REAGAN ENTERTAINS EAST SURRY AFTER WINNING ITS FOURTH FRANK SPENCER TOURNAMENT TITLE
PFAFFTOWN — Fresh off the school’s fourth Frank Spencer Holiday Classic championship, the Reagan Raiders look to extend a six-game winning streak at home tomorrow night against East Surry. Reagan begins the second half of its 2022-23 men’s varsity basketball season against the 3-0 Cardinals, the defending Foothills 2A Conference champions who got a late start to their season after playing deep into the North Carolina 2A Football Playoffs last month.
The Raiders hope to build on pre-Christmas momentum that included a title in the Atrium Health Bracket of the storied Frank Spencer tournament last week, including a win in the finals over top-seeded Northwest Guilford. Sophomore Center Cooper Jackson was named the tournament MVP with 31 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocked shots in the three-day event.
Two-time All-CPC Forward Jalil Rogers, Reagan’s leading scorer in the tournament, scored 25 points in the 57-50 finals victory over the Vikings and joined Jackson on the all-tournament team. Senior forward Noah Ouarless followed a stunning 22-point, 21-rebound effort in the semifinals with 14 rebounds in the finals to help Reagan add the 2022 Spencer title to the school’s previous wins in the FSHC in 2009, 2010 and 2014.
The win punctuated a stellar 14-day stretch for the Raiders, which included Central Piedmont 4A Conference wins over defending league champs East Forsyth, Glenn and Davie County–the last two on the road–before taking their fourth FSHC championship with wins over North Forsyth, Atkins and Northwest Guilford.
The three CPC wins put Reagan into an early tie atop the league standings with Mount Tabor. With the Spartans’ win in the FSHC Pepsi Bracket last Friday, father and son head coaches collected championship trophies for the first time on the same day in the 47-year history of the fabled tournament. Reagan’s Adam Muse won his first FSCHC title in only his fourth season as the Raiders’ Head Coach and father Andy Muse won a record-setting seventh Spencer championship for Mount Tabor in the following game. **(See MUSE FAMILY SPENCER HISTORY attached below)
Reagan has regained momentum in late December after losing its first four games, including three which were one-possession games entering the final two minutes, while Jackson was unavailable and Rogers was slowed due to football-related injuries. The opening stretch also included three road games for the Raiders, who have played four top-25 West 4A teams in their first 10 starts.
Five different players have led Reagan in single-game scoring so far in 2022-23, including leading scorer Rogers (12.3 ppg) and Quarless (9.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg). Senior Deuce Ford, the team’s leading rebounder (8.3 rpg, 5.5 ppg) has joined senior guards Caleb Ellison (8.3 ppg) and Jake Phillips (6.5 ppg) in a balanced scoring effort this season.
The home-and-home series with East Surry (tomorrow, at ESHS next Wednesday) frames two important CPC home games for Reagan against West Forsyth (Tuesday) and Parkland (Friday). The Raiders then tackle a difficult three-game CPC road swing at Mount Tabor, RJ Reynolds and East Forsyth the following week. The game tomorrow night against East Surry begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Reagan High School gym in Pfafftown.
Courtesy of Coach Bill Armour