Action-packed action for this Thursday night, and let’s start popping those scores up here for you…
Mid-State 3-A Tournament at Ben L. Smith High School:
Smith boys 63, Dudley 57
This had to be the game of the night in Greensboro, and it was over there on the Southside, at the Bob McAdoo Gym, just off of South Holden Road…Coaches from the other games started showing up at this one, after their games were done/over…Overflow crowd, inside the Bob McAdoo Gymnasium…Gage Lattimore was money for Smith tonight, and he finished with a team-leading 18 points, for the Smith Golden Eagles…Lattimore hit a late three, that really gave Smith huge boost…Dudley had cut the lead to one point, at 57-56, and this game was going down to the wire…Marquan Gilbert connected on some very big free throws for Smith, and that also helped the Eagles put the Panthers away…Some of the fans had to be taken away, they were getting so caught up in this rivalry game…Smith’s Nick Aikens received two technical fouls on one play, and he was ejected from the game…Dudley’s Jayden Ingram stepped up to the foul line and drained four consecutive free throw shots, that came on the Aikens’ techs…That sequence of action came with 3:08 left in contest, and after that Dudley was able stay close, until Smith found a way to close it out, and chalk up the victory for Ben L. Smith…Smith got the close-out, and now the Golden Eagles must regroup/recharge/reload, and get ready to meet the Southern Guilford Storm in the Championship Game tomorrow night, right back in the Bobby Mac…The Bob McAdoo Gym…Smith will be at home for both Championship Games tomorrow evening, with the Smith girls meeting the Dudley Panthers at 6pm, and then the Smith men meet Southern Guilford at around 7:30…Going to be a busy night at the Bobby Mac, on Friday night…
More details from Smith-Dudley boys on the way, and we are waiting to see if Nick Aikens will be available for Smith on Friday night, after his ejection from the Thursday night affair…The game officials from tonight’s game, (Smith-Dudley), were going to call their supervisor of officials to see what the final verdict will be…Speculation was flying around the Bobby Mac Gym tonight…
from Thursday night:
End of First Quarter:Smith 16, Dudley 8…Halftime:Smith 29, Dudley 21…Final:Smith 63, Dudley 57
Smith Scoring:Gage Lattimore 18 points, Xavier Neely 12, Gilbert 12, CJ Neely 10, Aikens 7, Hughes 2, Green 2…
Dudley Scoring:Tre McNeil 17 points, Ingram 12, Newkirk 11, Jones 8, Taylor 4, Foster 3, Parker 2,
Smith girls 66, WS Atkins 28
Smith(21-2/15-0)
End of First Quarter:Smith 17, Atkins 3…Halftime:Smith 35, Atkins 6…End of Third Quarter:Smith 41, Atkins 21…Final:Smith 66, Atkins 28
Smith Scoring:Morgan Smith 15 points, Davis 12, Rogers 12, Drayton-Gill 11, Haith 7, Burch 6, Morales 3, Cooper 2
Atkins Scoring:Worrell 7 points, Paige 6, Puryear 5, Hines 4, Shen 2, Samuels 2, Austin 2
Smith vs. Dudley for the Mid-State 3-A Girls Conference Championship tomorrow night/Friday night, at 6:30pm, in the Bob McAdoo Gym, on the Ben L. Smith High School campus….
Other scores:
Metro 4-A Tournament Semifinals:
Grimsley boys 68, Southwest Guilford 46
Grimsley(22-4)…Grimsley boys vs. Ragsdale for the Metro 4-A Conference Championship on Friday night, at Grimsley HS.
Ragsdale boys 66, Southeast Guilford 47
Northern Guilford girls 74, Western Guilford 45
NG(24-0)…NG girls vs. Northwest Guilford on Friday at 6pm, at Grimsley HS, for the Metro 4-A Conference Championship…
Northwest Guilford girls 48, Southwest Guilford 41
NWG(20-6)…NWG and NG will battle for the Metro 4-A Title on Friday night, at Grimsley High School’s Bob Sawyer Gymnasium….
Mid-State 3-A Conference Tournament at Southern Guilford High School:
Southern Guilford boys 58, WS Atkins 37
SG(21-4)…SG at Smith to face the Golden Eagles for the Mid-State Crown, on Friday night…Jamias Ferere led the SG Storm tonight, over the WS Atkins Camels, with 17 points…
Mid-State Conference Tournament at Dudley High School:
Dudley girls 45, Eastern Guilford 4O
Dudley(18-7)/EG(6-20)
Round One of the NCISAA Tournament:
Greensboro Day School girls 68, Cape Fear Academy 15
University Christian girls 53, Westchester Country Day 31
Westchester Country Day boys 68, Carolina Friends 51
Forsyth Country Day boys 75, Hickory Grove Christian 60
Caldwell Academy boys 74, Davidson Day 32
More scores and info on the way….
The Smith girls did play extremely tough defense vs. Atkins on Thursday night…It is almost suffocating, as we have referred to it in the past…
With Morgan Smith out front, and Zoe Davis down low, it like you have two prizefighters…Smith the the welterweight, and Zoe the middleweight…I am not going to refer to a girls basketball player being a heavyweight, that might not sit two well with the folks at home…
But in most cases, Smith would not let Atkins even get their offense started…In the first half, Akins could not get a shot off, on most of their offensive trips down the court…
Smith makes it real hard on you, and that is what good defenses do…
Spoke with London Haith and her dad after the game, and I remember London from back in her Middle School days…Great kid, and a very hard worker, and just a freshman…..
Smith has had a very solid season, and the Lady Eagles have all been working hard, and putting the time in, and that is a credit to their coach, Mike Bolton…..