Closing thoughts on the Girls Pizza Hut Invitational

Solid effort by the Smith Golden Eagles to get their first tournament title since back in 1999 when Hank Bullard was coaching the team….

Coach Ashton Jeffries is working real hard with this current Smith team and he had them playing a 30-game schedule this past summer and all that hard work is starting to pay off. Smith will battle Dudley for the Metro 4-A conference title and the Panthers have already beaten the Eagles once this season in real a close one at Smith….

Smith has a re-match with Page coming up this Tuesday night and it should be another battle….Page went up early at the Coliseum in the finals this past Saturday and if the Pirates want to beat Smith on Tuesday, they will have to put a tighter rein on Ashley DuBose, the fine point guard for Smith.

Whoever covers DuBose will have their hands full. LeKendra Wilkerson also impressed me for Smith and so did Quon Greer. Destiny Cater is a big girl and the battle with her and Catrina Green from Western Guilford should be intresting.

DuBose, Wilkerson and Greer carried Smith on Saturday and Coach Jeffries has his teamed primed up now for the Metro season…Page got good tournament productivity from Ashley Fowler with her 18 points in the semifinal win on Friday over NWG to help Page into the finals…..

A lot will be expected of Chevena Pickard and she will have to deliver if Page has a chance to contend for the Metro girls title. Brittany Drew is an excellent outside shooter and she will also have to bear much of the Pirate load during the conference season with teams like Dudley, Smith, Western Guilford and Southeast standing in the way of a conference title and a playoff berth….

Southeast Guilford will be a very tough out for any Metro team this season on the girls side……

Fine job by the Smith Golden Eagles and we got to talk to Coach Jeffries in the pre-game and we were also able to get his post-game comments. A very sharpe young coach and doing a credible job with the Eagles…..

Page assistant coach Carole Stanley spoke with us in the pre-game and she is the former starting point guard for the Iona Gaels and she has a strong basketball background…She shared a lesson with us, telling us about playing the #4 position in high school, much as a power forward in some circles and then she became the starting point guard at Iona while in college and she gave us some insight into one of her starts agaisnt the Villanova Wildcats….

Coach Stanley and Coach Debbie Jones are great people that are doing an outstanding job with their Pirates and Page is lucky to have them…..