The Stakes Are High

Friday night's game with Fike is for the outright conference crown.

If Fike wins, there is a chance for some odd occurrences happening like in 2001 when Northern lost one game and a draw which left it home for the playoffs.

Nothing that bad can occur, but when you have been expecting to possibly be the No. 1 seed in the tournament and wind up No. 3 in your own league, that is a big come down.

A victory will mean a high seed. If the Gryphons stay in 3-A, it looks as if their worse possible seeding would be second and a potential for three home games.

A loss to Fike could set up a three way tie with Southwest Edgecombe, Fike and the Gryphons.

Since the three-way tie occurred because they all beat each other, then a drawing will be held and if the Gryphons win the draw, they could be seeded from second to maybe sixth in the state playoffs.

If they were to draw second, then their seeding could be from somewhere like seventh to 12th and third from 13th to maybe 20th.

Any seeding beyond sixth will mean only one possible home game during the playoffs.

The 3-A bracket seems as if it is down to us or West Craven for the No. 1 seeding.

SouthWest Edgecombe and Fike can not win the championship outright so a three-way tie is their only hope which means Fike has to win Friday.

If SWE was to lose at Southern Nash and Fike win, then Fike would be the conference champion due to the fact it would be a two-way tie with the Gryphons and Golden Demons and Fike won the head to head matchup.

The Gryphons can do themselves a favor by winning Friday evening and making our lives less stressful.

The only conference team that is truly preparing for basketball is Northern Nash. One win on the season so far and they are too far down the list to make the playoffs if they were to upset Nash Central Friday.

Nash Central is the team on the hot seat. It looks as if they will be a 3-AA team if they make the playoffs. Their two forfeits have them in a must-win situation Friday night in order to breathe easier Saturday as they wait for the playoff pairings.

A loss to Northern would make them a four-win team. If they do get in with four wins, remember they actually won two games on the field which really makes them a six-win team.

They could be a hard draw for who ever will get them in the first game of the playoffs.

A win Friday by Nash Central would be their seventh on the season, but minus the two forfeits they will be seeded as a five win or four win team.

Some 8-2 or 7-3 team will get them in the first round and Nash Central will actually be just as good as them except they will be on the road.

Championship coverage begins at 7 p.m. on AM 1390 Friday night. I would hope with the magnitude of this game you are in the stands cheering for the Gryphons.

Have your Walkman radio on 1390, of course.