Varsity Now
Leftover notes and quotes from Monday’s MLK Jamboree
I was up in Sampson County on Monday for the MLK Jamboree, a day full of basketball. The story is here, but there was plenty that couldn’t fit. Here’s the leftover ntoes and quotes from my notebook, done chronologically.
-Laney girls 58, Lakewood 26
This game was supposed to be closer. Lakewood was the top-rated 1A girls team in the state, and if you’re coming off a run to the state title game, you should be able to hang with anyone.
I forgot about Laney’s defense. The Bucs completely shut down Lakewood’s offensive attack, and handled the pressure Lakewood tried to throw at them with relative ease.
Laney enters every game with three boxes to check off for a win: 1) suffocating the other team’s offense 2) limiting turnovers 3) scoring enough to win. Laney almost always checks the first two boxes by default, and hopes the third comes around at some point. (That’s one reason Ashley can give Laney trouble the Eagles can create enough pressure and have enough scoring firepower to uncheck two of those boxes.)
But on Monday, Laney checked all three and the result was a rout. There weren’t any huge runs, just Laney consistently using its size advantage on both ends.
Laney coach Sherri Tynes on her team’s post play:
“Our post players did a good job of getting high-low positioning. And our guards did a great job finding them.”
Tynes, on Lakewood’s pressure
“They pressured us, but as the game went on we got a little more calm and handled that pressure.”
-Jack Britt Boys 49, Laney 39
Laney coach Nate Faulk reiterated that the Bucs were missing leading scorer Kirby Kealon, who is the best offensive threat that Laney has. Kealon, out with injury, will be back for Friday’s game according to Faulk.
“They did a better job of shutting us down,” Faulk said. “If we’re not hitting shots, we’re so limited – if shots aren’t going for us then it’s hard.”
-Hoke County boys 69, Hoggard 57
Hoke County didn’t show up for the game until about 7:25 p.m. The team got lost trying to find Union High School. It didn’t make a significant difference for Hoke.
Joe O’Donnell has stepped up as a senior for Hoggard in the past few games. In five games in January, O’Donnell is averaging 18.4 points per game for Hoggard. He had 12 on Monday with a couple of huge three-pointers.
“He’s really playing well,” Hoggard coach Brett Queen said. “We’ve been doing some things to make him more aggressive and he’s doing the things a confident senior does.”
Queen also made an excellent point with regards to the postseason: The No. 1 seeds in the east will likely include some combination of Clayton, Garner, Hoke County, 71st, and whoever wins the Mideastern Conference, with the MEC winner probably as the No. 4 seed. So Hoggard’s chances of seeing Hoke County a third time and possibly in the regional are pretty good if the Vikings can win the Mideastern Conference.
-As a final note, Union boys coach Tim Pope is almost worth the drive by himself. He’s a very good coach and extremely helpful to media at the MLK Jamboree, but he’s also a champion at railing officials. During one particular exchange Monday, Pope laid into the refs with a sentence-long outburst.
Here’s the thing: Pope has a thick Eastern North Carolina accent, and I could only pick out the last three words: “86 years old!” That’s funny in and of itself, but it’s also impressive – I’ve had two and a half years of interviewing coaches in southeastern North Carolina, plus 14 years of life in Translyvania and Gaston Counties. Suffice it to say I’m well-versed in country accents. But I couldn’t understand Pope. I’m assuming he was going for hyperbole with regards to a referee’s assumed age, but I asked Pope what he said after the game and he declined to elaborate. Probably for good reason. Oh well.
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Posted by: Tukiyooo
Leftover notes and quotes from Monday’s MLK Jamboree Updated at :
7:46 PM
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
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