Monday, January 11, 2010
On occasion when dealing with our private schools, an athlete that is a seventh or eighth grader makes a splash — no pun intended — while competing in a varsity sport. That happened over the weekend in the city-county swimming championships.
Kathleen Baker, a seventh grader at Forsyth Country Day, could be a force over the next six years judging by how high she set the bar in the city-county championships.
Baker won the 100 backstroke in 57.71 seconds, bettering the previous mark (100.91) by more than three seconds. In the 200 I.M., Baker’s time of 2 minutes, 8.69 seconds broke the previous mark of 2:16.92 by more than eight seconds.
Reagan High also had a big day at the swimming meet, sweeping the boys and girls titles. Coach Ryan Michel of Reagan said he was surprised his boys were able to edge Reynolds, and he had this to say about FCD’s Baker:
“It was the fastest girls 100 backstroke I have ever seen in person,” Michel said. “It was amazing.”
If the Bishop McGuinness girls wind up winning a fifth straight Class 1-A state basketball championship, it probably be one that’s well earned. Because the Villains lost two Northwest 2-A/1-A Conference games last week — to Mount Airy and North Stokes — after winning 82 straight games against conference opponents.
The North Forsyth boys basketball team will be a handful for any team in the Mid-Piedmont 3-A if they shoot like they did during a 95-71 win over Asheboro last Friday night. The Vikings hit 13 of 24 3-pointers, and they have numerous good shooters and they play hard and with a ton of passion.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Wish I had to the time to put in the nitty-gritty research it would take to be 100-percent certain of this, but I am 99.9-percent sure that only one coach has ever won the Frank Spencer Holiday Class with three different schools, and his name is Howard West.
West might disagree with me, but I would say the most unlikely of the five Spencer championships he has been a part of occurred last week, when his Reagan High team subdued the most talented team in the Spencer, Winston-Salem Prep, for a surprising 53-43 win in the final. West also won a title as the coach at Eden Morehead and three as the coach at Reynolds.
A veteran of more than 30 years of coaching, with three state championships on his resume, West and his staff obviously had his players ready for Prep, a team that I can’t see doing anything less than winning the NCHSAA’s Class 1-A state championship by the time this season is said and done.
And there were no tricks, at least none visible to a decently-trained eye, to set off the win. The Raiders just played tireless man-to-man defense while giving up “about 6, 7-inches a man,” according to West. And the end result was a drama-free fourth quarter that featured the Raiders knocking down free throws and never giving the Phoenix a chance to come back.
Prep might be the only team in Forsyth County capable of winning a state championship this season, but I think Forsyth County basketball is on the way up based on the strength of some young talented players sprinkled throughout the teams.
As for Reagan, I can absolutely see them beating a team in the Class 4-A playoffs that an observer might think would be impossible.
ONE MORE THOUGHT on the Frank Spencer. I think it was evident to anyone who has been around the tournament that this should be the last year it’s held in Joel Coliseum.
The argument you get from some coaches and administrators about discontinuing the long-held practice of the using the coliseum is usually that it’s special for the players to get that chance. Not totally disagreeing with that, but many of these players play in big arenas like Joel during AAU play in the summer. And at some point, cost has to come into the picture.
At $6,000 a day for coliseum rental — a figure given to me by several athletics directors — why not take the tournament to the schools. Will it cause the occasional headaches and keep the fire marshals hopping? Probably.
But a coliseum that’s not even 10-percent full brings almost no atmosphere, and that’s what the Spencer has become. The quarterfinals of the tournament were held at East Forsyth and West Forsyth, and I speak from experience that the atmosphere at East blew away Joel. There just weren’t that many people there.
In the end, wouldn’t a Spencer championship be sweet no matter where it was won?
By Mason Linker at 10:18 AM
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Been a couple of weeks of beating a trail back and forth from the office and back and forth from Mount Airy, but the blog is back.
I can’t say that it was heartbreaking to watch Mount Airy lose such a close a game, 38-37 in overtime, to Wallace-Rose Hill in last Saturday’s Class 1-A state championship game. And I say that knowing all the class the Granite Bears exhibit under Coach Kelly Holder and his all-star staff.
WRH had a great football team this year, especially offensively with all their speed and the tricky misdirection of their Wing-T Offense. The Bears just couldn’t stop WRH, and on the other side, WRH couldn’t stop the Bears.
It came down to a decision by Coach Joey Price of the Bulldogs to go for two in overtime rather than kick the extra point. When Price sent his offense back on the field after the overtime touchdown, everyone at BB&T Field knew the game was getting ready to end.
And wow. What a close call. Fullback Omar Carr of the Bulldogs was so close to the goal line, I think he might be the only one to truly know if he made it in or not.
But the call was made, and everyone stood by it. Luke Wheeler, Mount Airy’s tremendous linebacker, had some stupendous things to say about the play in particular, and about the Bears season and run of 31 straight wins.
Back to the reason it wasn’t heartbreaking, and that’s mainly because the Bears didn’t act like it was. Brooks Mayberry, who had a great season as a two-way lineman for the Bears, spelled it out in the postgame, saying they played as hard as they could and had nothing to be upset about.
It was a great, see-saw championship game between two top-notch 1-A teams that were about as even as two teams could be. The Bulldogs, as Holder said several days after the game, were probably a little better man-for-man, but I think if the teams played again today that Mount Airy would win. It was that close.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mount Airy start a new streak next year. There is plenty of rebuilding to do — losing Wheeler, Andy Temoney, Justin Collier, Daryl Valentine, Mayberry, Tyler Hull, and many others will leave some large voids to fill.
But the Bears didn’t get this good by accident. I bet they’ll be back to work in short order.
Will try add another update or two before Christmas, but time is short. I finished adding up the coaches’ votes on the All-Northwest Football Team yesterday and will have the players in tomorrow for their pictures. That will be in the paper on Christmas Day — at least that’s the plan — and between now and then, I will work on that, as well as rounding up all-conference teams and try to get a handle on holiday basketball tournaments.
And after the Frank Spencer Classic, I hope to catch a break. Those in my business need one every once in a while, never more than this time of year.
Merry Christmas to our loyal readers and don’t forget to comment, call or email with any tips or anything interesting.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
For the first time in many years, I actually covered a prep basketball game before the Christmas holiday. Went out to Glenn last night to see the Bobcats play West Forsyth, and it was a very entertaining game.
L.A. Williams, Glenn’s broad-bodied shooting guard — whoa! Nice touch. This is a guy who make teams pay dearly if they choose to leave him open. One thing I like about Glenn is they are strong. They have some real physical guys like Tyler Lee and JeVante Crump who can move, and really battle.
And the Bobcats must have some mental toughness after erasing West’s 15-point lead in the third quarter to win 80-74.
This West Forsyth team is way more athletic than any West team in years and years, and yes, that certainly includes the Chris Paul-led teams. The Titans can run, jump — and when motivated — they can defend. Tabarris Hamilton is a 6-3 junior guard and forward who is in his last year of eligibility, and this guy can flat get a shot off whenever he wants it. He was a little rusty with it on Tuesday, but still scored 18.
Both of these teams are going to scare people throughout the season.
Also, it was cool to see Coach LaQuanda Barksdale Quick on the sidelines in her first season of coaching the girls at West Forsyth. LaQuanda is on the short list, and maybe at the very top (along with Camille Little of Carver) as the best girls player ever to suit up in Forsyth County. And while Barksdale was very stoic as a player, she is very, very intense as a coach.
By Mason Linker at 11:43 AM
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Monday, November 30, 2009
By and large, the football in Forsyth County this year was pretty average, and that much is apparent now that we have no teams left in the playoffs. Mount Tabor was the last great hope, but the Spartans lost a tough game in a very tough place to play 9-7 at Asheville Reynolds last week. Mount Tabor should be tougher next year because most of their best players were juniors.
So who is left for us to cover? Not-so-surprisingly, the Mount Airy Granite Bears, and surprisingly, the Lexington Yellow Jackets. Lexington was 5-6 coming into the playoffs, but it has caught fire and will take an 8-6 record into Friday’s 2-A semifinal at Mountain Heritage.
Mount Airy will have to make a major gear shift this week. It took the Bears about a quarter last Friday to figure a way to slow down Princeton’s passing attack. But once they did, it was light’s out, on to the 1-A semifinals with a 51-20 win.
This week, the Bears won’t have to spend too much time preparing for the pass with Robbinsville coming to down. They will probably be in the weight room — they’ll need all the strength and stamina they can muster to stop Robbinsville brutish running attack.
But Mount Airy has won 30 straight games, and those that have seen the Bears play probably think like me — they will have some major things go wrong if they lose, like a rash of turnovers or injuries. I don’t see it happening for Coach Kelly Holder’s bunch.
And I will repeat that Luke Wheeler is one of the best players I have seen this season. If Wheeler, a 5-10, 175-pound linebacker and fullback, were a couple of inches bigger and 30 pounds heavier, college programs would be all over him. But the good thing for Mount Airy is Wheeler’s size works just fine for them.
I am slowly transitioning into basketball mode, and that transition won’t be complete until I cover the Frank Spencer Classic here after Christmas. But until then, we have schools all over our coverage area that will play in tournaments during Christmas break. So I am making a plea to basketball coaches and athletics directors – If you have a team playing in a tournament over the holidays and can fax or email a complete bracket to me, it would save me one of a lot of phone calls and requests.
Mason Linker (336-727-7324; or fax to 336-727-4083)
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Monday, November 23, 2009
Wow. Two rounds of the football playoffs and only five teams in our coverage area left. That was fast!
The fortunes of Forsyth County football now rest squarely on the shoulders of Mount Tabor, the only one left. The Spartans advanced by beating Reynolds 26-22 in what was the second riveting game the teams played this season.
Just like the first meeting, either team could have won. But you have to hand it to the Spartans — they looked dead in the water went Reynolds went ahead 22-7 in the third quarter. But the Spartans caught a spark from quarterback Brad Morton, who started the comeback with a 46-yard touchdown run, and their defense did the rest, stopping three late Reynolds drives, including two in the red zone.
It was heartbreaking to see Reynolds lose because that was one of the more fun teams to watch I have seen in the county in years. The undersized Demons were like a pack of fire ants on defense, and watching Craven Knotts sling passes all over the field to so many good receivers was a treat.
But pound-for-pound, Mount Tabor has the best talent in the county and that was proven. The Spartans defense is nasty, Morton is a big-time playmaker, and I am assuming they will take the trip to Asheville Reynolds on Friday and come home winners.
Mount Airy needs two more wins to have a shot at repeating as Class 1-A champs, and the Granite Bears will be at home against Princeton, from out of Johnston County, on Friday. The Bears will have to brace for Princeton’s wide-open passing attack.
Elkin needs one more win to get back to the semifinals, where a possible rematch of last year’s semifinal against Mount Airy could be waiting. But the Elks have a tough draw on Friday, at home against Robbinsville in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal, which Elkin won 21-20.
Finally, the most historical rivalry — from a football perspective — in Davidson County will take place when Lexington travels to Cushwa Stadium to take on Thomasville in Class 2-A. Both teams won dramatic second-round games last week. They played on Nov. 6, and Thomasville won 23-13.
By Mason Linker at 11:16 AM
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Thursday, November 19, 2009
Anyone who follows high-school football in North Carolina knows the first round of the playoffs is a yawner. Too many teams play that first week that should have already packed the equipment away.
The real stuff starts this week, and the real, real stuff gets going next week. But there are two marquee games in Winston-Salem on Friday.
Everyone knows about the Mount Tabor-Reynolds game. It’s a must-see, and I will be there for the rematch. But I wish once again that I could be in two places at once. Because the Lincolnton-Carver 2-A game holds a ton of promise.
Coach Brent David of Carver is one of the most passionate football guys I have had the pleasure of talking to. And he cranks it up another notch for the playoffs. He did so much research getting ready for Friday’s game that it wouldn’t surprise me if he knows the shoe sizes of each Lincolnton player, probably right down to the trainers.
I predicted at the start of the season that Carver was going to be around for a while. The Yellowjackets were 2-4 after running through a gauntlet of Class 4-A teams, but they have won six straight, allowing only 17 points in that span.
I don’t think the 2-A powers-that-be are going to enjoy having Carver around. And I don’t think Lincolnton is going to enjoy playing against that defense.
Two weeks down the road, I think Carver will be playing in the semifinals — either at home against Thomasville, or on the road at Starmount.
And for the life of me, I can’t see Mount Airy having to break a sweat until the Class 1-A state championship. Looking forward to seeing the Bears at BB&T Field on Dec. 12
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
This time of year is a crusher for a sportswriter — the dreaded overlap of football and basketball seasons. As I have told basketball coaches over the last couple of days: “It’s too early for this.”
But it’s upon us anyway. I am working on a very general basketball preview story, as well as a couple of lists with players and teams to watch. If all goes well it will be on Wednesday’s paper.
As for football, we had 30 area teams that entered the playoffs last week, and only 12 survived. Not terribly surprising because it’s obvious that about half the teams that reach the playoffs really aren’t playoff material.
However, it was a memorable night for some of our teams. East Wilkes, in particular, pulled off a big shocker by driving the field and scoring with nine seconds left to topple East Surry, which saw a terrific season disappear in the blink of an eye. The Cardinals won their first 10 games, then lost their last two. Poof.
All of the rain last week did afford me a unique opportunity. I was able to watch Reynolds play on Friday night, and Mount Tabor play on Saturday night. It was good advance scouting, because this week, I will watch these rivals knock heads for the right to advance in the Class 4-A playoffs.
It’s going to be a whale of a game. Reynolds played a very poor Asheville Roberson team last week and won 38-0. Could have been way more lopsided. Mount Tabor had a real live opponent on its hands and survived with a 14-7 win over Western Guilford.
So if last week is the barometer, then Mount Tabor is certainly coming in more battle-tested. Western Guilford had a handful of really, really good football players. Mount Tabor also has the revenge angle after losing 28-21 to Reynolds in the regular season.
I would hate to make a prediction on this one. Reynolds didn’t show me anything last week that would indicate its ready for the season to end. The Demons aren’t 12-0 for nothing afterall.
By Mason Linker at 12:34 PM
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The football coaches around Forsyth County, most of whom I can honestly call friends, might give me a lot of grief for this one. But as I see it, there are three teams in Forsyth County capable of reaching at least the quarterfinals of the playoffs: Carver, Mount Tabor and Reynolds.
I’ll start with Carver. The Yellowjackets have dropped down to Class 2-A after becoming a powerhouse in Class 3-A. Is Carver as good as it’s past state championship teams? I don’t think so. I don’t think Carver is quite as good as it was last season, when it took a late trick play from West Rowan — the eventual 3-A state champs — to knock Carver out in the quarterfinals.
But what Carver has is a nice draw. The No. 3 Yellowjackets open against West Davidson on Friday then would have future games, theoretically, against No. 6 Lincolnton and No.2 Mountain Heritage. They wouldn’t have to face Thomasville or Starmount until the semifinals.
But Carver has cut its teeth on a very difficult schedule against larger schools. The only other team in the bracket that can claim as much is Thomasville. That experience will count for something in the playoffs. Since it jumped into the 2-A portion of its schedule five games ago, Carver has allowed only 17 points.
Only one team, Mount Tabor or Reynolds, can make it past the second round in Class 4-A, because that’s where they will meet if both win this Friday. No. 1 Reynolds will win convincingly against Asheville Roberson in the first round, while Mount Tabor plays a Western Guilford team that has played a murderous schedule is better than its 5-6 record.
When Reynolds beat Mount Tabor 28-21 several weeks ago, it scored touchdowns on a kickoff return from Jake Gainey and an interception return from Vance Mathews. The Demons offense did little in the first half, a recurring theme in their biggest wins this season.
I don’t think Reynolds will be able to overcome another slow start against Mount Tabor. The Spartans’ offense has improved in the last month.
Since most first-round matchups aren’t worth mentioning in these watered-down, expanded playoffs, it’s more fun to look down the road.
One potential third-round matchup looks appetizing — Thomasville at Starmount. Starmount is seeded No. 1 in Class 2-A West, Thomasville is No. 4. That would be a great game between playoff powers. And beyond that, Carver against either Starmount or Thomasville in the semifinals? There’s a lot of football tradition right there.
As for Mount Airy, the only potential interesting matchup I see is Elkin, which would be in the semifinals. But truth is, Mount Airy is too good to lose. The Bears stay healthy and they’ll be playing at BB&T Field on Dec. 12 for their second straight state title.
By Mason Linker at 04:20 PM
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Monday, November 02, 2009
Around 7:25 on Friday night, from my vantage point in the press box at West Forsyth, I finally stopped gawking at the traffic jam on Lewisville-Clemmons Road. The sea of humanity spilling into Titan Stadium was amazing — the horseshoe on the entrance end to the field wound up being so deep with spectators that it reminded me of how I avoided such a crowd at the 1999 US Open in Pinehurst to witness Payne Stewart’s winning putt on the 18th hole — but that’s another story.
It turned out the Reynolds-West Forsyth game lived up to the hype and then some, and boy was it well-supported. Before the end of the first quarter, an allotment of 4,000 tickets had been sold, and T.R. Richards, West’s athletics director, had to make a trip to the school office to get more. Richards wound up guessing that 6,000 people were inside the stadium, it might have been more, and still others stood outside the gates by the gym and looked on from a distance.
Reynolds 14-9 victory — specially delivered by two Craven Knotts-to-Jake Gainey touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, the last one coming with 27 seconds left — had all kinds of sidebars.
Midway through the first quarter, I heard a thud behind me in the press box, turned around, and it was a headset from a Reynolds’ assistant coach. He soon climbed down the ladder from atop the pressbox and I could hear him muttering. Yes, the Reynolds coaches had their headsets malfunction before the game had barely gotten underway. The coaches wound up having to improvise and use hand signals the rest of the way.
The game started at 7:30. At 8:02, I got this text message from my friend Marc Pruitt, who often covers games for the Journal:
“People still parking over a mile away to get in. I’ve never seen so many cars for a fb game in Forsyth County.”
For the majority of the game, West Forsyth moved the ball well but often short circuited. The Titans lost two fumbles in the first half, and the Demons picked off two West passes in the second half. Defensively, West confounded Reynolds for most of three quarters, flooding the shallow secondary to discourage Reynolds short passing game, although Knotts barely missed connecting on two fly patterns that likely would have gone for touchdowns.
At halftime, West made a PA announcement opening up the scoreboard end of the field to spectators to ease the crush on the other end.
So West entered the fourth quarter leading 9-0, and looking very much on the way to 10-0. But Knotts hit Gainey on a 31-yard post pass with eight minutes left to help trim the lead to 9-7. Reynolds got the ball back at its 17 with two minutes left, and on first down, a West defender was called for hitting Gainey out of bounds after an incomplete pass. This call was not in the least well-received in the West stands, or the West sidelines.
But Knotts directed his team to the West 42 with little more than 40 seconds left. On first down, he tried Gainey deep down the right side, but Nygee Lockhart of West outraced Gainey and the pass was incomplete. On second down, Lockhart broke up a pass for Gainey 25 yards downfield.
So what did Reynolds do on third down? Knotts went right back to Gainey down the right sideline. This time, with Lockhart providing seemingly perfect coverage, Gainey jumped a little bit higher and reached with both hands over Lockhart’s right shoulder. Gainey came down with the ball, Lockhart fell down, and Gainey waltzed into the end zone.
Game stolen.
De’Vyne Julius of Reynolds intercepted Patrick Midkiff’s last pass of the night to end it, and soon after, Reynolds students scaled the railing and stormed the field, engulfing the players. Players for both teams were crying and there was a massive traffic jam building in the parking lot.
Reynolds won’t scare any playoff opponents when they take the field in a couple of weeks, it’s just not a visually intimidating team, but the Demons are every bit the “Little Engine that Could.”
Reynolds is 10-0 and 4-0 in the Central Piedmont 4-A following last week’s epic game. The Demons beat Reagan this week and they are outright CPC champs. West needs to lick its wounds and rebound quickly for Friday’s home game against Mount Tabor, a team that will likely see a streak of seven straight years of winning or sharing a conference title come to an end.
Finally, a game that was worth the buildup.
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