Buffett Of Big East Action

Cheerleading in recent years has become Big  time Sport.  Recently Northern Nash wins the Big East Cheerleading Championship by a score of 78.7 to Hunts 77.8. I don't know how you score cheerleading  but I don't care what kind of system is used, .9 is close.  Southern Nash finished third 74.4 followed by Rocky Mount 69.6, Fike 67 and Nash Central 36.7

Destini Morton of Rocky Mount was named Cheerleader of the Year.  The All Conference team is Hailey Thomas, Keilah Moore, Princess Anstead and Princess Hendson all of Northern Nash. Hunt's reps are Alexis Bailey,Abria Blunt and Katilyn  Kirby.

Southern Nash has Cierra Jernigan, Kayleigh Denton and Kasie Webb.  Rocky Mount has two others besides the cheerleader of the year in Taylor Lutrell and Quaneshia Hardy.  Fike's members are Brittany Mitchell and Payton Callaway.  Nash Central has Promise Atkinson representing the Bulldogs.

Last night Rocky Mount played in non conference basketball at 4A South Central.  The Lady Gryphons struggled to score but they have one constant area is defense.  Lady gryphons win their 15th game 40-37.  The boys were never in their game losing 64-32

Tuesday night was the opening of the duel wrestling 1st and 2nd rounds of the state championships and Southern Nash lost their opening match 36-40.  Fike won their first match but took on the home team Orange and lost 45-36 in the second.

Northern Nash boys and Rocky Mount girls are trying to make this a boring basketball season. Northern Boys 19-2 7-0 can clinch at least a tie if they beat Nash Central 13-5 5-2 Friday night.  The Gryphon girls 15-2 7-0 can clinch the regular season title if they beat Fike.  If they do every member of  the Big East would have three losses with two to play.  If Fike wins then it is an interesting final week.

Fike boys 15-5 5-2 travel to Rocky Mount 6-10 2-5.  Hunt 5-15 2-5 is at Southern Nash  5-16 0-7.   Hunt girls15-5 3-4 take on the Lady Birds 3- 15 0-7.  Nash Central 10-8 4-3 finished the Friday schedule at Northern 7-13 2-5.

Last night the Lady Bishops best Methodist 71-57 to run their record in conference to 4-5.  They are a game and a half out of fourth and a playoff spot.

Northern Sweats It Out

This blog on Monday I made the comment there was no evidence that Northern Nash 6-0 guys should have  trouble with Southern Nash 0-6. Boy was I wrong.

Northern lost two starters one sick then the other a banging head on the floor for several minutes in the first half and the Knights were out of sync and Southern Nash took advantage.

Southern led by two at the end of the first quarter, 11 at the half and 8 at the end of the third.  Northern showed their grit and comes from behind to beat Southern Nash 65-62.


The Lady Bulldogs of Nash Central went 4-1 through the first Round of conference action.  The second time around has not been good.  Rocky Mount took them down Friday at Nash Central.  Tonight at Fike the Golden Demons take down the  Bulldogs and with it claiming second place after a 62-58 victory.  Trailing by 16 at the end of the third quarter the Bulldogs fought hard but couldn't catch up.

The Lady Birds of Southern Nash hit their average when they scored 22 points.  Their Problem the Lady Knights of Northern Nash got close to ten above theirs and beat Southern Nash 39-22.  It was Northern's second conference win both against Southern who now stands at 0-7 in conference play.

Northern's boys comeback win keeps them in first and if Nash Central was to stay one game behind they needed to win at Fike.  Didn't happen as Fike beats Nash Central 67-53.  This shoves Fike 5-2 into second while Nash Central drops to third 4-3.

Last week in Rocky Mount the Gryphons edged the Hunt Warriors in a close battle.  Tonight Hunt returns the favor and scores with less than ten seconds to play to beat Rocky Mount boys 52-51.

The Lady Gryphons remained unbeaten in conference play beating Hunt at Hunt 52-29.  The Gryphons will make up the last possible missed non conference game tonight traveling to 4A South Central in Winterville.

Nash Central's Sarah Hicks won during the Big East swim meet the 50 and 100 meter freestyle and was a member of the Nash Central relay team that won the 200 medley relay.  Her three wins earned the NCHSAA girls high school performer of the week.

Southern's Kendrick Watson Wrestler Of The Year

Heavy weight wrestler Kendrick Watson of Southern Nash won the Big East heavy weight title and with it was  named the Big East Wrestler of the Year.  He joins seven other wrestlers from Nash County that won their weight divisions and will now head to the wrestling regionals February 10/11.

Nash Central had three wrestlers to take home titles as Josh Brice was a winner at 152 pounds.  Emanuel Williams won at 170 and Alex Noble was a winner at 195 pounds.

Southern Nash had a second winner as Vyshaun Richardson  was a winner at 182.

Rocky  Mount had two conference champions with Rashun Lawrence a winner at 113 and Keyonte Williams winning at 132

Northern Nash's conference champion was Dylan Joyner winning at 220.

Fike won the conference team title scoring 179.5, second goes to Southern Nash 146.5, third Nash Central 97.5.  Northern Nash and Rocky Mount tie for 4th/5th with 86 and Hunt rounds out the field with 73.

Tonight begins the Duels or the team competition in the playoffs.  Only two teams from the Big East make the team tournaments as conference champions Fike and Southern will be wrestling tonight.Wrestling is broken down into four team tournaments and conference champion Fike will wrestle in the opening round Western Harnett and their wrestling site is Orange County High who wrestles Corinth Holders.  The two winners meet so by the end of the evening only one team will advance from that pod.

Southern Nash as the number two in the Big East will be traveling to Union Pines and the Firebirds will hit the mat against Asheboro.  Host Union Pines will wrestle West Brunswick. then the two winners meet.  If Southern survives that rounds three and four are Thursday with a state team champion determined Saturday in 3A.

I wish football could take a notice of how easy playoffs can be.  Wrestling will determine a state champion in one week while it takes 5 weeks for football.  I understand football playing only one time a week but lets cut the football playoffs to four weeks.

Wednesday is national signing day for football.  Rocky Mount will have three signing Letters of Intent.  Sherrod Greene will sign with South Carolina. Artavious Richardson with North Carolina A&T and B J Sanders with Charleston Southern.  If you know of others around the Big East Twin Counties please pass it along here.

A Week Later

Last week at this time the Big East was embarking on a three game week of conference games. Thirty per cent of the entire conference schedule in one week.  The entire complexion of the whole season could bring the bottom teams to the top and the top back to the middle.

What actually happened? The top teams kept winning, the losing teams kept losing and those in the middle stayed in the middle.  The standings look exactly today like they did last Monday only closer to the finish line.  Two weeks to go and only four games left.

We are on schedule for Tuesday and Friday action for the final two weeks with no impending doom of bad weather any where in sight. Let's take a look at where potential upsets loom if any.

Boys:

The most important game Tuesday night is the battle for second.  Nash Central 14-5 5-1 need a win to stay within a win of first with a future game with Northern Nash.  Fike 14-5 4-2 still within reach of first if they keep winning.  A Nash Central loss makes the Northern's lead bigger.

Southern Nash 5-15 0-6 at Northern Nash 18-2 6-0:  There would be no evidence at this time the Knights will have any trouble in this one.  Southern has lost ten in a row while Northern's win streak stands at eight.  Two losses are to Washington which was early in the season and a holiday loss to 4A Wake Forest.

Rocky Mount 6-8 2-4 at Hunt 4-15 1-5:  Neither can win the conference regular season so they are now playing for playoff position.  More losses by either jeopardize even making the playoffs.

Girls:

Rocky Mount 13-2 6-0 at Hunt 15-4 3-3:  Remember just last Monday when these two played they were tied after three quarters.  A big question for this game is will Michelle Gainey play for the Gryphons.  That question could determine the winner.

Those tied for second collide and which for the loser will just about knock them out of any first place dreams.  Nash Central 10-7 4-2 at Fike 13-5 4-2:  If Hunt could help with a win over Rocky Mount the loser would not fall any further behind and the winner gets closer.

Southern Nash 3-13 0-6 at Northern Nash 7-13 1-5.  Southern is already border line even making the playoffs.  Northern needs every win they can get to secure a playoff spot.

The Big  East is suppose to be a league of everybody beats each other and when the playoffs arrive beat everybody else.  Not this year as the there is a top-middle-bottom.

Duke's Dilemma Grayson Allen

He was used as a spot player for Duke as a freshman.  He could shoot when the Blue Devils needed points but his defense was suspect.  He was never needed to be the go to player in any game his freshman year until the last one.  Without his points down the stretch Duke will not beat Wisconsin in the championship  game.

Now a sophomore Allen was expected to be the leader after all he was the go to guy in the big game the year before.  Was it the pressure of being the so called leader of Duke but by late 2016 basketball season Allen trips a player?  Is it the pressure of leadership overwhelming a player not prepared to be the leader?

We have reached the midpoint in the 2017 season suspended for  one game for conduct on the court much like last season. Much of Allen's distress is avoidable.  Monday night during a time out Allen walked through a  forming Wolfpack huddle which caused pushing when Allen could have walked around.

Can Duke's basketball program endure another year an a half of every Allen foul causing chest to chest shoving. I just don't see Allen turning pro because I don't see him as a first rounder getting a guaranteed contract.

I find it hard to believe that if Grayson Allen was a perfect angel for the rest of his career that every foul he commits will not have some sort of over tones of stare downs, pushing and shoving.  That would not be good for Duke, The ACC or for basketball.

The Battling Bishops men's basketball team went from Lookout Mountain Georgia Friday night to Maryville Tennessee yesterday.  After Friday night's victory over Covenant the Bishops moved  into 7th place which would put them in the season ending conference tournament.

Maryville is near the top and Saturday the Bishops fall 82-71 and are now tied for eighth. A very uncomfortable position to be in.

Saturday the Lady Bishops won on the home floor to move into fifth place in the eastern division of conference USA South.  Only four teams make the tournament from the east.Today the Lady Bishops play Averitt at home at 2pm.  Averitt is one of the four teams  ahead of the Bishops.  Talk about a big game!

Rocky Mount girls Northern Boys Keep Winning

It was a must game for the Lady Bulldogs of Nash Central as well all of the Big East teams still with dreams of taking the regular season title but the Lady Gryphons would have nothing to do with it.  Keyanna  Spivey has a double double 24 points 13 rebounds as Rocky Mount dominants Nash Central on their home court winning 51-36.

Rocky Mount goes to 6-0 in conference and now have a two game lead over Nash Central.  Fike joins Nash Central at 4-2

It  doesn't matter to Northern Nash as they keep rolling and stay undefeated in conference play going  to 6-0 as they handle Hunt 65-49.  Hunt falls to 1-5.  Northern Nash had now won 18 on the season while suffering only two losses.

Nash Central stays within one game of Northern Nash keeping their hopes alive for the next meeting with Northern Nash as they whip Rocky Mount 72-58.  Nash Central rises to 5-1 while Rocky Mount falls to 2-4 which is good for fourth place.

Fike has their hands full with Southern Nash but they pull out a 67-62 victory over the Firebirds. Fike 4-2 holds down third place while Southern Nash boys lose their 10th in a row and sixth straight conference loss.

Hunt girls broke a three game conference losing streak beating Northern Nash 57-38.  Northern led 27-26 at the half but could only score 11 points in the second half.

The Lady Demons of Fike get their share of second 4-2 in the Big East after a 62-30 win over Southern Nash.

The Battling Bishops traveled to Lookout Mountain Georgia and met Covenant in a game much needed by The Bishops.  Adrian Moore pumped in 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds leading NC Wesleyan to a 59-56 win.  Saturday they will make their way to Maryville Tennessee

The Lady Bishops have a home game Saturday and Sunday both games start at 2pm.

Second Time Around

The backside of the Big East basketball schedule starts tonight and there is no bigger game than the girls game with Rocky Mount traveling to Nash Central.  Rocky Mount is the only team that made it through the first round unscathed.  Nash Central's only loss was at Rocky Mount 61-52.  They also met in the Christmas Tournament with Rocky Mount winning that one too 40-36.

The Lady Bulldogs have a fine season going and all of this is without the Big East player of the year last year Robbi Allen out with injury.  This is a chance for Rocky Mount to pull away from the field if they can find a win on the Bulldogs home court as that would give everyone in the conference two losses except Rocky Mount so this is a big one for every member of the conference to stay in the title race.

Rocky Mount 12-2 5-0 @ Nash Central 9-6 4-1:  Rocky Mount is led by Senior Keyanna Spivey averaging 22 points and 9.6 rebounds.  The Gryphons are averaging 57 per contest while yielding just 35.  Central counters with Michaela Nelms 19.4 and 8.8 rebounds.  The team that stops the star and everyone else pulls their weight will help decide this one.

Fike 3-2 13-5 @ Southern Nash 3-13 0-5:  Fike needs to stay near the top while Southern is still trying to break a conference losing streak.  Fike is led by Jada Lee 13.4 and Aniya Thigpen 12.8.  Mason Blake has been the top rebounder at 7.3.  Southern Nash counters with Jessy Lucas 9.6 while Ja lisa Williams has cleaned the boards at 8.8.  The big difference in this game is Fike scores 57 on average while the Lady Birds only 22.

Northern Nash 6-12 1-4 @ Hunt 14-3  2-3:  There is a truth in high school sports that you will run into lean years because certain years the talent is just not there.  Northern after having dominated the conference in the early part of this century is on the lean side right now.  Hunt started off with a bang and have been beaten by the top two teams rather decisively in the last two.  I wonder if an injury has occurred that I have not heard about.  Northern is  scoring at 33 points per game while Hunt get 51 per outing. Both give up about the same 39 for Northern 41 for the Warriors.  The winner will be in the middle of the pack.

The boys ledger doesn't feature two top teams.  All games are top division against the bottom.  Since Northern is the lone unbeaten the facts are as long as they keep winning no one will catch them

Northern Nash 17-2  5-0 @ Hunt 4-14 1-4:  Northern scores at 72 points a game the top team in the league.  They give up 58.  Hunt scores at 55 but gives up 60.  I  have been covering Hunt since the early 80's when they played Ahoskie.  I can never recall a football season and basketball season to be this lean at Hunt.  This is uncharted territory for them.  Northern is led by Darius Spragley 16.9 per contest while Raymond Bullock rebounds at 7.5.  Hunt is led by Jermiah Ganaway 10.5 and River Jones 10.

Rocky Mount   6-7 2-3 @ Nash Central 12-4 4-1:  This late  in the season Rocky Mount will never be able to complete their schedule of the games missed during football.  Nobody wants to play a non conference game this late in the middle of conference.  The Bulldogs need to keep winning to stay close to Northern.  The Gryphons are led by Joe Blue 18.6 points and 9.1 rebounds.  Nash Central counters with Montre'  Cash 20.7 points and Dominick Dixon 9.3 rebounds.  The Gryphons score 64  while the Bulldogs get 63.  On the other end of the court the Gryphons allow 63 while the Dogs counter with 56.

Fike 13-5 3-2@ Southern Nash 5-14 0-5:  Fike wants to stay upper division while the Firebirds need a win as their losing streak has now reached 9.  Samson Strickland is a one man show for the Golden Demons 19 points 11.6 rebounds.  Southern's leader is Darius Edmonson 10.9 while Matt Hampton grabs 5.9 boards per game.  Fike puts 64 points through the hoop per game while the Firebirds get 54.  On the defensive side Fike holds their foes to 59 while Southern 62.