 4 yr old who unfortunately likes the bleachers more than the game (like most kids). The Globetrotters could have been playing and he would not have known the difference, yet you heard him predicting a score of the game. Really?
3. In the future if you ever want or need a quote on something, ask me directly. I am glad to give you one.
I am very dissappointed that you have misinformed whoever reads this site about what myself and my 4 year old allegedly said to you. I have known you for many years and you have even called many of my very own games growing up. If you THINK you heard someone say these things at the game and don’t remember who said it, then DON’T put names with it!
I am not discounting all the good that you do and have done promoting local sports, but in this instance telling the truth would be the right thing to do.
Jason Smith
Andy,
It amazes me how slanted your articles are written. It’s obvious that you have favorite teams but could you be any more obvious than to make excuses players doing poorly. If I’m correct your last article for the WOG game against Dudley stated how crucial the bench would be if they were going to have any success. If a player is that sick then you gota ask why is he on the floor and does this give him an out for 4-5 turnovers. No disrespect for the player but let’s be fair to all the kids/teams. I’ve never seen you make excxuses for any other team or player.
Michael Neal was the star of last night’s game as well as Jacob Lawson.
Northern has a very good team. I never said they didn’t and as they get better expectations will get higher. Lawson and Neal are fine players and so far Lawson and Frye have been the name players for NG in the early days.
Neal is starting to get his due and deservedly so. I think all NG would wish that Frye would have been healthy for the game and the Dudley-Northern games will be good ones.
Dudley got my attention when they didn’t have to go deep into their bench to beat Word of God. Brendan Wyatt held up well with all the work he was called to do.
As mentioned earlier, Dudley-Northern will be one heck of a game no matter where they are playing it and as far as my favorite teams go, I pull for whoever is hot…..I am no stranger to the jumping on the bandwagon.
Dear Unbiased,
Do you kick all people when they’re down or mostly women and small children???
I know a few kids that go to NG and can verify Frye was ill but still wanted to play. So Andy didnt “make excuses”, stated a fact. I give him props for playing under those conditions although in his heart he wanted to be his best, his body was saying something else.
It was an AMAZING game! Although very hot! You would think a brand new school would have better air conditioning. I became a NG fan when I wanted to see a high school bball game so bad last year, I attended the NG vs Eastern game@ Guilford college and was amazed with the talent with only sophomores and freshmen! The style of game they play is exciting to watch. I am fan of Dudley(boys only) for the same reason. J Frye and Jacob Lawson really caught my eye however this year Chris McCain and Michael Neal are really stepping up their game. They have been amazing to watch. They really hung tough with Oak Hill. I CANNOT WAIT until they meet Dudley. First match: Jan 9, 2009. Countdown!
I was at the NG-EG at Guilford College last year and that’s when I got hooked too.
go VERITAS WARRIORS. in VA for the weekend bring back w’s