2005 NCHSAA 4A Regionals...

4A west regional - harding, mount tabor, northern durham and south meck

here's stories of the wins by these 4 western teams:

mount tabor over northwest guilford
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/S...31781267884&path=!sports!prep&s=1037645509502

northern durham over greensboro page
http://newsobserver.com/sports/preps/story/2163663p-8545339c.html

harding over mcdowell
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/high_school/11004415.htm

south meck over hopewell
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/high_school/11004349.htm

 

http://www.nchsaa.unc.edu/05 BKB Brackets/0405 4A W Reg

The link above is the brackets for the east and west regions in 4A.

My two cents on the brackets...I would be very shock if there is not an all-Mecklenburg County regional final in the west. Harding is playing some very good ball right now, and you know they want some revenge on Northern Durham, which is one of Harding's two losses this season. In the other game, I think its a case where Mt. Tabor has been riding on momentium, beating #1 seeds in back-to-back games. Well on friday, I think they'll run into the brick wall known as the South Meck frontcourt. But, at this point of the game, you never know what may transpire?

In the east, one thing is for sure, there will be a new state champ this year as 71st loss in the sectional finals to Westover. Also dosen't come as a huge shock to me that Broughton is in the regionals. McDowell got to play Broughton back in December at the Glaxo, and they are a very good team. I was hoping that maybe McDowell and Broughton would meet again, but since that won't happen, I'll cheer at least for Broughton to represent the East in Chapel Hill on the 12th.

 

northern durham 40, harding 38
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/high_school/11057749.htm

south meck 68, mt. tabor 40
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/high_school/11057751.htm

northern durham - south meck 7:30 march 5th
lawrence joel coliseum in winston-salem

 

I was there, but I don't know where the Harding team that came to McDowell was? They scored a "whopping" 12 points in the first half. They looked lost. Northern played good defense, and that #11 is a good player, but there's no reason to play the game tomorrow. South Meck will win by 20 or 30, easy.

McDowell should have been there, as I feel they could handle all the other 3, but I'm afraid South is in a class by themselves.

Now, South Meck vs. Asheville, that would be something to see.

 

3-A MATCH UP

I`M A WONDERING ABOUT SOMETHING. HOW CAN THE STATE LET HIGH POINT CENTRALPLAY THE SECTIONALS IN THE WEST, THEN MOVE THEM TO THE EAST ?? DONT SEEM FAIR TO THE LAKE NORMAN TEAM THEY BEAT TO GET THERE!!! IS SOMEONE TRING TO SELL TICKETS TO A # 1 VS # 2 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP???

 

The word from downeast is that Broughton defeated Southeast Raleigh by one point, not sure of the exact score. After I watched them play down at the Glaxo I thought they as good a chance as anybody to represent the East.

 

Northern Durham defeats South Meck 41 - 37. Guess there was a reason to play the game.

 

I simply cannot believe this. I guess the slowdown offense must have worked? I still can't conceive this being possible. There's no comparison between these two teams. There has to be some story here? Cheek must have gotten hurt or something?

I'm beginning to wonder if there doesn't need to be a shot clock in high school after watching Northern and Harding slow games down so much. It seems to be working in their favor, though. Still, South should have been able to score at will in a halfcourt set. Somebody provide some details!

What a shame, McDowell has beaten Broughton without Akendra, and now South loses to Northern. This postseason has been kind of whacky!

 

Northern Durham vs South Meck

ND played slowdown basketball and SM played right into their hands. Why SM did not play man to man pressure defense I will never know. SM did nothing to change the tempo of the game. There was no one in significant foul trouble, their bench was deeper and ND's guards do not like pressure. That was proven the night before when Harding finally woke up and decided to play pressure defense. If Broughton plays pressure D and rebound they will win state. SM stayed in a 2-3 zone when they were down by 9 points at one point. ND just pulled it out without SM doing anything. I don't get it. Talent does not always win basketball games and last night was proof. Not being from this area I don't know the history of NC basketball but, I can tell you one thing, sometimes you got to say to yourself that something is not working and make adjustments during the course of a game. ND had great strategy to cut down the possessions and limit turnovers and fouls to keep their best players on the floor and it worked. I have yet to understand SM's strategy. I will say this, there is not one kid on that SM team who transferred in just to play basketball. They are all great students, they all live in the proper school district and the parents decided that they will play with and be coached by the their respective classmates and coaches good or bad. I know for a fact that the Cheek kid and Horowitz kid could have played for any private team in Charlotte but, they decided to go to South and deal with what comes with it. I commend them and to my knowledge they have gone further than any girl's team in their school history and further than most would admit they would have gone. They were not picked to win their conference. Although they fell short, they have nothing to be ashamed of. They beat the #10 ranked team in the country, finished 25-5, Cheek and Horowitz made all-conference, and Cheek POY with more honors I am sure coming her way. She is the real deal. Cheek will be the next big thing out of this state after McCants, no doubt about it. She will play major college basketball and has been offered by every school in the ACC, SEC, Big East and 4-5 schools in the West with Stanford being one of them. Horowitz has great offers with Davidson, Furman and possibly Georgetown. The lone senior Wicker has offers from ODU, Bucknell and I believe Univ. of Penn. but, she wants to attend the Univ. of Delaware to play volleyball. With a few coaching clinics for the staff this summer and everyone healthy SM should make a final run at it and hopefully come out with better results next year.