It's Baseball Season

Rocky Mount's baseball team opened their new field this afternoon and the Gryphons were a charitable bunch making seven errors and allowed ten unearned runs as as they fall 10-3 to Southern Wayne. The Saints got 8 hits and SW pitching held the Gryphons to only three hits as Jarrell Hunter had two hits and two rbi and Spencer Ramsey found the  Gryphons third Hit.

Ramsey started and pitch the first three innings but the defense was little help. An array of arms threw the 4th, 5th sixth and seventh innings as two Gryphon pitcher Jeremy Johnson and Will Edwards are nursing injuries.  Edwards will be out the first month while Johnson will pitch soon in fact he played center field today.  Not much time to be depressed at the Gryphons travel to Tarboro Friday at 5pm

Three teams from Rocky Mount remain alive for their respective State Championships.  Rocky Mount Prep will play the team that knocked them out of the Regional last year in Plymouth.  That game will be played in Plymouth.  Last year's Regional score was 86-78 but the Jags have maybe their best player playing this year whereas last year he was on the sidelines injured in DeShaun Freeman

Freeman provides inside presence that the Prep did not have last year. 6'8" his bottling up of the middle allows everyone else to take off for the basket in Prep's high powered run and Gun offense.  This game is one of the best matchups in all sectional finals.  It is not the only really good match up state wide however.

If Pam Gainey was to tell you the truth she has a hollow hole in the pit of her stomach after last year's team failed to win the Regional.  Watching the results of the State Championship game she knows the Lady Gryphons could have won a title too but it didn't happen.  Is there redemption available for the Ladies as they travel to West Craven 24-5.  It is as much as any thing about how you are playing today not yesterday and the Lady Gryphons have a shot because they have it together right now.

The Rocky Mount boys could at any time lay and egg and be embarrassed but the door gets wider and wider for Rocky Mount to return to the Regional finals after the #2 seed Triton lost last night.  If the Gryphons are focused there will be no problem against C B Aycock but they had better all have one thing in mind.  Mike Gainey did a great job against South Brunswick keeping them focused.  Less than 200 were in the gym so you can hear every comment and as the game ended a fan yelled good practice.  Their opponent is better this round but if the #2 team in the State shows up it's on to the Regional.

After the boys game last night just about every Gryphon fan at the boys game loaded up and went to Northern.  You could feel the side of the court rise where the Rocky Mount fans were seated when the boys still in uniform warmups enter the building in the  tight contest.  At that point Northern had taken control of the game to some extent even though it was tied at 23-23 just before the half.  The energy just those guys showing up added to the Lady Gryphons play and maybe in a small way took something out of Northern. It may have been the turning point in the game.

Gryphons Break Northern's Heart Boys Don't Break A Sweat

The weekly addition of the Northern- Rocky Mount girls basketball game with the Sectionals finals berth at stake and Rocky Mount stuns Northern 56-53 at Northern.  Tonight I was at the boys game where I personally counted 146 people including the players in the gym and the Gryphons hardly break a sweat in winning 73-53.  Mike Gainey never showed any sweat on his brow in Rocky Mount but after he loaded up the boys for the ride to Northern by the time he found a seat  in the tightly packed gym the sweat was streaming  down his face.

The Lady Gryphons jump out to a big lead in the first quarter 19-8 but the Lady Knights whittled away.  The half was 30-27 Gryphons ,42-all at the end of the third and Northern took the lead at 46-45 with just under five minutes to play. Foul trouble was big as Kelsey Daniels and Tyrekyra Thomas fouled out for the Lady Gryphons and J'Kyra Brown had four but she never fouled out and that was the bad news for Northern.
J'Kyra for the second game in a row throws down 32 to go with 37 on Monday.  Carmen Richardson handled most of the ball dribbling  and scored 14.

If there is one place Northern would love to have back it is at the foul line three times in the last few minutes they had two shots to tie and never tied the game at the line.  Their only lead of the game came on a jump shot from Alexus Hill but Tyrekyra Thomas made a Gryphon jump shot to give the Gryphons back the lead they would not lose again.  Hill and Quineshia Lynch score 14 a piece for Northern Camille Branch was next with 8.

 Rocky Mount will travel to West Craven Friday night for the sectional final at 6:00pm as West Craven beat Conley 59-49 to Host.  They will be part of a double header in Vanceboro but it will be West Craven boys in the second game.

Rocky Mount boys jumped on South Brunswick to a 24-5 lead in the first quarter.  Mike Gainey  suited up 15 players and 13 scored,  and 13 got rebounds.  It was 42-14 at the half and the biggest thing was not get anybody hurt.
 
M JGainey scored 17, Donte Battle 14, Michael Hines 10, Emanuel King 8. and then there was everyone else.  Jaquez Jones 4, Thomas Cooper 1, Mason Hines 4, Broderick Caudle 3, J T Smith 2, Armad Harrell 3, Amir Pittman 2, Tyler Harmonson 2 and Austin Warner 2. 

Rocky Mount won the boards 39-32 but it was about 25-5 with the first team in the game. The Gryphons only had ten turnovers with all of the line up changes while they forced 29 from West Brunswick  Friday night the Gryphon play at home at 7:00pm .  They will play C B Aycock who beat Conley tonight 62-51. 

Hunt was knocked out of the playoffs tonight losing 74-61 at West Craven.  The big upset of the night was Havelock beating Triton the #2 in the east 63-61.   The Rocky Mount Gryphon Boys and Girls still alive in the State Playoffs.

Times Set for Wednesday

Rocky Mount boys will play South Brunswick at 6pm Wednesday at Rocky Mount and Rocky Mount girls will play Northern Nash at 7pm.  at Northern Nash 

 Seven Gryphons head to the State Wrestling Championships:
Regional 145 pound wrestling champion Alex Knight and Anthony Battle the 170 pound champion head line seven Rocky Mount Gryphon Wrestlers heading to Greensboro Thursday for the State Wrestling Championships.  Joining them after qualifying are 138 pounds Rayshawn Elliot, 152 pounds Joseph Cooper, 182 pound Devonte Ricks,195 pounds  Keyaad Coley and 220 pounds Jeffery Person.

Southern Nash  will send five wrestlers including 195 Regional Champ Travis Collins.  Also making the trip will be 106 pounds Dakota Medina, 113 pounds Cody Thorne, 126 Jordan Decosse and Jacoby Benjamin 152 pounds.

Northern Nash has one wrestler and that is Xavier Anistead and he qualified in the 145 pound category.

Wednesday night will be round two on the North Carolina basketball playoffs and Northern Nash 22-1 and Rocky Mount girls 16-9 will tangle for the 10th time in the last two seasons  and the fifth time this year.  Northern leads this year 3-1.  Game time is scheduled for 7pm.  The winner will play for the district finals Friday night.  If Northern wins they play at home against the winner  of D H Conley 21-6 and West Craven 23-5 it doesn't matter which they are the higher seed.  If Rocky Mount wins they travel and it doesn't matter which they are the lower seed.

Rocky Mount boys 23-4 will  host South Brunswick 4-20 At 6pm.  If Rocky Mount wins they host the winner of C B Aycock 14-12/D H Conley  16-11game.  If South Brunswick wins they are on the road it doesn't matter who wins.  Hunt 21-5 goes to West Craven 23-4.  Rocky Mount Prep 20-3 is at Southside of Chocowinity 14-13. 

Rocky Mount baseball is suppose to crank up Wednesday with a home game against Southern Wayne.  However, if we get all the rain  the weather man is calling for I have a feeling the game will be moved to Thursday.  This new field doesn't drain like the old stadium.  If it doesn't get rained out with two basketball games going on it might get moved to Thursday anyway.

Finally I really like this format that they are using for the basketball playoffs this year.  It is easy on everybody trying to look up the match ups.   No format is perfect and let me tell you of a major problem with is seedings this year.  South Brunswick the team  that Rocky Mount boys will play Wednesday played at Currituck which is in Coinjock.  They had to travel 270 miles which by car is four hours and 53 minutes.  The West Brunswick girls played at Currituck and I can tell you from Southport to Coinjock or Shallotte to Coinjock is not five minutes different in miles or time.

  I wonder if the two schools got together and rode together. That's about like asking Rocky Mount and Northern to ride the same bus to Coinjock.  At 50 cents per mile they both paid $135 to travel.  If that came out of the gate receipts I can't imagine  there was any money made on those two games after the refs were paid.

Wednesday Night Dilemma

If you are are  Rocky Mount Gryphon fan you will have a tough choice to make as Tonight the Lady Gryphons looked like a completely different team that lost to South Central in Rocky Mount in December and by doing so won in impressive fashion their opening round 3-A playoff game dumping South Central 67-50.  As expected the Gryphon boys had little trouble with Jacksonville winning 85-51.

J'Kyra Brown's last game in the Rocky Mount gym she rocked for 37 points.  Unlike most games this season the Lady Gryphons didn't need all 37 as it was a total team effort.  When one player score 37of your 67 how can you say that you ask?  Takeyra Thomas had two jump shot baskets, Carmen Richardson had five others.  So far this season this team has been scared to shoot outside other than J'Kyra  and if this trend continues it takes a load of pressure of J'Kyra.

The Lady Gryphons jumped to an 11-2 lead and never looked back leading by 16 at the quarter, 20 at the half 19 at the end of the third.  Carmen Richardson poured in 15 points, Kelsey Daniels controlled the inside with 8 points. Daniels had10 rebounds on the night as Rocky Mount out rebounded the Lady Falcons 41-30.  Rocky Mount forced 17 turnovers on the night but the Lady Gryphons were sloppy after the game was put away and finished with 23 to's themselves .

The boys limited the smaller Jacksonville squad to only two rebounds in the first quarter while they poured in 36 first quarter points  to lead 36-12 after one.  From that point on Mike Gainey played everybody and on the night 12 players scored.

Donte Battle was unstoppable from two feet from the basket and even poured in a three pointer to finish with 19. Michael Hines added 13,Jaquel Bryant 13,  Bryant also had 10 rebounds on the night to lead the way .  The Gryphons dominated the boards 49-23 for much of the Cardinal attack was three point shots.  Jacksonville also turned it over 18 times to RM's 11.

Up next for the boys is South Brunswick who traveled all the way to Currituck and won 62-57 but for them it was only their fourth win of the season.  Up next for the Lady Gryphons is Northern Nash who won at home tonight 81-31 over Southern Wayne

Here is where the dilemma comes in.  Under this new schedule for the playoffs with both the boys and girls both playing the same night, the reason they are doing that is in case of inclement weather there is a empty night in between each game to give everyone a makeup night if needed.  As of right now the Northern Nash Rocky Mount girls game is scheduled for 7:00pm and at the same time Rocky Mount boys will be hosting South Brunswick at 7:00pm. on Wednesday.

I have a feeling Rocky Mount will ask Northern and South Brunswick if the times can be changed in order for fans can get to both games.  Let's say  since South Brunswick has a long trip to go home that the boys game was played at 6pm and the RM/NN girls game didn't tip until 8pm  it would be possible to get to both games.

In order for any schedule change both Northern and South Brunswick would have to agree. Then the NCHSAA has to sign off on it.  That is like asking republicans and democrats to agree and ask the Supreme Court if it is ok.  I would suspect if both are played at the same time the crowd will be at Northern for the game of the century part 10 while most folks will figure Rocky Mount boys will roll on a four win team.

Other games of interest Hunt Boys beat Nash Central 74-30 to give both Big East top two teams wins.  #4 seeded Northern Nash played at Triton and almost pulled the upset losing 52-50.  Rocky Mount Prep traveled to Southeast Halifax and won 91-42 to advance and they play Southside Wednesday at Southside and that is in Chocowinity.

Hunt girls lost at West Craven 53-36 while the Nash Central girls were in a tussle but they lose at D H Conley 44-39.  The Big East still has their top two seeds in the girls and boys still alive.

Double Header Monday

The new Rocky Mount High School will host it's  first basketball playoffs ever Monday night when the defending 3-A State Champions the Rocky Mount Gryphons will play host to the #4 seed from the Coastal Conference Jacksonville 10-15 on the year.   So far in the new gym the Gryphons have lost only once.

The #1 seed  if they play this week as good as their record is 22-2 should find themselves heading to Fayetteville for the fourth straight  year in the East Regional.  The winner of this game will match up with The Currituck- South Brunswick winner and between them they have a total of 12 wins.  The other part of the bracket which would meet in game three there are only two teams with a winning record. That  would be D H Conley 15-11 #13 and C B Aycock #12  13-12 and those two could meet each other.  The biggest question for the Rocky Mount Gryphons is how is this week off going to effect them.  It surely looks like the Gryphons themselves will be their biggest obstacle until the Regional.

The first game of the night Monday will be the Lady Gryphons 15-9 playing in what will probably be the final appearance of J'Kyra Brown in the Rocky Mount Gym.  The Lady Gryphons play South Central 22-6 a team that beat them at Rocky Mount in December. Tip time is 6pm Monday  The winner of that game draws Northern Nash 21-1/Southern Wayne winner and that game will be at Northern if Northern wins..

So the Lady Gryphons get a tough bracket having to face South Central and if they are winners there will catch Northern Nash at Northern in round two.  If there has been one team that needed the week off it has been the Lady Gryphons with J'Kyra needing to get back to 100% healthy.  Injuries are a part of the game but many have forgotten that the Lady Gryphons lost Ty'Ais Cooper their starting point guard to a knee injury before the season started so the injury bug has not been kind to the Lady Gryphons this season.

Northern Nash  21-1 meet Southern Wayne 13-11 should breeze into the second round and they will either catch their top rival Rocky Mount or South Central.  Many of you may remember I said back in December that South Central had the type of lineup to give Northern trouble.  So the Lady Knights road to Fayetteville is more bumpy than the Rocky Mount boys.  It kind of shows you the difference in being a 1 over a 2 seed.

Hunt boys are hosting conference foe Nash Central Monday night while the fourth boys team Northern Nash heads to Triton  the #2 in the east bracket.  Hunt's girls open on the road at West Craven  and Nash Central travels to D H Conley

Rocky Mount Prep 19-3 the winners of the Independent tournament are seeded fifth and travel Southeast Halifax 8-13.  Since the Jags had to win the play in tournament they will travel throughout the playoffs.  Waiting in round two is the Southside13-13/Columbia12-12 winner.  Friday night in the Sectional finals Plymouth will probably be standing waiting on Prep as they stand 23-0 and lost last year in the 1-A State Final game in Chapel Hill.

I hope as easy as it has been to figure these brackets this week football will learn a lesson and go with the same format next year.  The only answers we needed to know this week is who was going to win conference tournament the format was laid out and drop in the names. 

Gryphons #1 Seed/ Northern Girls #2

The Rocky Mount Gryphons will begin their defense of their state title in 2012 by being the top seeded team in the east after they compiled the best overall record of anybody in the East Region.  The Tournament lost in the conference finals has denied the Lady Knights of Northern Nash the top spot in the girls east but still as the #2 as long as they win they get three home games just like the Rocky Mount boys. 

Rocky Mount boys will play Jacksonville the #16 seed in their first game.  Jacksonville record as the #4 from the Coastal is15-10. The winner of that game will play in round two the winner of the Currituck 9-16 and South Brunswick 3-20 the #8 and #9seeds.

Northern Nash  girls at 21-1 will take on Southern Wayne 13-11 in their first game.  The winner of that first round game will meet up with The Rocky Mount 15-9 #7 seed and South Central #10 20-6.  Rocky Mount and South Central tangled in December in Rocky Mount with South Central winning.

Triton who Rocky Mount beat in the regional last year is the #2 seed in the east and if both win all three games next week they would be matched up the the semi final of the regional in Fayetteville in two weeks.  The same applies for Northern at #2.  The top seed in the east is Eastern Wayne 25-1 and if both win all three games next week they would meet in the semi's in Fayetteville.

The Big east boys #2 seed Hunt 20-5 is the 6th seed and they will play at home against Nash Central who at #3 in the Big East is seeded 11th at 13-9.  The other Big East team Northern Nash is seeded 15th which will send them to Triton the #2 seed in the first game.  Hunt-Nash Central- and Northern are all in the same bracket and if they were to survive  they would play each other before the week is out.  Rocky Mount is in the upper bracket and will not face another Big East team next week.  It is possible that if Hunt and Rocky Mount win out next week they could meet in the semi finals  in Fayetteville.

The girls bracket for the Big East #3 Nash Central  13-8 is seeded 11th and they travel D H Conley #6 at 20-6.  The final Big East team Hunt 13-10 as the #14 will travel  to #3 West Craven 22-3.  All four Big east teams are in the lower bracket which will  allow only one Big east team to make it to the regional where the boys could get two if everyone wins out.

Theses brackets will not be official until 6pm

The Other Perspective

We have already talked about this week the great start that North Carolina baseball has had but at the other end of the spectrum is ECU.  Can't blame Billy Godwin for his foe the first weekend as ECU hosted University of Virginia and lost two games and lost another to weather. Tuesday the Fighting Camels of Campbell stepped into Mark Leclair Stadium and went back home to Buies Creek with a win in their pocket to drop ECU to 0-3.  Thursday  ECU has won their first game of the season beating Illinois.  By the way Tyler Joyner from Northern Nash is no longer a member of the ECU baseball team.

The NFL Combines started today in Indianapolis and several players from North Carolina schools are trying to make an impression on the scouts.  Now that the NFL season is over talk continues related to safety in football.  Concussions is the biggest threat to sports facing all sports in fact today.  I think the answer to concussions is put football players in helmets similar to hockey.  Right now players feel safe when they lower their head to either try to run over a runner or tackle a player head first.  In the olden days when I played that was called spearing and you could be thrown out of a game.

I don't know about you but there has been some very dreadful basketball games this year.  It is my opinion in this world of great athletes college  basketball has to get back to 88-85 games on a consistent basis.  Officiating is so awful it is hard for players to figure out how the calls are going to be made.  Don't just say to me it is because the one and done players are ruining college basketball.  Let me tell you this, an NBA game that the final score is 85-73 is worse than a college 52-50 game.  Please don't try to tell me it is because of the great defense played in the NBA.

Rocky Mount baseball scrimmaged at the new baseball  field Wednesday night and I hear they won 7-2.  One week from today high school baseball starts and the Gryphons travel to Tarboro.

Today the Regional wrestling  for 3-A will get underway and it will be at the new Rocky Mount High School.  Every individual who did well in their conference tournaments will be in Rocky Mount and each may have to wrestle three or four matches and win to make it to the State championships next week in Greensboro.  You don't have to win to advance to next week but you must survive and finish high enough.  Last week in the Big East Tournament Rocky Mount and Southern Nash had the most individual champions so both will have the most wrestlers hoping to advance to the State Championships.  First match starts at 4:45 this afternoon then all day Saturday.

The NCHSAA will release the high school basketball brackets at around 6pm Saturday.  I will have the brackets announcement pretty soon at around 7pm.  I would have it closer to six but you know there is a basketball game at 4pm that I will be watching.

State- Carolina A Basketball Rivalry Again

Saturday afternoon at 4pm in the Dean E Smith Center the Tar Heels will host the WolfPack in a game that has meaning for the future of each program.

The Tar Heels seemed to have found their purpose in life since they have gone with the small quick line up.  It has helped the fan base feel better about themselves but at 17-8 the North Carolina Tar Heels are on the proverbial bubble for this years NCAA tournament.  Surely during the Roy Williams era this is uncharted territory.

The Heels have five games left during the regular season and if they win all five they could head to the ACC Tournament 22-8.  Still left on the schedule is State, Florida State and Duke at home and road trips to Clemson and Maryland.  All five games are winnable and yes all five they can be beaten.

As of today the Tar Heels are 27th in the RPI and have played the  16th toughest schedule.  Their resume' only has one victory against a top 50 team while they have six losses.  Saturday a victory over the WolfPack would double their top 50 wins and ease the Tar Heels up the ladder away from the bubble.

N C State is coming off  their best game since they beat Duke in early January.  They stand 19-7 and in the RPI are 20th.  They have played the 18th toughest schedule so far this year.  Their five games left  are @Carolina,@ Georgia Tech and @ Florida State. They have home games against Boston College and Wake Forest.  They too could win all five but I can't see them losing at home to Wake or BC.

They are 3-4 against the top 50 teams.  Since both are top 25 in RPI they both will improve RPI and SOS by playing each other this weekend.  The winner will improve the most.  This season looks like a wide open sprint to the National Championship.  There is not one team that I would be shaking in my boots if they were in my bracket.

I just don't see the small lineup getting very far if Carolina makes it to the NCAA.  There are too many teams that they could see that will have big men to off set their quickness with the new lineup.  If you listen everyone is down on State being 19-7 as if this is a terrible team.  Remember this, in games in which Lorenzo Brown has played the entire game State is 19-4.  Look at the top 10 teams in the country and the #1 team has three losses.  State is right there with the best.

Saturday both teams have more to lose than what they can gain by winning.  This scenario hasn't been part of the State-Carolina game in a long time.  The series has been one sided for the past 20 or so seasons.  Regardless of the edge being slanted the Tar Heel way this game Saturday is a toss up in my eyes and either can win it.  Any time when both teams have a lot to lose you can count on this one Saturday being quite a game.

It is not  the death penalty for either to lose.  But, the one that does has a foot in the NIT grave.  Just maybe Carolina has more to lose than State.  There is the old feeling that a rivalry has to have both teams winning in  order to be a good rivalry.  This series is back then, but you know rivalry's are never about being good over the other but you just can't stand to lose to that bunch.  When you can't stand to lose and the game means your possible playoff life.   The rivalry is back to being important.

ACC seedings.  The loser will probably have to win four games over three to win the ACC Tournament.  The loser just might have to be in one of those NCAA play in  games against a team you never heard of.  That for big time basketball power  is an embarrassment for the ages.  There is plenty on the line Saturday.

The Rivalry is back.

Trick Shot Goes Viral

I don't know whether you have seen the trick shot by the Campbell University Golf Management team but I think every network has had this trick as a high light in the last couple of days.  Nine players each line up a golf ball all in a row  and each putts his own ball.  The guy  nearest to the cup is maybe two feet while the fartherest is about twenty feet from the golf hole.

They each at the same time take their back swing on the putt and stroke the balls at the same time.  The trick to this Conga line putt is that each ball must stay at about the same speed as the ball in front of the other or one ball will hit the one in front of it.  All nine players stroke their putts and they have made the cup a little deeper than a normal golf cup so all nine ball will go down in the hole.  They all nine strike their balls as the first falls in the cup the other eight keep going until all nine are in the cup.

Do you know how hard one twenty foot putt is to make just by itself.  Add eight more balls all in a row and that is not an easy trick at all.  The funny thing is that the world of video  is that you don''t get a chance to see the other twenty seven tries until all nine balls go in the hole in order.  It is on the Campbell U website,CNN, Fox, ABC Good morning America.

We are smack dab in the middle of the week off for Big East basketball teams before the playoffs start next week.  How will the seedings go is any bodies guess. There are 14 3-A or 3-A/2A leagues in the state.  As of today here is what looks like the top seeded teams in the East.

Big East- Rocky Mount  22-2
Cape Fear  Valley - Westover 19-4
Carolina -  Chapel hill 20-4 and Webb 20-4.  Tournament champion will decide #1 seed
Coastal- West Craven 19-4
Eastern Carolina- Triton 20-3
Mid Piedmont- N E Guilford 19-3
Mid State-Eastern Alamance 20-5
NE Coastal- Hertford County 10-11
Waccamaw-  North Brunswick  16-7

This weeks Max Preps Top ten in North Carolina has Concord at 22-1 at #1.  Rocky Mount at 22-2 #2.  Tuscola 22-3 #3.  Triton 20-3 #4.  N E Guilford 19-3 #5.  Hunter Huss 19-3 #6.  Statesville 18-3 #7.  Webb 20-4 #8.  Chapel Hill 20-4 #9.  Foard 19-4 #10.  Hunt is 14th at 20-5.

Girls 3-A Top Ten :  Northern drops from the top spot after losing for the first time last week. North Guilford 24-1#1.  Chapel Hill 23-1 #2.   Eastern Wayne 23-1 #3.  Northern Nash 21-1 #4.  West Rowan 22-2 #5.
Ledford 21-3 #6.  Freedom 20-3 #7.  Franklin 19-3 #8.  Crest 17-3 #9.  Hickory 21-3 #10.

Duo Off To Good Starts

Former Gryphon baseball players Benton Moss and Hobbs Johnson have started out the 2013 Carolina Baseball season as the Saturday and Sunday starters for the Tar Heels.  Due to the snowed out game this weekend it became the Sunday/Monday game.

The nation's #1 rank baseball team put Sophomore Benton Moss on the mound Sunday against Seton Hall and with the temperatures never getting above 40 degrees Moss was limited to five innings of work but his Carolina Teammates put 14 runs on the board and Moss allowed just one run in his first five innings of the season and he struck out seven but he did have a wild streak walking four batters.  It was good enough to win his first game of the season

 Monday Mike Fox sent junior left hander Hobbs Johnson to the hill and after 70 pitches Johnson came out of the game leading 5-1.  He had allowed four hits walked only one batter and struck out two Coastal Carolina batter.  His 70 pitches only got him to 4.1 innings an after Carolina had won 7-1 he did not get credit for the win.

Carolina starts out the season 3-0 and the Gryphon duo pitched 9.1 innings and have given up only two earned runs which works out to about a 1.78 earn run average.  A great beginning for Carolina and  two former Gryphon greats.

Cousin Lauren Doughtie began her career on the LPGA tour this past week as the LPGA season got underway at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open.  LD carded a 72 in her opening round which put her in a tie for 58th spot.  She faltered in round two to a 75 which knocked her  out of the top 70 and ties and she failed to make the cut.  The Tournament was played on the Royal Caberra Country Club in Melbourne.  That is a long ways to go and have to come back home without a pay check.

Last night the state high school playoffs started for all those high schools that are caught without a conference affiliation.  They are playing in a play in tournament this week with one survivor from the east and one from the west qualifying for the 1-A playoffs.  Rocky Mount Prep won that tournament last year and made it all the way to the East Regional .  Prep hosted East Wake Academy last night and the final score was 112-28 Rocky Mount Prep.

 You know football has the rule that once one team leads by 40 the clock runs non stop.  I think basketball needs a rule like that too.  I don't care how bad any team is no team should have to endure a 90 point loss in the playoffs.  I truly feel that this type of score is more embarrassing for the winning team than the loser.  There has to be a point in any game that you need to show respect your  opponent.  Just stand there and hold the ball.  A 78-28 score was enough to advance to the next round.

A Week Off At A Bad Time Of Year

All eight of the Big East Basketball teams will be off until at least February 25 when the NCHSAA  basketball playoffs start.  Rocky Mount, Hunt, Nash Central and Northern Nash boys will have to wait until Saturday night to know who and where they are playing.  Northern Nash girls, Rocky Mount, Nash Central and Hunt have the same problem on the girls side.

Haven't been able to get a really good answer as to why the week off.  Without getting an official answer here is my speculation.  I have already expressed the view that some coaches don't like playing the tournament championship on Friday night and having to turn around and start the playoffs of Monday.  Makes sense that there is no practice time once the announcements come out at 6pm on Saturday before some teams play Monday.

Today is a school Holiday.  School systems don't like athletic teams playing when school is not in session.  As far as I am concern that can't be the answer as at Easter time just about every high school team will be in a tournament some where playing baseball.

What ever the reason the ACC Tournament is a week later this year and the Duke- Carolina game in Chapel Hill and the last regular season game of the year would be on what should have been State Championship weekend.  The Dean Dome is the biggest of the arenas and looking for another in the central part of the State is impossible.

Then there is always the possibility that some where in the scheduling somebody missed the memo telling everyone that the playoffs dates had move and the league didn't catch the mistake in time.  Please remember that no one has told me any thing about the week off this is just me talking out loud.

The worst possible scenario is all the teams get rusty and when they do play again it may take a quarter of the game to get adjusted.  Everyone but the number one seeds Rocky Mount boys and Northern Nash girls might all be on the road and in a evenly matched game when having a bad quarter could knock any of them out quickly.

Yes the best possible conclusion would be any team that has injuries that a week off will get them healthier.  Rocky Mount girls head that list with J'Kyra Brown trying to heal up.  The only way to know for sure how this week off is going to pan out is wait and see after everyone has a game under their belt whether it was  a  good thing or bad deal.

Ramblings

If you are an expert at such things as predicting who is going to win the NCAA Championship and you know who is going to win it this year.  Please let me know.  This year a team with ten losses just might win it all.

The Big East has a week off before the playoffs start and if there is one team that can use a week is the Rocky Mount Lady Gryphons.  Another week  J'Kyra Brown might be at 100% by then.

N C State continues to play at the level of their competition.  They sneak out another one Saturday.  They can be as good as anybody or as bad all in the same game.

Southern Nash made it to the third round of the duel wrestling before losing to Jacksonville.  Next week will be the individual competition starting.

Michael Jordan is 50 years old today.  There are rumblings that he might return to play in the NBA.  Please sell the Bobcats first.  He might be one of the best players ever but he is one of the worst evaluating talent.

My wife Pat said to me.  "I don't understand how they call fouls in basketball".  I don't think the referees do either.

The Carolina Hurricanes have played in the Stanley Cup finals twice since they have been in Raleigh.  I just like what I see in them again this year.  Just maybe three times!

I watched the Duke game last night and I continue to wonder how Duke has lost only three games.  They have a good player out. Last night their center should have been out and yet they almost won.

The three point basket was introduced to college basketball I think in 1983.  That means that those playing college basketball  today were born only knowing how to shoot threes and dunks.  Why don't they have a throw back game once in a while and play the game the way it should be played.

There is all kinds of talk about who is the best player in pro basketball.  Lebron, Kobe, oh look at the standings and the best team is lead by Tim Duncan.  Probably the best player ever in the NBA that nobody talks about  just because he is not flashy for the TV.  If titles are how good you are look at Tim Duncan.

College baseball started playing this weekend and high schools have started practice.

A couple of weeks past the Super Bowl and once again the best team didn't win the Super Bowl but the hottest did .

It is cold outside and there still might be snow on the ground but there is one good thing to think about


The Master golf Tournament is just around the corner.

Not The End Of The World

The Lady Gryphons were able to plant the first loss of the season on Grover Battle's Lady Knights last night.  There is a burden all teams carry when the word undefeated is associated with you.  If the season is over and you were able to with stand everyone who tried to knock you down it is a great accomplishment.

Northern did not play badly and lose but but got caught by a team that played the best they had played in quite a while since the injury bug had struck them.   Northern has lost five games in two years.  Nobody has been able to beat them that didn't have Rocky Mount on their chest.

Thursday Fike tried slowing the ball down and held on to it as much as possible. Fike's best players gave Northern Fits  but Northern had too many good players.  Rocky Mount played cat and Mice with the Knights.  Played zone most of the time but every now and then used pressure to keep the Knight off balance.  Rocky Mount forced Northern to Beat them from the outside.

The good news for the Lady Knights is from here on out nobody will have played them three times like Fike and four times like the Gryphons.  Every coach goes to the drawing board after they have lost to any team and they say "next time let's try this".  Northern should have all home games the first couple of rounds and their chances of making the regional is very good.

Yes the weakness of the Lady Knights is their three point shooting.  They make a few but with the size Northern throws at you down low any team would rather you prove to me you can shoot  an outside shot over drubbing me to death inside.

Grover Battle has primed this team as most of these players played varsity as freshmen and any in losing these girls showed  they had grit  that would pay off  later.  Later turned out to be the next three years as two years ago the Lady Knights made it to the regional to lose to the State Champion and last year in the sectional final.

Six of Northern's top seven players are seniors. They start with six foot Jordan Oldham who provides the size to scare anybody.  From the bench they bring in Camille Branch  who at 5 feet eight inches plays as if she is six feet tall. Deja Lewis at 5' 10" plays like a power forward.   Quaneshia Lynch at 5' 6", Shakiya Mercer 5'5" and Khadijrah Richardson 5'4" provide the play making to this team.  They don't look like guards but they get the job done.  All three can shoot from the outside.  Northern's most versatile player is Alexus Hill the junior in the bunch  She at 5'7" can play every position if needed and do it well.  There are more who play their roles for this team but  the seven are the nucleus of this once beaten team.

A new season begins in about ten days.  The burden if it was of being undefeated is off their shoulders.  For the six seniors this is their last ride.  They have been close twice before and now as older players they have three years of experience to rely on.  One loss is not the end of the world.  It may be a blessing in disguise

The Gryphons DO It

Tonight Rocky Mount High school made the trek to Hunt and while away the girls pulled off the upset and knocked Northern Nash from the ranks of the undefeated 51-47 in overtime while the boys beat Hunt for the second time this year at Hunt 69-54 and in doing so grab the #1 seed from the Big East in the State Playoffs.

It took more than thirty two minutes to decide the girls championship as Northern's biggest lead of the night was 6 twice and Rocky Mount never lead by more than three until the final minute of over time.  Both teams defense caused the other problems all night as Rocky Mount mishandle the ball 25 times and Northern had 19 miscues.  The ball was flying all over the place but if you didn't see this one you missed a game. It was tied 25-25 at the half and 44 all at the end of the fourth.

J'Kyra Brown playing her best game since she was injured two and a half weeks ago poured in 27 points and guard Carmen Richardson pulled down 10 of Rocky Mount's 31 rebounds and also had 9 points..  Alexus Hill lead Northern with 15 with help from Shakyia Mercer 10, Quineshia Lynch 8, and Camille Branch 8.

This just might be the best game Rocky Mount has played all year never letting a turnover devour  their goal of Knocking Northern  off with their first defeat.  Rocky Mount record goes to 16-9 while Northern falls to 21-1.  Despite the loss Northern still will get the #1 seed representing  the Big East and Rocky Mount will be #2 and at 16-9 just might not get a home game in the playoffs.

J'Kyra Brown was named the Tournament MVP while teammates Kelsey Daniels and Carmen Richarson made all tournament.  Northern had Quineshia Lynch and Alexus Hill on the squad while Fike  had two players Jameka Ruffin and E J Proctor.  Rounding out the teams was Miya Styles and J'Lynn Westry from Nash Central.

Tonight M J Gainey wrapped up the MVP award at the half all he had to do was worry about the Gryphons holding on to their 15 point lead and they did .  MJ rained threes all over Hunt in the first half he was so hot that he even made a bank shot three from the near corner in scoring 21 points.   Justin Jefferson tried his best to keep Hunt in it in the first half but foul trouble derailed his effort  and with it all possible come backs for Hunt.

Rocky Mount biggest lead was 48-29 and twice Hunt cut it to 10 but every time Hunt got close Rocky Mount would get a couple of scores  and push away again.  Rocky Mount won the rebounding battle 26-24 but a big difference in the game was the turnovers as every Hunt turnover cost them in Gryphon Points.  On the night they had 17 while Rocky Mount had 11.  They only had 10 last night so if the Gryphons protect the ball in the playoffs this well no telling how far they can go in trying to repeat as State Champs.

Michael Hines  scored  15 and everyone of his points came off drives to the basket.  Just to keep Hunt from guarding the outside Gryphon shots Donte Battled chipped in 15,  Daniel Westbrook score 19 for Hunt who lost for only the fifth time all year.  Dwantae Sutton rebounded seven for the Warriors while Donte Battle lead Rocky Mount with six.

Joining Gainey on the all tournament team were Michael Hines and Donte Battle.  Hunt has Justin Jefferson and Travon Davis.  Making all tournament from Southern Nash was Desmond Jackson and Deion Lavendar while Nash Central had Nate Pittman and Jaquan Wilkins on the team.

All Big East teams who are in the playoffs will not begin play until Monday Feb 25th.  Seeding will be announced on the 23rd.

Who Else Did You Expect

Northern Nash Girls have played Rocky Mount girls eight times in the past two basketball seasons.  Friday night they will meet for the ninth time each having won four times with the Big East Tournament championship on the line.  Northern played a Fike team that decided the only way to beat the Lady Knights is go with an all guard line up and play keep away and it worked for about 12 minutes.The relentless Northern pressure finally succumbed  the Lady Golden Demons with Northern winning 45-.39.  The playoff #2 seed from the Big East was on the line in the Rocky Mount -Nash Central game and the second half was all Gryphons with the Lady Gryphons winning 56-33.

The opening game of the night saw Fike come out and dribble the ball and Northern's pressure defense was knocking the ball loose but it seemed to roll right to a Fike player or out of bounds keeping Northern from getting it.  Fike lead 6-5 at the end of the first.  Fike's lead ballooned to 11-5 before  before Fike began tiring plus the ball finally took some Knight bounces and by the half Northern lead 16-13.

Fike forcing the delay game as much as possible brought out Northern's most athletic player in Aluxus Hill who lead the scoring parade  with 15.  Fike keeping it close finished the third quarter down 24-20.  Up until the two minute mark in the fourth Northern had forged to a ten point 40-30 lead  but E J Proctor who for the most part was a one woman Fike wrecking crew scored 21 points on the night and lead with six rebounds,at the point where Fike had 30 points only three other baskets had been made by a Fike player other than Proctor.

Northern made just enough free throws down the stretch to remain unbeaten at 21-0.  They will try to head to the playoffs undefeated at 6pm Friday at Hunt against their arch rival Rocky Mount.

In the night cap Nash Central out rebounded Rocky Mount by a 43-32 margin but where Rocky Mount dominated the game was Rocky Mount had only five turnovers each half while they caused the Lady Bulldogs into 23.  The Lady Bulldogs ahead 17-14 at the start of the second quarter committed 12 turnovers  in the second and early third quarter and Rocky Mount took advantage of every one jumping to a 44-28 lead at the end of the third.  It was mop up time from there.

Still looking as if she is playing at about 90% J'Kyra Brown lead Rocky Mount scoring 22 points and tonight she had a jump shot which is the first time since her knee injury  just over two week ago.  Carmen Richardson added 15  while J'Kyra Brown lead Rocky Mount with eight boards.  J'Lynn Westry lead the scoring for the Bulldogs with 13 and minute point guard Miya Styles lead the rebounds  with nine.

Rocky Mount and Northern Nash face off at 6pm Friday night for the Tournament crown while the Rocky Mount boys and Hunt boys co-champs of the Big East regular season play for the #1 seed from the Big East at 7:30.

I realize that the four Nash County Schools are just about like the  Big Four is to the ACC but the crowds have been poor this week at Hunt.  Don't count on that happening tomorrow night when the Girls tangle at 6pm.   Many people didn't get in last week in the season ending game at Rocky Mount.  Remember Northern had already locked up first so there is a lot more on the line Friday night.

WHIG-TV is taping both games and I will be doing the girls game which will be shown Sunday night.Wes Bradshaw will be behind the mic in the boys game.

Top Seed In Playoffs On The Line

They tied during the regular season at 9-1 and beat each other on the other's home court.  Tonight in the semi finals of the Big East Tournament at Hunt High, Hunt and Rocky Mount took care of business and will square off for the top spot for the Big East Winner.  With an over all record now of 21-2 Rocky Mount just might get the top seed in the east with a victory.  But in order to do that they must beat Hunt twice in one season at Hunt. A victory Friday will give Hunt with four losses a top five seed which will insure a home game in the opening round.

Southern Nash Jumped on the Warrior early and lead 17-6 in the first half but the wheels came off for the Firebirds and Hunt outscored Southern 28-2 for the remainder of the half.  The 34-19 half time score never got much closer as the Final is Hunt 59 Southern Nash 47.  Losing tonight ends the Firebirds season as Northern will retain the #4 Seed.

Rocky Mount started with six turnovers the first four minutes of the game but once they figure out which players played for the Gryphons shot away for a 22-10 first quarter score and never looked back.  Rocky Mount and Nash central have played four times this season and the Bulldogs have never been within ten and tonight it is a 73-52 final.

Donte Battle lead the way with 18 but he had plenty of help from Michael Hines 13, Broderick Caudle 12, M J Gainey 10 points.  Immanuel King hauled down 12 boards to lead the Gryphons who won the board battle 37-25.

The Gryphons lead 35-26 at the half but the Gryphon defense forced 10 turnovers in the third quarter and  the lead ballooned to 25 before the bench was cleared.  Jaquan Wilkins lead the Bulldogs with 15 followed by Cole Smith 12 and Wendell Hunter 10.  Nate Pittman grabed the most rebounds for Nash Central getting 8.

Tuesday's girls Big East Tournament upset of Hunt by Fike has given Hunt fourth place when the 3-A playoffs begin Feb 25th.  That is of course if Fike does not win the tournament.  If they do Hunt is out of the playoffs.  What having Hunt dropped from the fray for second is there is no chance now to have to have a play in game on Friday for  second place playoff spot.

The Rocky Mount Nash -Central semi final game will solve the problem of second place as the winner Thursday gets second and the loser third spot.  Northern has the #1 spot as regular season champs regardless of them winning the tournament or not.  If Fike upsets the field and wins the tournament the best they can get is 2nd seeding in the playoffs.

Baseball tryouts started today and will continue through Friday at Rocky Mount High.  You know what that means is that baseball season is just around the corner.

The Rocky Mount High school Key Club is having a Fried Chicken plate sale.  The date is Thursday Feb. 21st.  You can pick up your plates any time between 4-6 pm and the price per plate is $7.

Congratulation to Rocky Mount High Principal Leon Farrow.  He has been named the winner as Principal of the year in the Northeast district.  This puts puts him in elite company with eight others who are all in the running for North Carolina Principal of the year.

What A Difference A Week Makes

Tonight in the opening round of the Big East Girls basketball Tournament the Lady Gryphons stifled the Lady Firebirds of Southern Nash in the opening game of tonight's action at Hunt High school.  Last week Southern had knocked off the Lady Gryphons  on their home court facing an  injury riddle Gryphon team but tonight no home court and a Lady Gryphon team ready to exact revenge.  The Lady Gryphons win 49-23.

The win moves the Gryphons on to the Semi final action where they will meet Nash Central Thursday night another team that has been able to beat the Gryphons since the injury to J'Kyra Brown occurred.  The victory was the 14th for the Ladies on the season.

Tonight the Gryphon wrestling team traveled to C B Aycock High school where they took part in the opening round of the State Dual wrestling championships and the Gryphons knocked off the home team Aycock 43-36.  The same time that the Gryphons were winning Jacksonville beat Currituck and the two teams played for the right to head to the Dual Regional Thursday and in a close match the Gryphons fall 37-33.  The team finishes with a trememdous team record of 34-7.  Next week the wrestling will turn to the individual competition.

 Southern Nash won their opening match and at this writing there was no score on their second round match.  They were involved in a four team match with Cleveland on their home mat and won 39-37.  As we write they are taking on either West Carteret (17-9)or Washington(17-12) and the Firebirds at 28-7 will be favored against either.

I don't know if you have been paying attention or not to the Carolina Hurricanes so far this year because of the strike but you had better.  This team has some goal scorers.  Many times in the past they have relied on defense to try to win 2-1 games but since their first two games of the season they have really been putting the puck in the net. Tonight they have finished up a six game road trip where they won four games and got and over time point in another.

Their first line of Eric Staal, Jiri Tlusy and Alexander Semin have no fear in shooting the puck.  If you shoot it enough some will go in and this team is scoring.  The first couple of games Cam Ward looked as if he had never been in a net before but the last two weeks he is playing Cam Ward defense in net for the Canes.  If you have been upset with the Canes because of the lockout, check'em out.  This team is fun to watch.

Richwalski Steps Down

Today will be the last day that Dan Richwalski is the athletic director at Northern Nash. Dan had a health issue during the Christmas break and in order to take care of his health he is stepping down as AD.  I do a lot of talking with AD's preparing to do broadcast.  Despite the benefits that athletes receive either being on TV or heard on the radio the broadcast business can be a pain to the athletic director.  High schools don't have someone else in the office to turn it over to somebody else they have to do what is needed themselves.

It has been a joy working with Dan at Northern whenever we have been there to do games.  He has helped in any way he could to make sure Northern's athletes got the proper exposure that broadcast can give them.  Dan will remain as a class room teacher until he decides it's time to retire when ever that might be.  Patricia Haggerty who coaches just about everything either varsity of jv's for Northern will be the acting AD for the remainder of the school year.  Northern will announce a new AD later.

Saturday during the North Carolina Football Coaches Association winter meetings two local veteran coaches were elected as Honorary coaches.  An Honorary coach can be any coach  in North Carolina  who has coached and been a member of the association 30 years or more and is no longer and active coach.

Those two locals were B W Holt who spent six years at Rocky Mount on the way to winning well over 300 games in his public high school career and Raymond Cobb who spent his entire coaching career in Edgecombe county at North Edgecombe and SouthWest Edgecombe. The NCFSA has been selecting Honorary coaches since 1990 and have average about three coaches a year joining the elite selection as Honorary coach of the North Carolina Football Coaches Association.

Nash Central has moved on to the semi finals of the Big East boys basketball tournament.  Monday they dumped Fike 63-43 to end Fike's basketball season.  The Bulldogs as the #3 seed will play Rocky Mount the #2 Wednesday night at 7.30pm. Southern Nash as the #5 seed has beaten Northern Nash 50-38.  Northern now must cross their fingers that someone will beat SN either Wednesday (Hunt) or Friday in the finals.  Should Southern win the tournament this week they would knock Northern out of the playoffs and  Southern would be in.

Girls swing into action tonight at Hunt high as the Big East Tournament.  Rocky Mount plays Southern Nash at 6pm and Hunt plays Fike at 7.30.  Hunt and Rocky Mount need victories if one loses and not the other tonight then the loser will be seeded fourth in the State playoffs from the Big East.

During a telephone conversation tonight with Wes Bradshaw he made me  aware that the state basketball playoffs do not start until Feb. 25th which will put the playoff  teams in the Big East off for a week.  I don't know if this is the reason but I know coaches don't like the idea of winning the conference tournament on a Friday night and starting  the playoffs the following Monday. I need to find out why they are doing it this year that way.

Road to Reynolds Starts Tonight

This year the 3-A State Championship will be held in Reynold's Coliseum at N C State.  Tonight high schools around the area begin what four boys and four girls teams will result in championships in their classification.  Rocky Mount hopes to make their fourth straight trip to the Regional and if it happens they will find the usual suspects there as their main obstacles.. Who are the main suspects who might win the East.

J F Webb -Oxford.  They are second in the latest N C Preps poll and are lead by UNC recruit Isaiah Hicks at six feet nine inches.  Webb is in a dog fight with conference foe Chapel Hill in their league. Webb and Chapel Hill have split during the regular season.  Heading to this week Webb is 17-3.

Westover-Fayetteville.   Seems every year Westover is playing in the Regional and they have a good shot again this year.  They stand 16-4 but three losses have come at the hands of 4-A schools. Ranked eighth in latest poll.

Chapel Hill-Chapel Hill.  Rocky Mount beat Chapel Hill at Thanksgiving by 14.  Seems as if Thanksgiving was last century.  Ranked 11th in latest poll.

Triton-Ervin.  12th in polls.  This season 16-3.  Sure would like to try Rocky Mount out again this year

Hunt-Wilson  15th in latest poll.  Good combination of size up front and  quick back court. How far either Rocky Mount or Hunt can go in playoff could be determined this week in which one wins Big East Tournament.

Rocky Mount- Rocky Mount.  Winning two titles in three years everyone looks to see if they are in same bracket as the Gryphons.  Third in last poll 20-2 over all.  Have just as good of a chance as anybody to head to Raleigh.

Northern Nash Girls-Rocky Mount  #1 latest poll 20-0.  Have every thing needed to win it all.  Should get all home games to Regional.

Chapel Hill-Chapel Hill.  #2 only loss to Northern at Northern. Will probably be in different bracket  than Northern until Regional.  Would like to play Northern on neutral floor.

Eastern Wayne-Goldsboro.  20-1 Could be sleeper in the East

South Central- Winterville  18-2  Tall and quick.  Beat Rocky Mount in Rocky Mount before Christmas.  Been there before will be tough out.

Three weeks from tonight four of these teams could be heading to Fayetteville to East Regional.  Will an unknown find the magic and knock some of these king pins out?

Thinking Out Loud

Sorry to see this morning in the Rocky Mount Telegram of the death of Chuck Hinton.  Growing up I had more than 4,000 baseball cards that I kept in the bottom of my closet in Maola five gallon Ice Cream tubs.  I use to keep rubber bands around players that I had more than one of.  I think I had 27 of Mickey Mantle and I had one of Chuck Hinton.   After I had gone to work in life and moved from home I came home one weekend to find my mother had given my collection to one of my cousins.

Chuck was a lifetime 264 hitter mostly with the Washington Senators.  He twice in his career had hitting streaks of more than 15 games.  He played big league ball for 11 years and I can almost remember looking at his stats on the back of that baseball card and remember it saying Home Rocky Mount NC.  Hinton was 78 years old.  Sadly he died almost two weeks ago but just hearing of his death now.


The Nash County Board Of Education made a truly rather large mistake when they chose not to built a gym at Rocky Mount High School that would hold 2,000  or more people.  They made the same mistake when Nash Central was built.

I bet 3,000 or more would have bought tickets Friday night but you couldn't even find a parking space on pavement on the school grounds.  I am a person who likes to count.  If I go to any building that has seats I like to count just how many the place will hold.  From press row I counted the first row across the way had 50 people from one end to the other.  There are 12 rows high and the top row of course doesn't have  the isle dividers so there were 612 people sitting on the far side.  If the near side had the same then about 1225 people were sitting in the stands.  A throng of people never got in. Even more people we sitting in folding chairs with the cheer leaders under each basket. even more were standing.

Here we are the City of Rocky Mount the so called "City On The Rise" and there is not a meeting place in the entire city limits that a group of 5,000 can meet inside out of the weather.  Rocky Mount needs a building for inside sports at least the size of Williams Arena at ECU.  If we had something that size all of the big time high school games could be played there instead of a gym where people can't even get to go to the game.  Who knows if there was a palace with plenty of parking there might have been 8,000 there Friday night.

If Rocky Mount had such a place they could try to get the East Regional here.  Maybe even other State Championships.  Lord knows some music star might be able to perform here that you have heard of before other than some singer hoping to make it big one day.

Other Thoughts:  I wish Northern Nash girls had a little more speed in the line up.  The playoffs are all about match ups.  If the Lady Knights don't win it all they will lose to a tall quick team.

If Rocky Mount boys don't win it all they will lose to a quick team.  A team like last year's Hickory team was.   This year's squad doesn't handle the ball as well as last year and have had trouble against the really quick teams. They must shoot well from the outside too.

If Hunt doesn't win it all it will be because they are tall but soft inside.  Some where they will meet up with a team that will pound the ball inside and their outside shots will not fall.


Rocky Mount High mopped up in the Wrestling championships Saturday.  They won more than half of all the weight classes.  J J Jones has got something going on the mats at RMHS.

Congrats to Casey Cooke for becoming the first Lady Gryphon to receive a Division 1 scholarship in soccer.  Cullowee is a beautiful place.

Big East Tournament Seeds Set

The 2013 Big East Basketball Tournament starts Monday night at Hunt High School in Wilson.  Monday belongs to the boys and Tuesday the girls get their first taste of the 2013 Playoffs.  Hunt drew the #1 seed on the boys side leaving Rocky Mount as the #2 seed.  The seeding for the state playoff will rest on which of those two schools either wins the Tournament or goes further in the tournament than the other.

Monday will begin at 6PM with the 4/5 game featuring Northern Nash and Southern Nash.  Northern won both encounters during the regular season.  The 7:30 game is #3 Nash Central and #6 Fike.  The 4/5 winner plays Hunt at 6PM Wednesday in the semi's while the 3/6 Winner will have Rocky Mount on the radar.

Tuesday begins with the 4/5 girls game which will be Hunt/ Fike and the 7:30 game is the 3/6 match up of Rocky Mount against Southern Nash. Southern is on a two game conference winning streak and Rocky Mount was a victim in one of those two games. Thursday night's semi final action will send the top seed and undefeated Lady Knights Of Northern Nash to meet the 4/5 winner and Nash Central will hook up against the 3/6 winner.

Friday night is the championship in both tournaments with the girls taking the floor at six followed by the surviving boys game.  WHIG-TV has plans to tape both of the championship games and I will be doing the girls game while Wes Bradshaw will cover the boys.  Whatever the outcome of the tournament will determine how the brackets will unfold in the state playoffs as next Saturday night at 6pm we should know where all four of the top four teams from the Big East will play and where. 

The boys top fours seeds are Hunt, Rocky Mount, Nash Central and Northern Nash.  The girls are Northern Nash, Nash Central, Rocky Mount and Hunt.  The only way these four seeds in both boys and girls don't make the playoffs is if a five or six seed pulls off the major upset and wins the tournament knocking the fourth  seed out.  So Northern's boys and since there is a three way tie for second among the girls Nash Central, Rocky Mount and Hunt one of those could get knocked out if either Southern Nash or Fike win the tournament.

This years playoffs will be seeded by over all which means  the Big East winner could be any  where from 1-5 seed with every conference champion, Then the #2 seeds and depending on whether you  are a top eight seed in the seeding process  the #2 might not even get  a home game and yes there is a chance that  a #4 from Big East could be matched with #1 in the first game.  It will totally be where you are in the seedings.

 We hope it doesn't come down to the way if fell out last year with Rocky Mount girls and Northern Nash girls meeting in the sectional finals.  Should any Big East teams make it to the sectional finals we hope they are in different sectionals and would not meet until the Regional.  Four weeks from today their will be state championship day for high school basketball.

Lady Knights Are PERFECT

Tonight on the home floor of their biggest rival on their Senior night the Lady Knights of Northern Nash capped off the first undefeated regular season in the history of Northern girls basketball taking down Rocky Mount 47-39.  The Lady Knights are 21-0 #1 seed in the Big East and will wait for a seeding in the playoffs late next week in hopes of possibly getting three home games in the districts and sectionals.

Alexus Hill and Quinesha Lynch both scored 13 points but Hill had 7 rebounds while Lynch could gather only 6 to lead the Lady Knights. Carmen Richardson lead Rocky Mount scoring 13. J'Kyra Brown possibly playing her last game at Rocky Mount  gym could score but  8 points but she hauled down 10 rebounds.  Rocky Mount out rebounded Northern  37-27 but the difference in the game was ball handling as Northern forced Rocky Mount to 26  turnovers while Rocky Mount could only cause 19 for the Knights. 

The gym was standing room only at halftime of the boys JV game and many people had to wait until a few people left the JV  game to get in the gym.  I don't know how many got turned away but as I entered the gym at 5.30 there were 500 people standing in line waiting and hoping to get in.

Also in Big East girls basketball Friday night Southern Nash won their second conference game of the week beating Nash Central who had a chance to claim second all to themselves but the Lady Firebirds win 49-46.  Hunt girls also beat Fike 64-58 which now creates a three way tie for second and a coin toss will be held at 10am  Saturday to seed the girls for the Big East Conference tournament that starts for the girls Tuesday at Hunt.

Rocky Mount boys earned a tie for first place with a 71-47 victory over the Northern Knight boys. MJ Gainey lead the Gryphon attack with his last regular season game scoring 23 and Donte Battle lead the rebounding with 11.  Isiah Alston tossed in 23 for Northern and he also had 9 bounds to lead the Knights there .  Rocky Mount won the rebounding battle 43-30 and neither team can be proud of 23 turnovers for Rocky Mount and 29 for Northern.

Other Big East action Hunt beat Fike 72-48 so Rocky Mount and Hunt finish at 9-1 in conference play and there will be a meeting at 10am to decide who gets the #1 seed for the Big East Tournament only.  The team that either wins the Big East Tournament or goes further  will get the #1 seed in the playoffs.

The boys part in the Big East Tournament starts Monday night and Northern will see action then.  Hunt and Rocky Mount have both earned byes and don't play until Wednesday.  Nash Central, Southern Nash, and Fike will join Northern  Monday.

Why Not Make Changes

I had a very tough time watching ESPNU's wall to wall coverage of college football signing day.  I don't think they have any more idea who had a good day signing players than I do and I didn't know 20 names they called out all day.  But, why is the first Wednesday of the month of February  is the day that high school prospects must all fax in their letters of intent?  Several players are already enrolled in school from early high school graduations so there is no big rush that yesterday had to be the day. If they are already in school  they should be under scholarship

Why don't they have the last day to sign not the first?  Many players  failed to send in their letters and yet I don't see anybody committing Hari Kari.  I think this is another made for TV show because ESPN networks need to fill 24 hours a day.

It sure does seem to me that all colleges looking for new coaches could at least wait until the Bowl season is over before they find new coaches.  I would like to see teams play their bowl games with the coaches who got them to the dance not some assistant coach left holding the bag after either the school has fired the coach or the head coach has skipped  town at a new job.

They will tell you it is so they can have a coach in place by signing day so he can hit the recruiting trail.  If April 30th was the last day to turn in your letter of intent there would be no need to get a coach in place so quickly.  Those of us who work for a living also know that when there is a job opening it takes forever to fill  that job with all the requirements to find the right person.  How can colleges find the right person in a week?

I just don't understand why NFL teams as soon as they are knocked out of the playoffs  fire their coaches and hire a new one when probably the best coaches are still in the playoffs and some of them are going to win the Super Bowl.  It is a disadvantage for  a coordinator to be in the Super Bowl because all the jobs are gone.  Who would you rather have somebody that just got fired last week  or a coach that just showed they can win the big one?

72 hours after the Super Bowl yes I think it was holding in the end zone but like I said just a few days ago  with the way the rules are enforced these days who knows what they are going to call if they call anything.  My biggest question is why did the 49's run three straight plays and never try to get  their quarterback rolling with the run/pass threat.  I don't think the refs lost the game but a bad job of coaching lost it.

I can't understand almost four days since the Super Bowl ended they still don't know why the lights went out.  I think there was a conspiracy.  The Ravens were about to make it a lopsided game and if people started turning away then the rates on the TV ads would start falling.  I bet if they finger printed the electrical box they will find finger prints of somebody from CBS who pulled the plug knowing once the lights went out it would take a while  for they to come back on.

I heard this at lunch one day this week on the Colin Cowherd show.  The NCAA national championship game had a 16.5 rating which are huge numbers.  The 35 minutes the lights were out  the TV ratings were 46.5 or three times higher than the National Championship game.  Where's Barney Fife and his finger print kit?

Injuries Can Change Your Life

We hear all the time people  while working during their lifetime get injured and they never are able to return to a normal life after that.

Sports is the same, an injury to a key player can make a contender a pretender.  Northern girls last year were never quite the same after Alexus Hill injured her knee during a regular season game.  She played to the best of her ability with the injury but the Lady Knights never were as strong as they were when she was healthy.

Duke this year has the same problem.  The #1 team in college basketball and one of their best three point shooters goes down and Duke is a top 20 team but no where near a final four product now.  Coach K has said that they are really good when all the pieces fit and right now they don't fit with Kelly on the sidelines.

Rocky Mount girls went through the first round of conference play at 4-1 with Northern being the only team they can't handle.  J'Kyra Brown's injury and right now they can't beat anybody.  Once again not being full strength is hurting the Lady Gryphons.

Nash Central has suffered a major blow losing Timyra Staton.  They head into Friday night with an opportunity to finish second out right.  Nash Central is a case of a team that those that have replaced Staton have stepped forward and her loss is not as noticeable because the bench has answered the statement "Next one up"  Throughout sports coaches preach to bench warmers to work hard and be prepared that it only takes one play and you are in the lineup when an injury occurrs.

Every injury effects teams differently depending on how good the player hurt is and how the bench comes up and fills the gap.  Duke's case I don't see that anyone player has stepped up to fill the Kelly's injury as much as Coach K just knows how to hide a teams short comings.

Rocky Mount simply doesn't have anyone one the bench that can replace one of the best players in the state.  N C State is going through the Lo Brown injury right now.  Tyler Lewis played well as his replacement last time out and if he plays that well the rest of the season then Brown's injury will have help improve the Wolfpack for down the road where they may fall again with him out.

Injuries are never good as any player who misses time  because they can never get it back.  What all teams hope that happens is a 1983 that happened for the Wolfpack.  Those who played during the Whittenburg injury strengthened the Pack for later in the season.  They could depend on the bench in the playoffs where they could not until those replacements got more playing time.

Time is running out on the high school season and those filling in now must step up quickly or the season will be over soon.

Northern Stays Perfect

The last week of the season is not easy for either Northern Nash teams as tonight's  Fike game and Friday's Rocky Mount visit are both on the road.  The Lady Knights will try to finish the season perfect when they head to the Mount after taking care of business at Fike winning 68-47.

Only once this year has anyone taken the Lady Knights to the wire and that was Rocky Mount in the Nash County Holiday tournament.  That game went to over time before Northern could get a hold of the game in winning 55-50.  The rolls have been reversed this season as Northern played the last few games last year  with a gimpy Alexus Hill and this season Rocky Mount is limping with J'Kyra Brown's knee injury.

After a great win on Friday against arch rival  Nash Central Northern boys headed to Fike with a head of steam but a player has been dismissed from the team this week and another not playing tonight and it cost the Knights greatly.  They were down 15-3 at the end of the first quarter and never could catch up
 
Over at Nash Central the Lady Bulldogs and Hunt Warriors were in a battle to hang on to a shot at second on Friday.  Both Hunt and Nash Central were 4-4 and this one was played as if the playoffs were on the line.  Nash Central 40 Hunt 38.  A victory by the Lady Bulldogs Friday a with Southern Nash just might pull second place out for Nash Central.

Hunt kept up their end of the bargain and remained tied for first place with Rocky Mount as they down Nash Central 46-40 at Nash Central.  They are 8-1 heading to Fike Friday night to end the regular season.  Next week the conference basketball tournament will be at Hunt.

At this hour I have heard nothing from either of the games  with Rocky Mount at Southern Nash.  Whether Rocky Mount boys still hold a share of the Big East lead or if the girls are one game ahead  of Nash Central I don't know at this hour. *  Rocky Mount boys beat Southern 59-36 while Lady Firebirds beat Rocky Mount 49-43. Those modern conveniences.  I washed my cell phone last week and with it all of my speed dial numbers so at this point tonight I don't have any body's cell phone number that can get me the scores.  Where is my 1970's rolodex?

Down The Stretch They Come

Rocky Mount and Hunt head into the final week of the regular season in high school basketball stride for stride heading toward the finish line. Both are 8-1 in Big East play and the #1 seed in the Big East Tournament is up for grabs to be taken if one of the two stumbles this week.  Should they win both of this weeks games then a drawing will be held for the Seeding in the tournament and the #1 seed in the playoffs would be determined by if either of the two wins the Big East Tournament which is at Hunt.  We all assume that both will win their semi final game and if that happens the championship game will carry the #1 seed for the winner in the playoffs.  We all know how that turned out last year between Rocky Mount and Northern Nash girls meeting again in the sectionals.

Rocky Mount is on the road Tuesday at Southern Nash while Hunt travels to Nash Central.  If there is to be a slip up on Tuesday Nash Central at 4-4 will be a toughie for the Warriors.  You can never take anybody lightly but if the Gryphons show up ready to play they should win.  The roles could be reversed on Friday as Hunt travels to Cross town rival Fike while Rocky Mount host Northern Nash.  If there is going to be a slip up by either of the big boys on this night it could be the improved Knights but you can never count out a rival game .

First is all ready sewn up for the Lady Knights of Northern Nash so this week becomes a stay healthy week for them as #1 seed in the tournament and #1 seed in the playoffs are theirs.  The big question right now is who is going to get second as Rocky Mount at 5-3 has a one game lead.  Hunt, Fike and Nash Central are all still in the Hunt for second but they all need to win and Rocky Mount lose in order to either tie or pass Rocky Mount.

The Rocky Mount Gryphon wrestling team  won the Big East Duels at Southern Nash Saturday beat all five of their conference foes including Southern Nash in the last match.  This Saturday Rocky Mount will be hosting the conference championships. This past weekend was the team portion and next weekend the individual champs will be determined.

Don't forget the fund raiser tonight at the Pizza Inn on Hunter Hill Road for the Rocky Mount High baseball team.   It last from 5-8pm and a portion of the sales and all tips will go to the baseball team.  Gryphon baseball players will be the waiters.  I know it is cold outside but baseball is just around the corner.

Street Ball

I don't know about you but football and basketball are not the games any more that I grew up playing.  I was taught that as a safety in football defense you had to know where the ball was all the time.  Basketball was a game played by those who followed proper rules for boxing out and if you touched someone that was a foul.  I believe that is what Mr Naismith intended when he mounted that peach basket on the barn and started pitching balls into it.

It kills me to hear a defender in football say all the rules are made for offense.  In my day any one who was beyond the line of scrimmage had a few lane in which to run.  That is what I call rules made for the offense.  Today a pass receiver goes down field the field both the defender and receiver are pushing back and forth I just don't know who could possibly get a penalty when everyone is at fault.

You know I made the comment after the Rocky Mount-Hunt basketball game that it was the worse officiated  game that I had ever seen.  It is hard to call a foul on one side when both are chest to chest and contact every where.  One of the things I like about the new gym at Rocky  Mount High School is the Press gets to sit court side  near the scoring table.  Down there you get to hear what's going on.  Some times you get screened off and don't see who took a shot but when something big is going on  everything in basketball happens at the scoring table.

Friday night P J Proctor for Fike committed a foul with about four minutes left in the game.  The Rocky Mount score book showed that was her fifth foul while Fike's that was only her fourth.  Bad situation when the score books don't agree .  A very good group of officials asked those on press row what we had.  I don't keep up with the fouls but Justin Hite from the Telegram said that was only her fourth foul.  Proctor was allowed to stay in the game which was the right call but those who had heard the buzzer sound for her fifth foul thought the Gryphons were getting the shaft.  The officials sorted out a problem and came up with the correct answer.

You can go to just about any play ground where sports is played most of the time fouls are called by those playing.  You are sort of a baby if you call a foul on the other team when ever they block a shot.  That play ground mentality has come to TV  and if it makes good on TV then it filters all the was down to kindergarten.   If it is a high light on TV then it can't be a foul.  Whether it is football or basketball contact on both sides leads to calls made sometimes and then the same play let go.  What is an official to do. 

Both basketball and football are being played today in such a way that if you decide you want to be an official you are asking yourself never to be right.  Any one play is judged by one side as a good call and the other side what a bum you are.  Is that what we want officials to have to live with.  Please let's all start playing by the rules and when an infraction occurs we all can see and know what the official is going to call.

Another Who's Who List

One day last week we did our version of the all time best basketball players who played basketball in the State of North Carolina.  Today let's look at what I  consider the best all time players who grew up in North carolina but played college or pros some where else.  What you will see is we have an all pro team that grew up in North Carolina.  These are not in any order.

Buck Williams:  We don't have to go out of the city limits to find one of the best ever in Rocky Mount senior High's Buck Williams.  Lead the Gryphons to the 4-A basketball title in 1978 left Rocky Mount to play college basketball At Maryland.  Was voted one of the 50 best basketball players of all time in the ACC giving Rocky Mount High two players on that list.  He lead the ACC in rebounding twice.

His 17 year pro career has two main stops in New Jersey and Portland.  He is 13th best rebounder in NBA History.  He is still the all time scoring leader in New Jersey history.  He averaged for his entire NBA career a double-double 12.8 points and 10 rebounds.  Currently and asssitant coach at Portland.

Dominique Wilkins:  Washington High school  I actually did a high school basketball game in which Washington played Ahoskie a zillion years ago.  Broke the hearts of N C State fans when he chose Georgia over the Wolfpack.  Averaged 24.8 points a game  his entire 15 year pro career.

Pete Maravich:  Broughton High School  He is the all time leading scorer in NCAA history 44.2 points per game  playing for his father Press Maravich who had been an assistant coach for N C State and took over when Everett Case died..  Fired at State and become coach at LSU and so "Pistol Pete" followed his dad south.

Had a ten year pro career and averaged 24.2 points per game.  Had a movie made about his life growing up in Raleigh where he would ride his bicycle to school and dribble the ball as he rode.

Walt Bellemy:  J T Barber High school New Bern N C.  Averaged 20.08 points per game playing at the University of Indiana and when he finished up his playing career in the pros average 20.06 per game.  was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.

John Lucas:  Hillside High Durham NC  Starting point guard for the University of Maryland.  #1 Draft pick in 1977.  Played 14 years in the NBA.  Dabbled on the pro tennis circuit until going into coaching.

Other great names who either called North Carolina home or went to high school in North Carolina.  Lou Hudson Dudley High- Played University of Minnesota.  Jersey is retired by Atlanta Hawks  Henry Bibby Franklinton High- 3 time UCLA National Champion guard and Eric "Sleepy" Floyd Hunter Huss High school in Gastonia  played on 82' Georgtown Team that lost to Carolina.  Danny Manning Paige High Greensboro.  Lead Kansas to the 1988 National Championship.

In their prime the all star team from North Carolina that played college ball in North Carolina could really have a ball game if they played the best  from North Carolina that left the state.

J'Kyra's BAAAAK And On Top

Having to sit out seven quarters of basketball this week due to an injury Tuesday night at Hunt J'Kyra Brown took to the court at Rocky Mount High School with a standing ovation from the Gryphon faithful with 6:32 to play in the second quarter and within a couple of minutes score on a driving layup and three pointer.  Brown had to play tonight wearing a full knee brace on her left knee and a wrap brace on her right lugged those braces around for four minutes and seemed to tire as I would imagine about all she has done since Tuesday is sit in a whirlpool. 

She played the entire second half and at the  6:57 mark of the fourth quarter Brown got a rebound put back for her 11th point of the game at which time the scoring operator Donald Farmer stopped play as J'Kyra Brown had become the leading scorer in Lady Gryphon history.  That was point 1601 in her Career breaking the record of the late Kim Taylor 1600 in 1983.  She would finish the night with 24 and the Gryphons needed every one of them as a hungry Fike who came into tonight's game at 3-4 in conference play could have tied the Gryphons with a win but the Gryphons win a big one 53-47  The Lady Gryphons trailed by as many as six in the fourth quarter. They are now 5-3 in the Big East

Carmen Richardson tossed in 15 to aid Brown and E J Proctor did all she could for Fike getting 21.  Kelsey Daniels was a monster under the boards for the Gryphons securing 14. The Lady Gryphons committed 30 turnover but survive.

Rocky Mount boys Dominated two portions of their game with Fike. They out rebounded Fike 38-21 and forced 29 turnovers while only having 17 themselves.  I can tell you right now if you win that battle in rebounding and turnovers by those margins you win an easy one and the Gryphons did 74-40.

Donte Battle lead the way with 14 points but Immanuel King had 10  and was the leading rebounder with 7.  Rocky Mount stays even with Hunt in securing their their seventh conference win in eight tries.

Northern Nash Girls won the Big East regular season title with a 49-29 win over Nash Central  The Lady Knights remain unbeaten on the season.  Nash Central falls to 4-4 in league play.  Northern Nash boys beat Nash Central 65-50  the wins puts the Knights in a real good position to make the playoffs now.  Those in attendance tonight at Northern were able to see a new look inside of the gym.  The gym is full of all new banners through displaying  the Knight's past glories on  the basketball court.

Saturday afternoon at the old Rocky Mount High gym the Envy-US Step team will be holding their annual dance show.  Tickets are $8 at the door.

Monday night the Rocky Mount High School baseball team will be holding a fund raiser at the Pizza Inn on Hunter Hill Road.  It will get started at 5pm and last until 8pm with the baseball players serving as waiters and a portion of the proceeds will go to the baseball team and all tips.  Please when you enter tell them you are there for the Gryphon Baseball team fund raiser.


Saturday the Rocky Mount Gryphon wrestling team has a match with Southern Nash at Southern..  If the Gryphons win they will clinch the conference regular season  and will head to the conference tournament next week.