Gryphons Fight Cancer With Split.

The Rocky Mount Gryphon basketball teams played in Asheville Saturday in the North Carolina Coaches versus Cancer event held in Asheville on the campus of the University of North Carolina Asheville.  The girls action took place in the Justice Center which is the old gym at UNCA while the boys action took place in the new Kimmel Arena.

The girls were OnThe court early at 10am and the Lady Gryphons were sluggish at best and Hayesville took advantage to storm out to a big first quarter lead of 18-4.  The Lady Gryphons  fared better the second but still found themselves down by 16 at 32-16.  Better effort in the third trimmed the Hayesville lead to 45-32.  The fourth quarter was a 12-12 draw and the Lady Gryphons go down to defeat for the first time this season. 57-44

Across campus the boys were the second game of the day in the Kimmel Arena taking on East Chapel Hill.   The boys later start paid off as they were not as slugish as the Lady Gryphons and they rushed out for a quick 14-6 lead.  They increased the lead to 11 at the half at 33-22.  The Gryphons increased the lead to 19 at the end of the third at 54-35.  ECH won the fourth by a 21-13 score as the Gryphons win their first game of the year 67-56 over East Chapel Hill.

Amir Pittman lead the Gryphon attack scoring 19 points and also hauled in 12 rebounds. Isaiah Alston  lead the Gryphons  with five three pointers and Kenaz Cooper added two more.  Alston scored 17 points and Cooper  and 14 points.  The Gryphons are back in action Tuesday as they make their first home appearance when they host Hertford County who beat the Gryphon boys on a jump shot at the buzzer last.

Tarboro's loss in the third round of the 1-AA playoffs Friday brings about thoughts about playoff football.  Once the Vikings were finished with their non conference schedule they were 3-3 and all three losses  were to Washington a 2-A team, Roanoke Rapids another 2-A squad and Southern Nash a 3A team.  Tough schedules help players have to play at their best and by the time conference play starts you are tested tough and you see the results as Tarboro breezed in conference play and their first two playoff games.

Here is where over all schedule hurts when you lose to bigger schools.  By the third round Tarboro had to hit the road and play at a team with an overall better record but surely had not played the schedule Tarboro had.   If Friday's game had of been in Tarboro the score probably been reversed.

So it is a double edge sword playing bigger schools and over the years Tarboro has handled many of those games in the past.  When you don't win them it hurts your overall record for the playoffs.  Then there is one other thing too, moving to 1A hasn't been the cakewalk that most of us thought.  Don't care what level you are in there is plenty of cream at the top of every level.