High School Basketball Finals:
West Charlotte boys 81, Smith 66
Smith closes out the season at (25-6)…West Charlotte improves to (20-9)…
Smith returns a very strong core part of their team next year, with all Markquan Gilbert, Nayshaun Hale and Ricard Goods all returning…Gilbert and Hale will be seniors next year, and Goods will be a junior…They all will be big handful for opposing teams, and Goods is going to be listed as one of the Top Ten players in the state…
from Tuesday night at Ben L. Smith HS:
End of First Quarter:West Charlotte 25, Smith 13…Halftime:West Charlotte 41, Smith 29…End of Third Quarter:West Charlotte 58, Smith 35…Final:West Charlotte 81, Smith 66
Smith scoring:Richard Goods 24 points, Markquan Gilbert 14, Gage Lattimore 12, Nayshaun Hale 11, Braylen Collins 2, Nick Aikens 2, Xavier Partee 1…
West Charlotte Lions’ scoring:Chancellor Morrow 19 points, Landon King 17, Chandlyn Traylor 14 and Traylor was only a freshman, Josh Mahatta 11, Alius Bowser 8, Ollie Alford 8, Mari Day 2, Darion Rivers 2…
Game Notes:The West Charlotte Lions got off to a great start in this game, and at the beginning our key thought was, “These guys don’t miss”…The West Charlotte guys knew how to finish at the basket….The West Charlotte Lion Alius Bowser, injured his ankle late in the first half, and he was done for the game…He had eight points in just 14 minutes of playing time…Bowser the junior for West Charlotte, and Traylor, the freshman….
Smith missed key free throws late in the game, but for the game as a whole, Richard Goods from the Ben L. Smith Golden Eagles was the most dominant player on the basketball court tonight, and the West Charlotte Lions had no answer whatsoever for him(Goods) when he got open inside…
Goods was pretty good at the foul line too, but he just needs to get there, twice as much in the future…Smith will need to keep working on pounding the ball inside to Goods next year/season, and he will be at the foul line all night long, because the only way to stop him, is to foul him…And when he gets the ball inside, he can also set up Gilbert and Hale, by getting them the ball, as they are cutting to the basket, and he will also be able to dish the ball back outside to them for three’s, and Hale has a very good touch, from outside the arc…..
Chambers 49, Northern Guilford 34
NG girls finish at (28-1)…Chambers now moves to (22-6) on the season…
The NG girls lose only two seniors in Abby Mulry and Emily Peeden….Everybody else will back…Jazzy Harris, Laurel Zlotkowski, both Newsomes, both Delisas, Lizzy Gram, Emma Wagoner, Avery Burnham, and I think that is everyone…They(the Northern Guilford girls) will be a Top Five 4-A team in any preseason ranking that you will see….
Lady Nighthawks finished:
*Conference Champions *Conference Tourney Champs. *Elite 8 finish. *28-1 *One heck of a season!!! #Northerngirls ?? pic.twitter.com/w7VQCu0x5l— Northern Girls Basketball (@NGHSWBK) March 2, 2022
**********Was very concerned/worried about our Guilford County teams after seeing where both West Charlotte and Chambers had won by 30 points or more, in their Sectional Finals games…**********
Bishop McGuinness girls 45, Murphy 35
Bishop girls now on to the Girls 1-A West Regional Finals…
Possible other scores of interest:
Weddington boys 58, Chambers 56
Central Cabarrus boys 89, Enka 47
(Central Cabarrus boys have now scored 105, 91, 93 and 89 points in their four playoff games)…
Hayesville boys 81, Thomasville 62
Charlotte Catholic girls 48, Lake Norman 41
Enka girls 46, Parkwood 42
North Davidson 70, Jesse Carson 54
The Smith Eagles ran into a buzz saw last night in West Charlotte. The Lions full court and half court trapping defense was causing Smith too be out of sink most of the night. They couldn’t get into any type of rhythm. The lions was so quick with their feet and hands. Smith couldn’t get past them off the dribble or pass without hand from the Lions near by. However Smith’s bigs Good and Gilbert had good games. They were strong and tried to keep Smith in it. But those Lions was lighting quick causing turnovers and deadly in the corners on the 3’s.
I watched the Northern vs Chambers Girls game on the NFHS Channel after I got home from Smith. Chambers was just quicker and physically bigger than the Nighthawks. Both Smith and Northern just ran into tough matchups out of Charlotte last night.
How about that crowd over Smith last night….There were so many people in there, I thought I saw Bob McAdoo in there…West Charlotte brought a lot of fans up to Greensboro, and I have to say, the WC Lions travel well…There were a lot of Smith fans in there, there were a lot of West Charlotte fans in there, and there were a lot of just plain regular basketball fans in there, from all over the place…
Great crowd, and people were lined up outside trying to get in before the game, and I hope everyone that wanted to see the game, got in there last night….One of the biggest crowds I have ever seen in that Ben L. Smith Golden Eagles gym, and PA man John Allen was in his prime last night….
Like Perry Saunders said, lots of tipped balls by the WC Lions defense, and Smith was having all kinds of trouble early on, trying to get into, and trying to run their offense….The West Charlotte defense is/was very disruptive, to say the least….
Yes Andy it was a great energetic hyped crowd. Awesome atmosphere for H.S. Sports!