Things are looking real good on the way in, for High Point Christian Academy at the Greensboro Day School, coming up for this Tuesday night at 7pm…..
We have been covering these two teams, as close as anybody around the area, over this season and the past two or three seasons to be exact….
I was the one that told Brandon Clifford about the job opening at HPCA, the day the position became available…And Coach Clifford has done a very good job with the High Point Christian Academy Cougars….The Cougars are (22-0) and they survived a very tough test at the Greensboro Coliseum last Monday night, when they defeated Quality Education Academy 59-58, in OT…..
Greensboro Day has been on the way all season with their (23-1) record and the Bengals only loss was to the Christ School, by a score of 90-87….HPCA defeated Christ School 91-84….GDS played Christ School on the road and HPCA had the Greenies at home, in High Point….
You could go on and on, about the talent we will get the chance to see on Tuesday and with the Bengals, they have one of the top point guards in the state, in Jalen Ross and he has already committed to Eastern Michigan University…..The point guard for HPCA is Diante Baldwin and he can get to the rack/rim/basket in a hurry and Baldwin, like Ross, is a very good defender….The wings/what you would call two-guards, are outstanding in Reed Lucas for GDS and Jackson Kent for HPCA….Good matchup and not sure if they will be going face-to-face on Tuesday, but both are tall and they can shoot the three-ball as good as anybody around and that includes some adults, at least some I’ve seen in this town….If GDS were to put Reggie Dillard on Kent, that would give the Bengals a real strong cover-man on defense, but both teams will be expected to play some zone on Tuesday, to go along with their man-to-man schemes….Adjusting to the schemes, will be the key to the game….Split-second adjustments by the coaching staffs, will determine the outcome of this contest…
The inside battles with Michael Obacha and Chuck Ogbodo for HPCA and then Quayshad Williams and Julian Sampah(GDS) will be big in this game….Obacha and Ogbodo may have an edge…Both of the HPCA big men get around the basket so well, and they keep the ball alive and both Cougar big men give HPCA multiple chances to score, when the ball is live around the cylinder…Saw both Obacha and Ogbodo against Southwest Guilford and Quality Education and they both make things very active for HPCA on the inside…They, like Williams and Sampah, must stay out of foul trouble to become the keys to the game…It doesn’t happen very often, but GDS may have to go with Williams and Sampah on the court at the same time, to offset some of the combined efforts of Obacha and Ogbodo….Obacha plays with a ton of engery and very positive enthusiasm and he can keep you busy….At times Obacha almost becomes like a coach, in the manner in which he encourages his teammates…
The inside game will prove to be a big part of what happens Tuesday, unless the coaches decide to go with the smaller and quicker lineups…In the beginning both teams will have the option to run the ball up and down the court, or to slow it down, so they can see how the oppostion is reacting….I think HPCA will follow the GDS directive early on and play off of what the Bengals are trying to do…I think HPCA wants to be patient and hang in there and be around late and that the Cougars realize, they can’t come and blow Greensboro Day out of their own gymnasium….
Looking at other keys and matchups to follow, we talked about the point, the twos, the inside and now with more of the complimentary players….We had Ross, Dillard, Lucas, Williams and Sampah for GDS and then Baldwin, Kent, Obacha and Ogbodo for HPCA…Now you have to look closer at GDS with the tall lean shooter and defender Christian Hairston…He can be a difference maker and there is a very good chance that he will start…He plays like a wing-forward and GDS has several players in their system that fit that role….Hairston can kill you, since he can play the point and handle the ball, he plays off-guard and he can play the three-spot as in small forward…..At 6’7 Hairston can really help you on defense and could be a good man to put on Jackson Kent…If you have Hairston on Kent, you are matching up 6’7 on 6’7…..The Day School also has two more aces in the hole, who can take it to hole and both of these threats are just as good with their outside shooting, as they are inside, and that would be J.T. Terry as in one and then Jake White as the other…Terry can bury the three and he has gotten so much stronger in the past year and now he can go the hole and finish, as good as anyone else on the court, at any given time…Jake White may cause you to think you are looking at Reed Lucas…Both are long-range poppers and White has given GDS an extra-big boost this season…Minutes maybe 6-8 per game, but if you get 4-6 points in 6-8 minutes, that is real good…Another X-Factor for GDS would be if Montrell Goldston is available for his excellent defensive work, but he has been on the injured list in recent games….
HPCA has depth too, but it may be younger depth or just depth that hasn’t hit the headlines, as much as the GDS backups/reserves have….One of these other Cougar players will start, and we know Isiah Gill has filled that role many times this season and he gets help from Rick Mack, who provides a strong spark off of the Cougar bench….Mack is small, but he is very quick and HPCA has another guard that can play in Stevie Williams and Williams at times seems to be defender first and scorer second…..Joey McLean has hit for double-digits in many of the recent HPCA games and he can be counted on for at least 6 points per contest….HPCA has to get a complete night out of their bigs, because after Obacha and Ogbodo, they don’t have any help inside….If GDS were to get in trouble with Williams and Sampah, they can still drop down either Dillard or Hairston and they can help out inside…..Loads of talent getting ready to play in this game and overall, Greensboro Day seems to be a bit deeper….GDS must attack Baldwin, Kent, Obacha and Ogbodo on defense and that may need to be the order of attack…After those four, HPCA must dig down deep and find some resolve for their offensive productivity….
A very BIG GAME coming to Greensboro Day on Tuesday, with HPCA coming to town and will the experience factor favor the Bengals, or do the Cougars have the talent necessary to make their mark (23-0) when this game is complete??? Plenty of time to keep on getting ready for this one, but one thing is for certain, it ought to be fun to watch and to hear…..(We will have game on AM950 radio….)
There is an eerie silence about this one. Calm before the storm maybe?
Actually the HPCA fans have been blogging left and right for the past month or so about this game on this site. No matter who wins this game or the rematch in Feb, these games are more about seeding in the state playoffs at this point. Other schools like Christ School, Wesleyan and Ravenscroft can beat any team on any night. You will need the best possible seeding that you can to have any chance of playing in the state finals or even the semi-finals. The 5 or 6 top private teams in this state could compete anywhere in this country. This may be the best distributation of talent that I have seen in NC in years.
Hey Andy – the girls game between GDS and HPCA should be worth watching. GDS is something like 19-5 and HPCA is like 20-3. GDS has played a very tough schedule this year but only 3 loses by HPCA has to be worth something. Maybe floor seats should be selling for $10 instead of the normal $5 for these games.
Where were hpca blogging about playing gds? Would like to read that. Don’t recall seeing that.
You bring up some very good points about the girls game…..Have not seen HPCA girls play, but I have seen their record and it is impressive at (20-3). I have seen GDS play at least 4-5 times and they are very strong inside with Wilkerson and Rogers and out front you have Conner, Thorpe and Spur and that is a very solid five……We look forward to this game on Tuesday and the start time is set for right around 5:30pm….Rogers had 23 rebounds in a game a week or so back for GDS, so we know she can hold down that end of the court….The ‘Tenacious’ Tenesha Conner can play defense with best of the best, Wilkerson is an Appalachian commit, Thorpe is just a freshman but she can score on the move and Spur has her own ways to help the GDS squad…..Again, I look forward to seeing what HPCA brings to the ladies table…..GDS and Wesleyan used to have some real heated battles, maybe we willl some of the same now with GDS and HPCA…..
About as even as two teams can get in my opinion, both games could go any way, unlike football where I didnt think Page (local) had a chance, both of these teams should make deep runs.
Vegas Mike
why do you say Gds is deeper than HPCA andy?
I agree with one of the first that the main thing coming out of this game and any other regular season game is preferred seeding for the state tourney. Because of that I think that this is more important game for GDS than it is HPCA. GDS has lost to CHrist School where HPCA has already beaten them. The top two seeds in the state are in a much better position because of their being 6 very good teams. So a loss on the home court would make it difficult to move ahead of Christ and HPCA.
I have seen HPCA play 2-3 games. That is all. They are very good. But I would say that GDS is a little deeper than HPCA. The games that I saw HPCA played 8 guys. And for the most part only 7 in the 4th quarter. GDS will play 8-9 but 8 will play (assuming Goldston is heallthy) very similar minutes. Also not really sure how the scoring breaks down for HPCA but all 8-9 guys for GDS are capable and have put up double figures. It is normal for them to score in the 70’s and the leading scorer be in the low 10’s. I think it is going to be a great game. Two terrific teams that play hard. GDS being at home along with limiting transition scores for HPCA is the difference. 68-64 Bengals in a game that could go either way.
Talking about the numbers, I would say that GDS is 9-10 players deep, since I saw that Montrell Goldston was back in the lineup this past Saturday and he is a very good defender….Didn’t see Jalen Ross in the box score from Saturday’s game with Asheville School….I would put HPCA at 7-8 deep and the numbers are not that far off, but in a big game such as this, they could make a difference…..I still feel GDS is a bit deeper and others may have other opinions about this…..From what I hear, HPCA has Wesleyan coming up on Friday, so this will be a busy week for the Cougars……Baldwin must play like he did in the Quality Education game for HPCA to be successful and Obacha will have to be the ‘chairman of the boards’…..Outside shooting by Kent will be a large factor for HPCA…..GDS needs Ross in place to run the show and they need a big game from Reggie Dillard….Still think that Williams and Sampah inside will have to very effective against Obacha and Ogbodo……Lots of people need to step and what GDS can get from Hairston, Terry and Lucas may be their answer…..This should be a candidate for ‘Game of the Year’, at least it looks that way going in…..I do believe we could talk about this game all day long, there are some many different elements that could effect the outcome…..
Baldwin will shut Ross down. Watch that match up. Anyone who matches Ross physically he becomes a non-factor.
Does anyone know if this is a sell out or will tickets be avail at the door??
No news yet about a sell-out……If we get that news, we will pass along in the ASAP mode….Really haven’t heard a lot about advance sales, so it just be beome first come and first serve on Tuesday night/Tuesday afternoon and plan for a tight fit…..
Better get tickets early. Only selling a certain amount and then shutting the door. I know a lot of then have been already sold. Goos luck
I have Greensboro Day taking the game over High Point Christian by 6-7 points. Who knows you could say Day School is more points better than High Point but I think they are both very goods teams and with the homecourt advantage coming into play Greensboro Day School wins the game by 6-7 points. I think that the Bengals girls will win too and it will be a sweep on Tuesday night for Greenboro Day School at home. Many good players on both teams but the coaching will be the difference. Greensboro Day has a college type coaching staff. Looks like they have 6 men over on their sidelines. The coaching will be the difference. I ‘m sure that High Point Christian can’t help it if they can only afford one or two coaches but in big games like this you need more. This is a big league too that these two teams are in and you need many coaches. Look at Duke and UNC in the college ranks. They have a lot of coaches over on the bench and high school is getting just like the colleges. This should be a great game and many are predicting a score in 60’s. Hope to see a bunch of basketball fans Tuesday night when they play this one for real.
HPC should be favored just because they are undefeated and beat Christ School. HPC is bigger at the low post than GDS and their guards play hard. I have been told they play a little wild but they get the job done. GDS does have an experienced coaching staff along side Freddie in Jeff Smith and Steve Shelton. Smith has numerous years experience at the college level. If GDS wins it will be an upset. Both teams have good talent but when 2 teams play with this talent the game is going down to whoever executes and gets the calls. Ought to be a great game. Better get your tickets early, going fast.
If GDS gets momentum killing calls, they will win. If the game is called fairly I think HPCA wins.
First off, Andy, to say you “have been covering these two teams, as close as anybody around the area, over this season and the past two or three seasons to be exact….” is a HUGE understatement, in my opinion. You’ve done a great job.
As for the game tomorrow night, I’ll pick HPCA to win. I agree with ‘appy’ that the game is more important to GDS. I personally think only 3 teams can win the state – Christ School, GDS and HPCA. So being #1 seed is a huge advantage, since #2 would match up against #3 in the semis. Since GDS has lost to Christ School, they’ll need to beat HPCA twice to possibly move to #1 (even though they lost to Christ School in Arden). I’ve only seen Christ School twice, GDS twice, HPCA 4 times and Wesleyan once, and haven’t seen Ravenscroft, so my opinion is based on limiited information. It just seems to me that these 3 are better than the others, and this is truly a case where being #1 will be important. Regardless, should be an excellent game tomorrow. Hope Obacha is healthy. He looked like he had a sprained ankle or something at MLK game w/QEA.
That is interesting about Obacha being out part of that QEA game…..I was sitting behind the HPCA bench and Obacha was encouraging his teammates saying, “Come on Ogbodo, Come on Chuck, Come on Boy, hit that free throw”…..Even though Obacha was out of the game, he was still very much into the game….I can still hear that ‘Come on Ogbodo, hit that shot”……
It would also be interesting if Mitch Oates and Jordan Weethee were still around for this game…..I remember two years back when Mitchell Oates played his first game for HPCA after an injury and it was on a very snowy Friday afternoon at Greensboro Day on Lawndale and he was going wild and Oates finally cooled off late in the second half….He almost single-handily took GDS down that day…..The problem is, you can’t take down GDS by yourself….You have to have help…..One big effort won’t stop GDS….HPCA will need a true team effort tomorrow night…..
Should be a ton of fun, once this game has begun…….The first round of substitutions from both teams will interesting to see and even more interesting will be the point of the game, time-wise(1st Q), when they occur……
HPCA to win by 3 points in overtime.
Just a heads up on the ticket situation
Tomorrow, after 3:30pm, all remaining tickets are open for sale to general public for $5.00!
Any idea how many remaining tickets will be made available to the general public? I had heard earlier today that they might be down to just 50, 75 or 100 tickets left to be sold…..
Heard the tickets are down to less than 100 for general public as of 5pm. Looking forward to this game. Hoping it lives up to the hype.