Round Four of the NCHSAA Playoffs coming up TONIGHT:
3-A Girls: #5 Smith(27-2) at #1 Asheville Reynolds(26-1) 6pm
The Asheville Reynolds Rockets have won 21 straight games, and their only loss of the season was to Lake Norman, 57-48, back on December 2…AC Reynolds defeated the Myers Park Mustangs 62-48 back in January, and Myers Park eliminated our Guilford County Northern Guilford Nighthawks, back on Tuesday, 56-51…AC Reynolds over the Dudley Panthers 55-36, in Round Two of the Playoffs…
Asheville’s top scorer, Peyton Harvey at 13.2 ppg…Also they have Tait Harvey at 11.8 ppg, and Julie Janus coming in at 10.7 ppg…Plus Anna Wilcox at 9.0 ppg., and Addie Long at 8.5 ppg…
But just like every game we are talking about today, and nearly every game and every night, it is the same thing that makes the difference…The Defense…Smith can really play that defense, and out front, you have Morgan Smith leading the way…She is as tough as any girls basketball player in the state….Long arms and long legs allow Azharyea Drayton-Gill to extend all she has and create more havoc on Defense for Smith…
Double-team traps are the top item on the Smith defensive menu…They can take the ball away, in a hurry, and if they get the ball from you, they will tie you up, and force you give the ball away, that way…The Smith Defense will be their major calling-card going into this game…There is a very good chance that AC Reynolds has not seen Defense like this, this season….
On offense Smith has so many girls, and most of them are guards, that are making it go, and flow…Azhareyea Drayton-Gill leads the Eagles in scoring going at 11.6 points per game/ppg…Morgan Smith stands at 10.8 ppg., and Shamara Rogers is good for 8.9 ppg…Smith gets a boat-load of their points off of the break…They force the steals, and then convert on the offensive end..
Smith can run it, and they can finish…Post player Amari Williams adds in 6.5 ppg for Smith, and Smith gets huge minutes from guards London Haith, Calicia Deberry, Adrahana Woods, and Ariana Morales…Morales getting healthy again for Round Four of the playoffs…Smith can run like a track team, and that be to their advantage tonight at Asheville..
3-A Boys: #4 Southern Guilford(29-1) at #1 Hickory(30-0) 7pm
Hickory was 27-point winner over Piedmont in their previous game, while SG won by 9 over Crest back on Tuesday night…
Great effort from Southern Guilford #6 man Josiah Hill, who had 19 points for the Storm in their win over the Chargers…Twenty-six points from sophomore Jy Dawkins to pace the overall Storm attack…Both Hill and Dawkins are super sophs for Southern Guilford, while seniors Jamias Ferere and Jucarie Love also do major damage in the Storm attack…Franklin Brown is one tough cookie on defense for SG, plus Zy McGee gives SG additional speed and quickness in their backcourt…
The J3 for SG, Jamias, Jucarie, and Jy are the primary big Slammers for the SG Storm, and watch for those three young men to hit the lane, and the rim, hard and early…
The first 3 1/2 minutes and the last 2 1/2 minutes of this game will be crucial for Southern Guilford…How they play in those stretches will determine the overall outcome of this ballgame…
Hickory led in scoring by John Holbrook, at 6’8/230, averaging 13.8 ppg…Izaiah Littlejohn stands at 6’4, and he goes for 12.3 ppg for Hickory…Jamien Little is a 6’2 guard hitting for 11.8 ppg for the Tornadoes…Hickory Tornadoes a tall team, with lots of 6’3 and 6’4 kids on their roster…
Southern Guilford will be able to find enough points to win the game, they just have to make sure that their defense limits how much damage Hickory can do…Hickory unbeaten over their 30 games, but this might just be that night, where the Storm can out-do the Tornadoes…Yes where the Storm can be bigger, than the Tornado…You can catch this game on GreensboroSports Radio…
Again, the defense for Southern Guilford will be the key…The key for SG, will be the “D”…And especially key in the two stretches of the game that we mentioned earlier…The first 3 1/2 minutes of the game, and the last 2/12 minutes of the contest…Be sure to catch the game on GreensboroSports Radio…The Game of the Week, from Murphy Wainer Orthopedic Specialists, on GreensboroSports Radio….
Hickory played Wesleyan Christian Academy, out of High Point, and barely got past the WCA Trojans, 51-49, back on January 13…
#14 Smith(25-5) at #2 Central Cabarrus(30-0) 6pm
Central Cabarrus has been motoring through the playoffs, winning their three games, 95-32, 94-29, and 96-49…Smith will have to put a cap on this one, at least from a defensive standpoint…Don’t think you want to get into a shootout with the Central Cabarrus Vikings…
Central Cabarrus averaging 89.0 ppg for the season…Scoring shows Desmond Kent at 19.3 ppg…Josh Dalton at 15.9 ppg…Carson Daniel at 11.3 ppg…Chase Daniel at 10.7 ppg…And Emari Russell at 10.5 ppg…That is a load right there…Kent goes for 8.7 rebounds a game, and Carson Daniel is good for 8.0 assists per game…
This team is a true threat, but Smith has come on strong as a #14 seed, and taken teams down, and put teams away…Smith over East Henderson by 20 back on Tuesday…Smith easily 8 deep too, with Gage Lattimore, Kenny Miller Jr., and Jaylon Bumpass all out front, coming at around 15 ppg each…Micah Cowan, Tayshawn Mann, Kendrick Johnson, Justin Leak, and Gavin Palmore are all major contributors for the Smith Golden Eagles…
Smith can run with the best teams around and at (23-5), Smith has the five losses, and three of the five losses for Smith this season, came from Southern Guilford, the Golden Eagles fellow Mid-State Conference foe…Smith is for real, and they will need to be real tough, and fast to hang with Central Cabarrus, but if the Eagles can take down the Vikings, and Southern Guilford tops the Hickory Tornadoes, then Smith and SG would meet again next week…Lots on the line for all of our teams TONIGHT…
2-A Boys: #12 West Stokes at #1 Reidsville(26-0) 7pm
This is a game between two Mid-State 2-A Conference foes here…During the season, Reidsville beat West Stokes 66-61 and 94-59…First game was close, but the second meeting was way ALL Reidsville Rams…Very solid scoring for Reidsville with Kendre Harrison at 19.6 ppg., Dionte Neal at 19.4 ppg., and Johnniyus Sharpe at 17.3 ppg…Harrison at 14.9 rebounds per game…Harrison with 509 points on the season, and Neal with 505 for the year…Going to hard for West Stokes to hang with Reidsville on the Rams home court, with the Rams home fans letting it rip….
1-A Girls: #3 Cherokee(26-1) at #2 Bishop McGuinness(25-4) 6pm
I look at Cherokee being a serious threat to the Bishop McGuinness girls…Here are your Cherokee winning scores from their three playoff games…93-25, 92-29, and 72-25…None of those games even close…Wow, some tough comp coming to Kernersville tonight…Only loss this season for Cherokee was to the Choctaw Central Warriors, 74-53…Choctaw Central from Philadelphia, Mississippi, and the loss came in a Christmas Tournament…Cherokee had one game this season, where the Braves defeated Nanahala, 119-18…Cherokee over local Mount Tabor, 62-35…No player stats available on Cherokee…Adelaide Jernigan still leading the Bishop McGuinness Villains in scoring, at 18.6 ppg…Kiersten Varner at 9.2 ppg, and Emma Wagoner at 8.1 ppg…Bishop will have their hands full this evening….
1-A Boys: #3 Bishop McGuinness(27-3) at Corvian Community School(25-3) 7:30pm
Solid record, but Bishop boys on the road to visit the Corvian Community Cardinals, in Charlotte…Corvian Community Cardinals have played a lot of charter schools and prep schools this season…RJ Moore their top scorer at 15.0 ppg., while Jack Hudson rolls at 13.1 ppg…Doug Quarles III at 11.5 ppg. and 10.4 rebounds per contest…No player stats available for Bishop boys, but they are lead by John Campbell, Nicholas and Patrick Graves, Cal Barrett, Alex Waterfield, Aiden Martin, Cayden Long, and Miller Aho…Eight deep and the hill is steep, but the Bishop McGuinness boys are ready to make the leap, of faith…
Six area/local teams in action tonight, and we see Three surviving…And you can pick your three…