Last Spencer at Joel Coliseum?
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?