Coaches always love to defend the strength of their conference. Often times it blows up in their faces when the state playoffs arrive, because teams from other conferences eliminate them quickly.
So far it looks as though North Piedmont 3A boys basketball coaches who were bragging about the depth of the NPC this season look justified in doing so.
The top four seeds won their first-round playoff games Tuesday night, and three of them triumphed on the road.
Northwest Cabarrus (NPC champion) defeated visiting Eastern Randolph (Mid-Piedmont Conference No. 4) 64-51
East Rowan (NPC No. 2) upended St. Stephens (Catawba Valley Conference No. 2) 83-65
West Rowan (NPC No. 3) knocked off Asheville Roberson (Mountain Athletic Conference champion) 60-56 in overtime
Mooresville (NPC No. 4) toppled Kings Mountain (Southwestern Conference No. 1) 76-66
And don't forget Lake Norman (NPC No. 5) took defending 3A state champion Concord to the wire before losing 74-70.
Statesville (NPC No. 6) had a rough go, losing at Trinity, ranked second in the state, 78-55, but all in all I'd say that was an impressive statement by the NPC.
If the same four can win Thursday in the second round that would mean 1/4 of 16 remaining teams in the 3A playoffs would hail from the NPC. Now that would be something to brag about.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Clearly, there's no shame in East Lincoln's game
Before I get started, take a couple of moments to look over this box score from Tuesday night's high school girls basketball game between South Iredell and East Lincoln, which was played in Denver ...
South Iredell 6 12 2 16 -- 36
East Lincoln 23 23 43 12 -- 101
SOUTH IREDELL (36): Tish McCombs 13, Saddler 9, Kay. Kerley 5, Hoover 5, Kas. Kerley 3, Morris 1.
EAST LINCOLN (101): Kiandra Long 22, Lindsy Wright 22, Sonny Marthers 15, Kristen Wakefield 13, Megan Savidge 11, King 9, Denton 4, Davis 2, Mordas 1, Ashley 1.
NOW, I ask, was that necessary against a 1-21 team?
Answer: Absolutely not.
Outscoring your opponent 43-2 in the third quarter when you led 46-18 at the half was classless, East Lincoln.
At 16-7 -- and 12-1 in a really weak conference -- the Mustangs are nothing to write home about. But they found time to run up the score on a struggling team. C'mon.
Some people have no shame.
South Iredell 6 12 2 16 -- 36
East Lincoln 23 23 43 12 -- 101
SOUTH IREDELL (36): Tish McCombs 13, Saddler 9, Kay. Kerley 5, Hoover 5, Kas. Kerley 3, Morris 1.
EAST LINCOLN (101): Kiandra Long 22, Lindsy Wright 22, Sonny Marthers 15, Kristen Wakefield 13, Megan Savidge 11, King 9, Denton 4, Davis 2, Mordas 1, Ashley 1.
NOW, I ask, was that necessary against a 1-21 team?
Answer: Absolutely not.
Outscoring your opponent 43-2 in the third quarter when you led 46-18 at the half was classless, East Lincoln.
At 16-7 -- and 12-1 in a really weak conference -- the Mustangs are nothing to write home about. But they found time to run up the score on a struggling team. C'mon.
Some people have no shame.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Hurricanes have some work to do
The Carolina Hurricanes play at the Washington Capitals tonight. They trail Washington by a point in the Southeast Division standings.
The Hurricanes need to pick up the pace or they're going to find themselves sitting out of the playoffs for the second straight year -- and they won the Stanley Cup in 2006 for crying out loud.
Currently, the Hurricanes have 56 points. Good grief, the fourth-place teams in the Atlantic and Northeast Divisions have more points than that.
If the NHL playoffs began today, the Eastern Conference seeds would look like this:
1. Ottawa (leads Northeast Division) 70 points
2. Philadelphia (leads Atlantic Division) 65
3. Washington (leads Southeast Division) 57
4. Montreal 67
5. Pittsburgh 65
6. New Jersey 64
7. N.Y. Rangers 60
8. Boston 59
On the outside looking in: Buffalo 57, Carolina 56, Atlanta 56, Florida 55, N.Y. Islanders 54, Toronto 53, Tampa Bay 51.
The Hurricanes need to pick up the pace or they're going to find themselves sitting out of the playoffs for the second straight year -- and they won the Stanley Cup in 2006 for crying out loud.
Currently, the Hurricanes have 56 points. Good grief, the fourth-place teams in the Atlantic and Northeast Divisions have more points than that.
If the NHL playoffs began today, the Eastern Conference seeds would look like this:
1. Ottawa (leads Northeast Division) 70 points
2. Philadelphia (leads Atlantic Division) 65
3. Washington (leads Southeast Division) 57
4. Montreal 67
5. Pittsburgh 65
6. New Jersey 64
7. N.Y. Rangers 60
8. Boston 59
On the outside looking in: Buffalo 57, Carolina 56, Atlanta 56, Florida 55, N.Y. Islanders 54, Toronto 53, Tampa Bay 51.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
