Prep Forum

McGuinness girls still rolling

2010-03-09T19:37:44Z

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.

Good times with Dickie Cline

2010-02-19T15:54:38Z

When Marty Stanley called me back in the spring of 2001 and told me Dickie Cline had been hired as the new football coach at Glenn, I remember being excited.
At the time, I didn’t know Dickie nearly as well as I do now. But I did know him a little bit. I knew him well enough to know that he was a heck of a football coach, and there was something about his personality that stuck out — to me, he always carried himself more like a college coach in a lot of ways.
And I know for sure that air about him rubbed/rubs some people in his profession the wrong way. But not me. Dickie absolutely has an ego. Now, find me a football coach that doesn’t.
Well not surprisingly, Dickie did just fine at Glenn. In fact, I would say in most of his nine years there he maximized the team’s potential, and there’s really nothing more a coach can do.
I am disappointed that he won’t be the coach there any longer — his departure was a mutual decision between himself and Glenn administrators — but I know he will still be around. I would be surprised if he isn’t on the sidelines of a local high school this fall, either as a head or assistant coach.
He might even become a college coach, which wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
Anyway, if you are still with me, I must tell my favorite Dickie story:
Back in the mid/late 1990’s when Dickie was the coach at Ledford, he had a massive running back named Madision Hedgecock, who would later play at North Carolina and is now a fullback for the New York Giants.
So one fall morning, I drove down to Glenn to interview Hedgecock. I pulled into the parking lot, found a space and parked. Went in and hung out with Dickie for a while, interviewed Bumgarner, and walked outside.
When I get to the parking lot, my car had been pulled out of the space and was sitting dead in the middle of the driving lane between spaces. There was a jeep in the spot where I was parked.
I was not real happy when I walked back in and told Dickie about what happened. He walked out in the parking lot, surveyed the situation, and I remember him saying “I know who did it.”
Not only did Dickie find the student — who has used a strap to drag my car out of the space — and come down really hard on him, but he served the kid up to me and made him apologize.
I was calmer than I should have been, but only because I was impressed with the way Dickie handled it.
On the drive back, I found it downright hilarious. And I remember getting back to the office and telling my old boss, Terry Oberle, and my new boss, Phil Hrichak, all about it.
Dickie is good stuff. I hope he keeps coaching as long as I am doing this job.

Parkland—best wrestling team in the state

2010-02-16T15:17:32Z

I attended my first dual team wrestling match since 1995 on Sunday, and it was a good one — Cary at Parkland, two powerhouse programs, for the Class 4-A state title.
Coach Maurice Atwood of Parkland has always been a straight shooter with me, and when he gives me a prediction, I take it to the bank. I have no reason to change that philosophy, because Parkland did what Atwood said it should do — it beat Cary 38-14 for the state championship.
This was no small feat, given that Cary has been a great program for much longer than Parkland. The gym was packed, save for some empty bleacher space in the corners, and all but one match went the distance, with two going into overtime.
So its four championships in a row for Parkland — the first three came in Class 3-A — and the Mustangs will take a state record 175 match winning streak into next season.
One match I would have loved to have seen didn’t take place, but that was no surprise to those who closely follow wrestling. Matt Colvert of Cary won the Class 4-A state title at 160 pounds last season, and Marciano Ali was the 160-pound champ in Class 3-A.
I was told by several people that Colvert was moved to 152 pounds this season so he wouldn’t have to come up against Ali in the state tournament. This information was not relayed to me from anyone with Cary, so I take it with a little grain of salt.
Not being an aficionado of wrestling, I am sure there are some who would disagree, but watching the match it sure appeared as if Colvert and Ali were the two best wrestlers in the gym. Colvert had his way with Brandon Wilkins of Parkland for a 16-0 technical fall, while Ali scored a major decision over David Alecio 16-5.
I don’t know Colvert, and I have only spoken briefly in the past with Ali, but having been around enough great wrestlers, fear is not part of their repertoire. That’s why I find it puzzling that Colvert would agree to a drop in weight class only to avoid another wrestler.
But again, I don’t have all the information, and it has happened before.
Oh well. Colvert-Ali would have only added to what was an intense afternoon of wrestling.

Reynolds loses a good, and entertaining, football coach

2010-02-09T20:54:40Z

If Mike Propst gets the rubber stamp approval he expects from York (S.C.) School District One tonight, then he will be moving on from coaching football at Reynolds.
And I for one hate to hear it.
Propst is the type of personality every sports reporter needs coaching their local football team. He’s always been accessible, gregarious, and best of all, he is right there after a game, no matter how big the win or how bad the loss. Put it all together, and he is a sports writer’s dream.
But unselfishly, it’s a great time for Propst to leave. Reynolds is a terrific school, but it’s far from the easiest place to win football games in Forsyth County. The school always has plenty of speed and athletes that can catch and run, but the program has suffered from a lack of big guys and that’s something that doesn’t appear to change anytime soon.
So after leading Reynolds to a 12-1 record last season — the Demons lost a difficult rematch with Mount Tabor in the second round of the playoffs, 26-22 — Propst decided to leave while he was hot. It was Reynolds first conference title since 1998.
So if everything goes as planned for Propst tonight, Reynolds will have a new football coach on the sidelines next season. I just hope it’s someone with media savvy and the ability to get players to play bigger than they are.
Propst has both of things going for him. And chances are the folks at York High will find that out soon enough.

Swimming and diving regionals—a fluid situation

2010-02-04T20:38:55Z

Its 3:30 Thursday afternoon, another winter weather system is poised to hit our area overnight, and many people involved in high-school swimming — coaches, swimmers, parents, etc. — are in the dark.
NCHSAA regional meets for swimming and diving are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, and the NCHSAA has already canceled regionals for Class 2-A/1-A. As for those in Class 3-A and 4-A? Well, I guess they’ll have to make their last minute plans tonight. Or Friday. Or Saturday.
Do they travel on Friday for swimming? Should they even plan on competing this weekend?
I understand there are two sides to the issue — from my angle, I would like to know the plan so I can get something in the paper, just as the coaches and swimmers would like to know how they are going to spend the weekend.
From the NCHSAA’s end, it’s difficult. The decision makers can NEVER make everyone happy in these situations and people want answers now. But in the case of swimming regionals, it’s not as easy as “OK, we’ll just move them to Monday.”
The host facilities for the regionals were booked months in advance, and its possible the NCHSAA just can’t find alternate dates to move them.
What will NCHSAA officials decide? Who knows. From reading their web site, http://www.nchsaa.org, I’ll have to check back “this evening” to find out.

Snow…..oh no

2010-02-02T18:51:57Z

Almost everyone loves the snow.
I love to see it. My children love to see it. It seems like we don’t see it nearly as often as we used to in Forsyth County.
But the problem with winter weather is how it interrupts the basketball, indoor track, and wrestling seasons. And having spent the better part of Friday and today (Tuesday) trying to find out rescheduled dates for basketball games, I am positive that there is at least one demographic of society ready to see the snow disappear, and that would be high school athletics directors.
February 13th is the last day of the NCHSAA’s basketball regular season, so there is roughly a week and a half left. Very few schools are right on course to complete their conference schedules, and some are falling woefully behind with each passing day.
One athletic director told me this morning that his conference is already taking a look at cancelling the conference basketball tournament. If we get another blast of winter weather this weekend, which is a distinct possibility if the forecast is believable, I bet there will be some conference tournament casualties during the week of Feb. 15-20. Instead, some leagues might be completing the regular season.
Stay tuned and bundle up.

Winston-Salem Prep clamps down on Toomey

2010-01-23T04:06:30Z

Aaron Toomey might not be the quickest player around, but the 6-1 point guard for Bishop McGuinness can really enforce his will on the court.
That’s why Winston-Salem Prep decided at halftime tonight that if McGuinness was going to win, it wouldn’t be by the hands of Toomey.
And so Prep trapped, banged, grabbed and generally frustrated Toomey into a technical foul. Marlon Staton, Prep’s stocky defensive specialist, hounded Toomey, who scored 19 in the first half and only five in the second half during Prep’s 71-48 Northwest 2-A/1-A win.
Prep got in foul trouble in the process — Anthony Thomas, the star 6-8 wing for the Phoenix, fouled out a minute into the fourth quarter with 24 points. But Prep’s defensive point was made. McGuinness doesn’t have quite the level of talent around Toomey as it did during last year’s state championship run.
“The bottom line to him — and don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a great player — but the bottom line is keep him off the free throw line,” Coach Andre Gould of Prep said of Toomey.
“We have to stop reaching a grabbing. Like I told our guys, if he’s going to be tough we have to be tough too. We can’t back down because the referees call it; we are going to still body him. If he’s pushing on us, we have to push back at him. We can’t allow him to go wherever he wants to go because we are fearful that they will call something on us.”
Prep has not been as overpowering in general as many thought it would be, but I still think the Phoenix are right on course to win their second Class 1-A state title in three seasons.
The Phoenix are playing better than they did in the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic, when they finished as the runner-up to Reagan. I saw a little more teamwork tonight.
]The fact is, they are going to have a huge length advantage — and probably an athletic advantage as well — on any 1-A team in the state. If they use those advantages on defense and the offensive boards the way they did tonight, they will be extremely difficult to knock out.
McGuinness, on the other hand, is a far better team than I thought it would be this season.
“The games like this when you play an athletic team like that you get exposed when you don’t do little things well,” Coach Josh Thompson of McGuinness said. “We didn’t box out great, we got trapped a little. From here on out we have to use this as a learning experience and get better. We hope to play (Prep) again and hopefully we can make it a close game by taking care of the little things. We didn’t do that tonight and they took care of business on their end.”

I was warned

2010-01-18T19:04:09Z

I can’t say I wasn’t warned.
Coach Isaac Pitts of Quality Education told me if I watched his basketball team play, I wouldn’t be able to view a “normal” high-school game the same way.
He was right. And again, I can’t say I wasn’t warned.
Watching QEA beat Oak Ridge Military Academy on a tip-in at the buzzer last week was a curious sight. The tiny gym at Oak Ridge was mostly full, a handful of high-school Cadets in one corner, die-hard military men and women scattered throughout, and gawking onlookers, presumably unable to believe they were watching teenagers — and not grown men — play the game before them.
The players are so big, so fast, that especially in the first half, there was barely room for either team to complete the most rudimentary of passes.
Quincy Miller, Aaron Bowen, Juvonte Reddic, Dominic Pointer…..QEA has the best players I have laid eyes on this year. And I didn’t even get to see the Pharaohs point guard, Baylor signee Stargell Love, because he was out with an ankle injury. Oak Ridge is no slouch—Jay Canty, a 6-5 guard who has signed with Xavier, is a beast. So is Jacob Lawson.
It’s a shame QEA doesn’t play close to home more often. Watching the Pharaohs play is to catch a glimpse at tomorrow’s major college game, and quite probably, tomorrow’s NBA.
But it’s not a high-school basketball team in the traditional sense. Not at all.

Discovering Quality Education

2010-01-14T20:37:36Z

I took a drive down Carver School Road late this morning. I went a mile or so past Carver High to a school that isn’t so well known in Winston-Salem.
Quality Education Academy might not be well known around here, but word of its prowess seems to be spreading in the fast lane world of national prep basketball powerhouses.
QEA is in its second year of playing basketball. Some of our readers have probably not heard of QEA, because they really don’t play many teams from around here — even though Isaac Pitts, the head coach and athletics director — would relish the opportunity to play local opponents.
QEA, known as the Fighting Pharaohs, plays a national schedule and that wouldn’t change even if they did pick up a few local games. If QEA did play local teams, it would be fun to watch the show, but the other teams wouldn’t stand much of a chance.
Only one player on the team — point guard Stargell Love, who has committed to Baylor — has committed to a Division I college. But the team is full of Division I prospects.
I sat down today with Pitts and Simon Johnson, the executive director of QEA who co-founded the school in 1992, and later, with Quincy Miller, a 6-10 junior who rated among the very best players in the nation for the Class of 2011.
It takes a lot less time to ask Miller who hasn’t offered him a scholarship than to ask who has. I found that out the hard way.
In the coming weeks, I will have a story about the quick rise of QEA as a national basketball powerhouse. But next week, I plan to have a story on Miller, a native of Chicago who is probably far and away the best current prep player who calls Winston-Salem home.
The Pharaohs don’t play a lot of games close to home, but they are playing at Oak Ridge Military Academy on Friday night.

Rivalries bring out bad blood

2010-01-13T15:03:43Z

Some of the biggest rivalries I have seen over the last 18 years have produced some unsightly results and plenty of bad blood. The West Forsyth-Mount Tabor football games, especially several years back, might have been top of the heap for extra-curricular bad behavior. If I’m not mistaken, when coaches Bob Sapp of Mount Tabor and Russell Stone of West were coaching at the schools, I saw a game in which there were about 13 penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Carver-Parkland games are always intense and on the edge.
Don’t want to leave anyone out, because there are many other rivalries in Forsyth County. East Forsyth-Glenn, North-Mount Tabor, Reynolds-Mount Tabor.
When Reagan High opened its doors in 2005, an immediate border rivalry with West Forsyth was born. Reagan also has a rivalry with North Forsyth, to a lesser degree, but Reagan’s rivalry with West is a two-way street paved with occasional bad intentions.
And that rivalry hit a new high — or low? — on Tuesday night during West’s 51-37 Central Piedmont 4-A win at Reagan in the varsity girls basketball game.
The girls on both teams bumped, shoved, talked and generally ratcheted up the animosity until finally, late in the fourth quarter, it boiled to a head and three players were ejected.
Jourdan Miller and Michelle Price of West Forsyth and Alana Beroth of Reagan were the ejectees after a skirmish near midcourt that appeared accidental when it started, as Price and Beroth got tangled up running downcourt.
Officials from both schools were of the thought that the ejections should not have been for fighting — which carries a two-game suspension under N.C. High School Athletic Association rules, as well as the completion of an online sportsmanship class. But that determination is up to the officials.
Once I find out how this will be handled, I’ll follow up on it here.

Kathleen Baker set the bar high

2010-01-11T18:33:14Z

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.

Last Spencer at Joel Coliseum?

2010-01-04T14:18:27Z

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?

Football season ends with a great game

2009-12-16T16:12:50Z

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.

First basketball game

2009-12-02T15:43:43Z

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.

Sort of, but not quite, on to basketball

2009-11-30T17:37:00Z

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)
rlinker@wsjournal.com