All The Pieces Must Fit

The 2009-2010 basketball season at Rocky Mount High soared to the pinnacle of success, a state championship. Despite the end result, not many had thoughts that a state championship was on the horizon.

There was talk of transfers coming into the program, but there was also a transfer who left and moved back to New York. The tallest on the team, the stud in the middle at six feet nine had gone. The Gryphons had Tashawn Mabry returning, but that hadn't proved to get us past the sectionals.

All you have to do is look to the college that plays in the house that brought the Gryphons their state title, Carolina and see that promises and hype don't add up to a gallon of gas.

A loss to 2-A Beddingfield rather early on the road would dampen any talk that this team had championship potential. Way back in 1983, N. C. State won a national championship but it didn't jell until Derrick Whittenburg went down with a broken foot. Six weeks without him and those off the bench stepped up and found roles on that team, including Rocky Mount's very own George McClain.

The same thing happened for the Gryphons. T.J. Walker's season-ending knee injury and Mabry's three-game absence gave players an opportunity to play bigger roles instead of watching from the sidelines or in the case most of the time on the court passing Tashawn the ball and being a spectator on the court.

In the rout of Northern Nash in Rocky Mount in mid-January, there was a sense that this team was coming together. Tevin Taylor, Darius McKnight and Billy Young were becoming a reliable point guard combination. Then there was the exam week, followed by snow that closed school for four days and it looked like big MO left and hid.

The second cycle in conference play the Gryphons were average, disgruntle players. A loss the first night back from the snow at Fike and then a tournament semifinal lost to Nash Central. This team will win their first game in the playoffs at home, but hit the road and then pack up the equipment until next year was the thought of many.

All the squabbles were mending and by the second-round playoff, the Gryphons caught a break. An upset and instead of hitting the road in the second round, it's another home game. Detrail Jenkins was becoming a double-double man every night. Kenyatta Bullock was dependable hitting big threes. Terrell Hilliard and Tecoby Hines were playing like starters from off the bench.

The tranformation took over Mabry. He became the greatest scorer in Gryphon history, but still hadn't won much in the playoffs. Tashawn found the level that people predicted back in the eighth grade. Mabry's career he had been a scorer but the last month he became a great player. In the regional and state championships, Tashawn averaged 29 points and 10 rebounds plus five blocks a game. All of the pieces fell in place.

When all was said and done, Mike Gainey became a state championship coach. This is probably the hardest year in his life and somehow, the most rewarding. All you have to do is look toward Roy Williams this year and see that you just don't put five on the court and say bring me a title. The captain of the U.S.S. Gryphon was Gainey and the captain maneuvered this ship through many mine fields.

I said this on the radio Saturday night. The Nash County area has some of the highest unemployment in the state. People are struggling to pay their light bills. This team put a little pep in everyone's step to make us proud.

The Rocky Mount Gryphons: STATE CHAMPIONS!!!!!