Ten Of Twelve Big East Teams Begin Journey

All six Big East boys Basketball team are in the playoffs and the Four girls teams that hit 15 wins are all in.  There is one reason why there is no big winners in the boys and that is they are all average in size.  There is not a dominant team among them.  That being said getting any team this week into the Regional will be difficult for the Big East.  On the girls side they have a much better chance to get a team to Fayetteville but for any team it is never easy.

Northern Nash 19-5 Girls seeded 16th.  Sneaks in for a home game opening night.  They will have the 17th seed in house Swansboro 18-8 overall.  Swansboro is led by Miranda Glover scoring 13.6 and Jessica Edwards pulls down nine rebounds.  This is a sectional final quality opening game.

Seven Nash County teams are in three girls and four boys and the Girls Nash Central 20-4 hosting West Brunswick 9-14 should be the only game of the seven that a local team will be the the favorite.
The Lady Bulldogs are seeded 4th and the Trogans 29th.  A must win for the Bulldogs.

Rocky Mount 15-8 a state 14 seed host Lee Co 18-7 seeded 19th.  Aren't home games suppose to be easy in the first round.  Both Northern and Rocky Mount have their work cut out.  Lee County is lead by Shantel Bennett scoring 17.5 and Amoria Neal-Tysor 14.9.

The fourth member of the Big East girls Fike  is the only girls team on the road.  They are a 21 seed and they visit Northern Guilford a 12 seed.

If it was a tough draw for the girls let See what the guys have to face.

Rocky Mount 7-15  winners of seven of their nine  are a 16 seed will host Cedar Ridge 17-9.  They are lead but Peyton Pappas 23.6 and Jacob  Thomas 17.1 both are seniors.  Despite their
record Rocky Mount is playing as good as any Big East team but they have their hands full.

Northern Nash 13-11 travels to Jacksonville 22-5.  Of all the hard games that the Big  East has Northern  gets the toughest.  The Cardinals are led by Bobby  Grubbs and Tavien Cooley between they they score 29 per night.

Nash Central 12-12 right now the most  struggling team of the lot get no mercy from the seedings either facing Southern Lee 19-7.  The Bulldogs  have fallen to a 21 seed will be at Southern Lee a 12 seed.

Southern Nash the Big East top team 15-8 host Western Alamance 11-13.  Yes there is one game the Big East boys will be favored .  The Firebirds have the highest seed 8th  and a home game against a team with a losing record and in these playoffs the Big East doesn't get many of those.

Back to Back

Wilson Smith of Rocky Mount High School Wrestling team may have sealed the deal on being the greatest wrestler in the history of RMHS.  Tonight Smith wins the 126 pound weight class for the second year in a row by a score of 7-1.

Boys  high school basketball playoffs.

Rocky Mount 7-15 but for playoffs purposes 6-14 will host Cedar Ridge 16-6 in the first round. Cedar Ridge is out of Hillsbourgh.

The champions of the Big East Southern Nash 13-8 will host Western  Alamance 11-11.

Falling all the way to third in the seedings Nash Central 12-10 a 21 seed in the state brackets travels to Southern Lee 17-5 will hit the road the fifth seed
.
Northern Nash draws the 21 seed and will travel to Jacksonville who carries a 10 seed and 18-2

Fike and Hunt both have made the playoffs so all six boys team have made playoffs and they are on the road. Rocky Mount and Southern are home everyone else hits the road.

Girls: Northern Nash girls are seeded 16th and will be home Hosting Swansboro.

Nash Central will be home hosting West Brunswick who is seeded 29th out of 32

Rocky Mount by winning the Big East tournament really put a kink in the seedings by jumping from fourth to second in Big East will be home hosting Lee County.  Look for a doubleheader Monday night at Rocky Mount with both Rocky Mount teams.

North Carolina Wesleyan closed out their regular season with a 91-84 victory Methodist.  They finish the season on a 10 game winning streak and will host the USA South Conference Tournament starting next Thursday..

The Battling Bishops will play the 8th seed Averett at 7pm.
The 5pm game 4/5 game is in same bracket as Battling Bishops is Lagrange/Ferrum
The 3/6 matchup will start the tournament at 1pm when Greensboro 3rd plays Piedmont
They will be in same bracket as 2nd seed Covenant and 7th seed William Peace at 3pm

Busy Day In High School Sports

THe boys Big East Conference basketball championship was contested between two team tie for first in the Firebirds and Gryphons and a sluggish first quarter saw the Gryphons lead. 10-8. The second quarter the pace was better and by halftime the Gryphons led by one at 23-22.  The Firebirds got rolling in the third and Rocky Mount  found scoring to be a challenge and the Firebirds led 41-33 after three.

Rocky Mount challenged in the fourth but when the clock hit 00 Southern Nash  prevailed 56-50.  To say it has been a  few years since Southern Nash has celebrated as a champion most of the students at Southern Nash  weren't even born 1998.   Southern awaits the high school seedings and who will be coming to Firebird gym in the first round of the playoffs.

There are many that will ask the question why do they still have high school tournament basketball.  The answer is of course is the conference makes money and  the best reason is every team gets a second chance.  Tonight in Wilson's Fike  high school the fourth seeded team the Rocky Mount Lady Gryphons have completed a sweep knocking off the top two teams Nash Central Wednesday and tonight Northern Nash 45-34.  The victory jets the Lady Gryphons to second seed when the basketball seeding for the state tournament come out tomorrow which will guarantee the Lady Gryphons at least one home game.

Nash Central the conference regular season champs still claims first by rule and Northern Nash will fall to a third seed.  More than likely a road game for the Lady Knights instead of a home game if they had of held on to the second seed.  Fike who was third during the regular season falls to fourth.  The Gryphon victory insures the Big East will send four teams to the state playoffs with at least 15 victories.

Results from last week's East regional wrestling Rocky Mount High sent four wrestlers to the state finals which started Thursday night.  Southern Nash qualified one wrestler and all five started with one match Thursday night.

The Gryphons four wrestlers were Wilson Smith the two time state champion wrestling at 126.  Rashawn Lawrence competing at 106.  Alex Henderson on the mat at 160 and Sedrak Sheppard 170.  Southern Nash has Kendrick Watson competing in the heavy weight division at 285.

The top four wrestlers from each weight class make up 16 who wrestle four matches as long as they win.  A loss and you fall to the consolation.  In other words if you lose your first match then you fall to consolation and if you don't lose in you next three matches you can finish 9th.  If you lose your second match then you are trying for fifth, your third match you are fighting for 3rd and of course if you are undefeated after 3 matches you are going after a state championship in you weight class.

Alex Henderson lost his match Thursday night 10-2 and lost by pin today to be eliminated. Sedrak Sheppard won  on Thursday 13-6.  He lost his quarter final match 13-6 and fighting for 5th lost in the consolation round by pin.   Rashun Lawrence lost his Thursday match 11-0 but wrestled twice today and won 9-2 and 5-1. Kendrick Watson lost in overtime Thursday 4-2 and wrestling twice today still has a shot at 9th winning by two pins.  Both Lawrence and Watson have one match on Saturday morning.

Now for the results for the two time defending state champ Wilson Smith.  He won his match Thursday night 15-0. His quarter final match he won by pin.  The semi finals he won 3-1.  He has one more match to win to be a three time state champion.

Gryphon Run Continues

The unlikely run of a team that has almost twice the losses than wins on the season the Rocky Mount Gryphons continued tonight in Wilson in the semi finals of the Big East tournament when they met their arch rival Northern Nash.

Northern rejuvenated after breaking their eight game conference losing streak Tuesday night in the opening round of the Big East tournament knocking off Nash Central one of the three teams tied for first.  It is just as possible for the team that finished last in the league to run the table in the Big East Tournament as the team with all the losses.

So two teams with so much to gain played the first game of the night and Rocky Mount had a steady lead throughout the first three quarters leading most of the time around eight points.  Northern made a last stand push down the stretch cutting the lead to one under a minute to go.  The Gryphons made enough free throws to hold off Northern 55-53.

Northern now waits to see where they will be seeded but more than likely they will open the playoffs next week at a conference champion.  Rocky Mount winning only their 7th game all year can still win the Big East number one spot Friday night. They already know by winning tonight they can be seeded as at least the number two from Big East which should provide a home game next week.

Three teams tied for first and Southern Nash won the draw to be seeded in the one  spot for the tournament.  In order to get the conference top seed in next week's state tournament Southern sat out until the second game tonight and they face the host team Fike.

The game went much the way the first  game of the night did as The Firebirds started slow but during the second and third quarters had a comfortable cushion.  The Golden Demons did not go quietly into the night and Made a run in the fourth.  Much like the first game Southern Nash survives and will pay for title 51-46.

Rocky Mount lost twice to Southern Nash by 16 during the Christmas Tournament and lost by 16 in the first cycle visit to Southern.  Just 10 days again Rocky Mount won by 8 at Gryphonland.  What's on the Line Friday night the top seed in next week's. state tournament.

The girls game starts at 6pm when Northern Nash and Rocky Mount play for the title. It doesn't
 Happen often but four teams from Nash County will travel to Wilson County  to decide Big East tournament titles.


Last night's victory by NC Wesleyan over Averett gave the Battling Bishops the regular season title and the number one seed in the USA South tournament next week.  Whether it's the girls or boys the regular season champs host the Tournament. Starting next Thursday the top eight teams will report to Rocky Mount where starting at 1pm Thursday afternoon the 3/6 seed teams will clash.  The 3 PM game will feature the 2-7 teams.  The five o'Clock game will be the 4/5 teams.

The host Battling Bishops will play the number eight seed in the nightcap at seven PM.  Every team in the league has one game left this Saturday and the only team that know whether they are as far as seeding is the top team North Carolina Wesleyan.  Two through eight will not be known until the end of play Saturday.

Big East Upset

Every sport that has a bye there is always the question is it good to have extra time to rest or are you better off playing getting into some momentum?  Tonight in Wilson Rocky Mount Girls 13-8 the fourth seed in the Big East coming off a very explosive offensive night last night against Hunt continue as hot tonight jumping out to a double digit lead before the top girls Nash Central 20-3 knew what hit them.

Down 23-9 at the end of one the Lady Bulldogs play a much better second quarter but still found themselves down 38-26 at the half. They got closer in the third trimming the Lady Gryphon lead to 47-39.  This season when Rocky Mount scores they have been hard to beat.  Those games when they have lost  they struggled on offense.  Not tonight as Rocky Mount will play for the Big East girls tournament title Friday night at 6pm after a 66-54 win over the top seed Nash Central.

The second game of the night the host team Fike taking on the number two team in the Big East Northern Nash.  Fike at home jumped to a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.  If there is one thing you need to be prepared for any time you play a Grover Battle  team is you have to be up for the pounding that Northern applies when they play.  If you are not a physical team the constant forcing the ball inside when Northern on offense and when you have it they try to keep you away from the basket.

The second quarter Northern  was beginning to show their physicality and it wore on Fike.  Northern lead surged to a 24-18 half lead and then a third quarter blitz out scoring Fike 22-9 to lead at the end of three by 46-27.  Now in control all Northern had to do is run the clock out as they scored 11 to Fike's 10 to win 57-37.

What's new in Big  East girls basketball?  Northern and Rocky Mount play for the Tournament title Firday night at 6pm.  Already this season they have met three times with Northern winning both conference games and the Lady Gryphons winning in the Christmas Tournament.

Tonight NC Wesleyan traveled to Danville Virginia to meet Averett who lost in Rocky Mount in overtime to the Bishops with only one thing on their mind.  A victory and they would win the regular season USA South and would the host the conference tournament starting Thursday February 25th-27th.

The winner gets the automatic conference bid to the NCAA D III tournament.  The Battling  Bishops with a mission to win jumped all over Averett from the get go and their biggest lead in the first half was 27-13.  They led 46-38 at the half. The lead swelled to 55-40 just under 16 minutes to go and for the next 15 minutes the lead bobbled between 11-14 points.

Adrian Moore from Plymouth was solid all night long hitting threes and driving to the basket.  He scored 25 and fouled out with 1:15 to play with the Bishops ahead 81-70.  Then it started Averett  made three threes from the grand stands.  A couple of missed free throws and with 2.8 seconds to go is 83-82 Bishops.  D J Weaver sinks two freebies and a mid court shot hits the rim and The Battling Bishops win the USA South Regular season winning at Averett 85-82.

DJ Weaver hits for 21 points, Brandon Brown 12, Devontae Williams 10 and giving vital minutes off the bench Isaiah Alston gets 9.  The Bishops finish up their regular season Saturday at Methodist. Regardless of the outcome the Bishops will host the USASouth tournament on Feb 25th starting at 1pm when  the 3/6 seeds will open the tournament.

There is no doubt it is hard winning any tournament on somebody else's court so the Bishops have the inside track having the tournament on their home court.

Basketball Buffett

You had a chance Tueday night to indulge in high school basketball as the opening day of the Big East Basketball Tournament got under way at Fike High in Wilson.  The opening game of the day at 4pm featured the fourth seed Rocky Mount Girls 12-8 going up against the fifth seed Hunt 4-19.

On line projections already say Rocky Mount will play in the state tournament next week but heading into today about the only way Hunt makes it is win the tournament.  There was never any doubt about this one as Rocky Mount cruises to the semi's where they will meet the top seed Nash Central at 6pm Wednesday after they rollover over Hunt 69-38.  More than likely the basketball season is over for Hunt who now has a record of 4-20.

Just last Tuesday Nash Central had a one game lead and all they needed to do was win just one game to capture the Big East boys regular season.  Both their games were on the road  so the task was not easy.  Losing both the Bulldogs fell into a three way tie and to make the week even worse they lost the seedings  drawing and drew third putting them into action Tuesday instead of getting a bye until Thursday.

Now a number three seed and 12-11 the Bulldogs took on the Knights of Northern Nash 12-10 the sixth seed and working on a eight game conference losing streak.  What better way to get back lost momentum right.  Not so fast my friend, Northern Nash has advanced to the Thursday boys semi finals after they take down Nash Central 64-51.  Northern will now meet Rocky Mount Thursday night at 6pm in the first boys semi final.

The third game of the night focused on girls basketball featuring the host Fike Golden Demons 18-6  who drew the sixth seed the Southern Nash Lady Birds 0-21.  Don't think anyone thought this would be a game and it wasn't 74-39  as Southern Nash finishes their second consecutive winless season and a streak now standing at 46.

Hard to believe that Feb 17th 2014 Southern Nash girls the fifth seed played Nash Central the fourth an overtime game and Lady Bird's Destiny Burgess poured in 38 points.  24 came in the 4th quarter and overtime.  That was the first game in this streak now at 46.  Their last win was Feb 8th 2014 and oddly enough it was their second win in a row.

The final game of the night featured the two teams that went 5-5 during the conference play and they tied as the 4th seed.  Hunt 10-13 and Fike 10-14 records not what anyone in Wilson County expected from either team.

Hunt led from the opening tap but the closer the end of the fourth quarter came Fike played inspired ball on the home court and by the finish beats Hunt 51-47.  Fike heads to a Thursday night  match with Southern Nash the top seed in the Big East tournament Thursday night at 7:30.

Wednesday night is the girls semi final night with the four seed Rocky Mount testing the top seed Nash Central at 6pm and the night cap will be the two seed Northern Nash meeting the home Team Fike at 7:30.

Final Thoughts on Super Bowl

Peyton Manning says he needs time to decide whether he is going to retire after the emotion of the game has subsided.  Here are my thoughts long after the game has ended.

During the Rocky Mount -South Point state championship game I don't know anyone who would have said when it was all over that it was a great game and if the Gryphons had lost we all could say they gave their best effort.  Didn't get any feel at any time the Panthers offense could score when needed.

Effort sometimes is based on what the other team allows you to do.  The Denver D was by far better than the Panthers offense.

Six false starts can be attributed to worry about the rush coming from the Denver front seven.

Seven sacks,  Even when not rushed  Cam felt pressure and he rushed throws.

Four turnovers resulting in 17 points.

Could not have asked the Panther defense to do more they needed help from the offense.

If Peyton Manning doesn't retire he is foolish.  By the third quarter he didn't have enough muster on the ball to complete a pass.  Had several open receivers that the ball was so slow getting there the Panthers knocked the ball down.  Should have intercepted a couple of them.

I thought the Panthers stuck to the play action pass too long.  The way the rush was coming should have been in shotgun ready to throw.

The Broncos got off the bus ready to play.  The Panthers didn't

Cam's habit of throwing off his back foot and not stepping into throws caused him to be 18-41 and the 18 he completed most took great efforts by receivers to catch.

I think Jonathan Stewart got hurt on the opening drive and even though he played was not effective running the ball.  That hurt the Panthers. No other runner was effective either.

I have to ask what is the purpose of replay.  It gives the NFL  the ability to make the right call.  I understand there are many replays you just can't tell so the call on the field stands.  Cotchery's catch was a catch. No if and or buts about it.

Cam's fumble when the score went to 10-0 why was there not a penalty on a hit to the head.  The first contact on the play was a hand to the side of the head.  That has been called all year protecting quarterbacks but not on this play.

If the Cotchery catch stands there is no touchdown by the D and the score is 10-9 Panthers when the Panthers have the ball with three minutes to go.  This is a completely different game.

Poor Clock Management by the Panthers just before the half.

Cam Newton got humbled by the Denver D.  He showed he still has a long way to go to move up in on elite status both on the field and when the game was over.  His two and a half minute post game interview session with a hood covering  much of his face.  Take defeat like a man.  Answer every question until the NFL says interview over.  If you have no problem basking in the glory he needs to take the heat in defeat. 

He lost my respect by not going after his own fumble on the drive when the score is 16-10.  He thought about protecting himself instead of doing what had to be done to win the game.

Looks like the only Manning in the stadium that didn't enjoy the win was Eli.  Big Brother has two Super Bowls wins now just like Eli.