Gryphons Win Tip-Off Tournament

 The Gryphons hope to play in five basketball this season and the fifth would be the 3-A playoffs.  If the fifth goes as well as the first Rocky Mount could be a main player in  getting back to a regional or further.  Rocky Mount downs East Chapel Hill 71-61 to win Tip-Off Title at Knightdale High.

M J Gainey lead the way scoring 17 points but he was also the dribbler when ECH pressed to force someone other than  the Gryphon guards  to bring the ball up court and he responded.  Terrell Hilliard once again has 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds but he had 10 rebounds  alone in the second quarter.  Donte Battle had a double-double 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Tevin Taylor added 10 point to be the only other double digit scorers.

The Wildcats would not go quietly as the Gryphons lead the entire second half from 4 to 10 points.  Every spurt by the Wildcats was answered by the Gryphons.  I going to tell you right now I like what I see from the Gryphons as they have five guards and can bring the ball up and all are playing good defense. Of course they have jumping jacks on the back line.

If you can judge a season on one game then the Lady Gryphons will have trouble with any team that has height.  Last season they lost three times to South Central who was tall but they were also quick.  Last Night Millbrook was extremely tall but no where near as quick as South Central was last season and they easily beat the Lady Gryphons by 20.  The Lady Gryphons rebounded today beating conference foe Fike by a score 75-36 .  Looking at the future the Lady Gryphons have to make outside shots to open up the inside.  Last night they didn't attempt all that many outside shots but if they can return to the sectional finals or further they must find an outside game.

J'Kyra Brown lead the way with 24 and Tia Hudgins added 12.  The Lady Gryphons take third place in the Tip-Off.  The Gryphons see the home floor for the first time Tuesday night as they host  Beddingfield in non conference action.

I am still in shock at the comeback by the Pack.  I am a person I don't care how bad the game is I stick to the end.  I am not a person who gets so disgusted that I turn the tube off or leave early.  I just want to see how bad can it really get.  State score 42 points the last 25 minutes of the game.   I  can't talk now after all the yelling I did in my living room this afternoon. Oh my.  I'm going to watch the second half all over again right now.

Carolina wins #7 on the year and you have to give the Heels credit.  Everything that has gone on there this football season they have had a good year. Do you think maybe they could do like Miami and decide not to go to a Bowl game?  You know the NCAA still has not told anyone of their decision and if Carolina is hit with a Bowl  band next year then a new coach may hesitate pending the NCAA findings.

ECU bowl hopes disappeared in overtime at Marshall.

Tarboro Does It Again

Tarboro will be heading to the State Championship 2-A football game for the fourth year in a row  as the Vikings did what they have done for the past three weeks waited to the last minute to win.  Todd Gurley scored with 53 seconds to play in the game  to give the Viking for their only lead of the night an victory 13-10 over the Stallions of South Columbus.

The Stallions shut out the  Vikings in the first half and used a blocked punt to set of their only touchdown of the game to give them a 7-0.  They added a field goal to lead 10-0 at the half.  The Viking defense shut the Stallions out in the second half forced  South Columbus to punt with around three minutes to play in the third quarter.  The snap forced the punter to go to one knee at the five yard line and being down Tarboro finally scored on a five yard drive.

Tarboro will try to sweep everyone of the Venues used by the NCHSAA  as the championship sites as they have won at UNC, Wake Forest and now will try Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh  as they will play Lincolnton a 26-0 winner over Thomasville.  Game time is 11am Saturday morning Dec 3rd.

Match ups are a big deal when you hit the playoffs.  I didn't feel like Hunt matched up very well with Northern Guilford and it came to pass  as the Nighthawks jumped to a 22-0 lead  and Hunt fought back to make it 22-13 but the Hawks added one more score to advance to the state finals 29-13 over the Hunt Warriors.  In any sport there are teams that  do things better than you do them and you hope that team is knocked out of the playoffs before you find yourself playing them.  The Warriors lose their first game of the year 29-13.

I don't know if this makes the North Edgecombe folks feel any better but Jones won tonight beating  Manteo and head to the 1-A finals.

Rocky Mount High school opened their 2011/2012 basketball season tonight in the Triangle Tip-off Tournament in Knightdale.  The Gryphons were suppose to be the Turkey dinner for the home standing 4-A Knights but the Gryphons had other ideas.  If you have seen any Gryphon team under Mike Gainey this one looks just like the rest. Runners and jumpers and tonight the Gryphons out jump and out run the Knights 83-70.

Terrell Hilliard lead the way scoring 16 followed by K J Peoples with 14.  Michael Hines added 10 then Lavon Brutus and Tabias Hilliard scored 9 a piece.The biggest lead of the game for Rocky Mount was 20 at 81-61 by then every member of the team saw action.  They play in the championship game against 4-A Millbrook Saturday night I think at 6.00pm.

If you have ever seen an old movie about castles and moats then you know unless the gate is down it is very hard to get into the castle with all that water around the moat.  Millbrook had tall trees  protecting their castle the goal and Rocky Mount was rejected time and time again trying to cross the Millbrook moat. 

Rocky Mount made only nine field goals  and was out rebounded 40-23 and were routed 59-39 in the girls portion  of the Tip-off Tournament.  They play in the first game Saturday afternoon against conference foe Fike who lost to Knightdale.

Junior J'Kyra lead the way for Rocky Mount scoring 17 and Tia Hudgins added 13.   The Lady Gryphons made 21-29 free throws to score as many as they did.  The Gryphons forced 22 Wildcat turnovers but Rocky Mount committed 18 themselves  as the rebounding height was too much for the Lady Gryphons.

Time To Give Thanks

It is believed that the Spanish that explored  the new world in 1500's took time to give thanks for the things that they had.  The first written documentation that a Thanksgiving  was held in the English Colonies was in 1609 in Jamestown Virginia.  The Pilgrim's celebrated for the first time  in 1621.  They were so thankful for what they had the celebration lasted three days.

Right in the middle of the worse conflict on American soil Abraham Lincoln signed a law in 1863 making the Fourth Thursday in November a day of celebration for what we had.  It is hard to think that during the Civil War that there was any thing to celebrate.

Despite what you might think Thanksgiving is a Religious Holiday.  It is a time to be thankful for what we have been given to survive in this world.  We are a country of I did it, look what I have done.  We are losing  the idea of being  thankful because every day our world inches ever closer to be a world  of no Thankfulness.

We have endured the last few years one of the toughest economic times the world has ever seen.  We have become a country of "You owe me".  The U S Government tells us that the poverty line has gone up.  If we look at poverty today there are not many who don't have cable TV.  There are not many that don't have a cell phone.Both cable and cell phones are luxuries.  We have lost site in this country of what is a necessity over what we want for ourselves.

We live in such luxury  that we have no idea what those people in Jamestown and Plymouth endured. There are those serving our country all over the world  that will not be home today because they are preserving  our life style  in order that we may have a day of Thanksgiving.

Take a moment today to be thankful.  Our world of full bellies and football on TV is a gift.  We all need to be Thankful.

Friday Night Lights

We head to Regional Finals in football and two teams remain a live that has local implecations.  Tarboro heads to their fourth straight Regional  in 2-A and Hunt makes it twice in a row to the 3-AA.

If you go by record alone then this the fourth round is the easiest so far in the playoffs for the Vikings but forget records. The Stallions who tied for the Waccamaw regular season title in the 3-A/2A mixed league score 26 on Hoggard a 4-A Wilmington school early in the year.  Their lone conference loss they  avenged last week in beating perennial power East Bladen.

  A factor could also be playing at home.  This is Tarboro's  first of the playoffs and I suspect many fans who have endured texting others on all the road playoff games will fill the stadium to overflow Friday.  I think the Vikings head to Raleigh next week by winning by a touchdown.

Hunt who is the only undefeated team left in the 3-AA playoffs but then again they meet up with Northern Guilford who is on a twelve game winning streak.  Their lone loss was the opening game of the season to Greensboro Page who by the way is undefeated still playing in the 4-A playoffs.  The Nighthawks lost to Page by 21 which until last week's 14 point win over Butler  21 was as close as any one has been to Page.  Three playoff games the Nighthawks have scored 123 points and given up 19.

To say the least this is a major test for the Hunt Warriors. Hunt will need to score every golden opportunity they get and the defense will have to play the best they have  played this year.  The twelveth man the crowd needs to be awesome Friday night for Hunt as they will need every break to go their way to win this one. If Hunt makes a trip to Chapel Hill next week it will only come after their best game of the year and still then in this  one it may not be enough.

Finally Rocky Mount who has not played any basketball since football season finished a month ago will tip it off  Friday night.  Both the girls and boys are playing in the Knightdale Triangle tip-off Tournament.  The games at Knightdale High school  start for the girls at 4.30 and they play 4-A Millbrook and the boys follow at 6pm against the home standing Knightdale High

Potential College Basketball Season for Triangle

There are those of us that remember 1974 in basketball as the year of the National Championship for the Wolfpack  Sometimes it is hard to remember that 1974 just may have been the greatest year in the history of ACC basketball.

Yes, 1974 there was still only one team from the ACC that made the NCAA tournament but how many remember that in the polls State was #1, Maryland #2 and Carolina was #4 at one point in the season.  There was another team called UCLA which kept the league from taking the top three spots.  Sounds a lot right now how the SEC football season is unfolding doesn't it?

1974 Maryland joined State and Carolina and just maybe this year State is ready to jump into the frying pan and make their first attempt in many a blue moon in making the top ten.  Unlike 36 years ago Duke and Carolina  are the two triangle schools expecting to make top five or higher.

Carolina the preseason #1 to this point  is showing no signs where they can't be somewhere near the top in the national picture when both the regular season ends as well as when the NCAA Tournament starts rolling in March.  Today's world of twenty five teams being capable of winning the National Title it is hard to expect any team to not lose one or two.  I would not expect Carolina to go undefeated in conference much less for the entire season.  A #1 seed in the NCAA brackets is probably heading Carolina's way.

Duke now that coach K has 903 out of the way has been taking on all comers and are playing at a high level for this early in the season.  I don't think Rivers is as good as Irving was last year but if Rivers stays healthy he may be a more valuable player for Duke as the season unwinds.  Duke and Carolina both making the final four is not dreaming but a possibility.

N C  Stateplaying across the river from the Big Apple came from 18 points down with eleven minutes to play and beat Texas this week.  Now when was the last time they came back on anybody?  Mark Gottfried just  could be sitting on a gold mine in Raleigh.  Just in the last 15 years anytime State was 18 down with eleven to play they would have lost by 30.  As Coach calls him even Calvin is playing his butt off and that is C J Leslie who many times last season stood around and pouted while on the court.  There is no reason right now to think that State could be a top 15 team and slip in the back door of the top ten.

All three Triangle schools have those resume' wins on their schedule in their back pocket that when they start placing teams in the brackets you move up because you have a Michigan State win or  a Texas win on that Resume'.  Wouldn't it something if all three are top 15 or better.  Most folks around here would have a heart attack if that happens.

NFL Had Better Be Thankful

This being the week that we all should be thankful for what we have and not worry about what we wish we had.  I see the NFL thinking that we are the Kingpin of Sports  we have nothing to worry about.  Of all the people the NFL from the owners to players to ball boys and even the media who covers it they should all get down on their knees and thank the good Lord that they have a business that the USA citizens love.

Our lives we all have rules that we must follow and even the NFL has their share  that just have to be for the safety of all concerned.  Then there are others that if the NFL doesn't change the way they operate only the gamblers will care.  Let's be honest here between betting in Vegas and Fantasy football the game would not be so loved.

They must do something about the pass receivers and the defenders playing bump and push all the way down the field.  They have to go back to receivers have a right to their space and you can't touch them down field.  I'll give you the five yard rule but that's it.  When the flag goes flying and you don't know what they are going to call then there is something wrong.

The receiver having to catch the ball all the way to the ground.  What happened to the ground can't cause a fumble?  Yesterday in the Cincy-Baltimore game a Bengal receiver catch the ball for a touchdown ran two steps had control of the ball until he was knocked out of bounds and the ball came free when he hit the ground.  If that rule applies why then doesn't it apply to a runner who fumbles when he is tackled and loses the ball when he hits the ground?

Last week in the Charger game,  the Chargers had a touchdown taken away when the defender was out of bounds tried to pull the ball away from the receiver who caught the ball in bounds and never went out of bounds.  By rule it was incomplete.  Are you kidding me?

I am all for the helmet to helmet hits they have to go.  But what happens when the runner lowers his head and he is the one starting the contact?

If the NFL wants to stay as the #1 sport on TV in the world except during World Cup they had better make the game so when a play happens it is easy for everybody to see what went on.  The way it is now until until the review who knows what they are going to call?