Tuesday, March 09, 2010

McGuinness girls still rolling

During the mad dash that makes up the final two weeks of the basketball season — which coincided with the mad dash of the end of wrestling season — I find myself with one more team to cover.
And even given the circumstances, I would be foolish to admit I am surprised that one team is the Bishop McGuinness girls, which will play for a fifth straight Class 1-A state basketball championship on Saturday in Chapel Hill against Williamston.
And I would be mildly surprised given that the Villains didn’t even win the Northwest 2-A/1-A this year, but I can’t say that I am now. Not after watching Megan Buckland and her teammates dismantle Mitchell in the Western Regional championship game last Saturday in Greensboro.
Just when it appeared that McGuinness’ top-end talent was all gone, there’s Buckland. With respect to the great players that have played for Coach Brian Robinson of McGuinness, I would have to say that Buckland takes a backseat to none of them.
She’s tall, she handles and dishes the ball, she can shoot the lights out. Defense? She’s the best defender, on or off the ball, I have seen in girls basketball this year.
In fact, Buckland is the best girls player I have seen this year. I have only seen her once, but she scored 28 points and had nine rebounds, all while not taking half a second off of playing tight, man-to-man defense.
If her young teammates play as they did last weekend, and if Buckland comes up big, the Villains will have their fifth straight state title. And with Buckland all but two of her teammates back next year, six in a row is going to look very doable.