NW4A Conference Tourney...

You bring up an interesting point...with Reynolds being the #1 seed, some of the neutral fans may pull for the lower seed. I would expect most if not all the McDowell fans will be hanging around to see who wins the nightcap. If South Caldwell stays close, it may be really vocal inside Titan Gym.

Oh, BTW I would assume Freedom/McDowell will be another huge crowd, where are the Reynolds and South Caldwell people gonna sit?

 

I know the Lady Rocket girls team is planning on arriving to see all the Freedom/McDowell game, so I imagine a lot of the fans will be there early as well. Should be an overflowing gym tomorrow night! But let's see some predictions BigDan!

 

Wanna see predictions? Here we go...

In the first game, I think we will see something simular to last week. Freedom will be patient, even to the point of maybe playing 4 corners, just so they can keep the score close. They tried it against us last week but it didn't work. McDowell just needs to keep up the tempo and get a lot of their points in transition. Atkinson is playing her best ball of the season, I think that will continue until the very end. Barrier will once again need support from people like Scruggs to keep this game close. In the end, too much firepower from McDowell. I pick the Lady Titans to win, 71-56.

The Nightcap should be close once again...Reynolds has to take advantage of their post presence and pound it in on South Caldwell. It would think South will play some zone, so that means Reynolds must be hitting from outside. If there is one thing that I think South Caldwell should do, and that is put at least half court pressure on the guards of Reynolds. South has some good guards that play aggressive and cause some turnovers. They're gonna need it. The longer South Caldwell stays in the game, the more the crowd may come to their side. It should be an interesting game to watch. I'll pick Reynolds to win, but it's gonna be close...67-64

 

NW4A tourney

As a parent of one of the AC players, which in many ways has been interesting to see the competition in the conference, I have seen all of the teams play at least twice and from a personal viewpoint think that McDowell has the best overall chance to take the title even though they did not play their best ball Monday night. I kept waiting for the lid to blow off during the game against our girls who suffered all year from lack of guard play, so for the game to be under a 25 point spread was somewhat surpising to me.
I believe that though Freedom is tough, they are beatable by anyone in the league. AC Reynolds is terrific from the outside and should advance also but the Lady Titans should prevail overall.
The one thing that any player from any of the member schools can say is that they have played against the BEST womens teams all year long and can take the credentials that go along with that with them to play all levels of college ball and in life in general.

Great forum btw.

 

Don't know the final, but McDowell wins and AC Reynolds beats South Caldwell 55-48. Didn't get to see the games but looks like the Lady Spartans gave the Lady Rockets another dog fight. I wish South Caldwell, and Freedom all the luck in the playoffs, represent the NW4A well!

 

very competitive game for both South Caldwell and Reynolds. The ball handling of South scares you every time down court, but they find a way to get it to the basket. They also had many outside shots that just would not fall. It's obvious for Reynolds that they don't need to be running up and down the whole night. They are at their best in the half-court using their girls inside. Overall a fun game to watch. Katie Rybacki went down late in the 3rd period with that knee that is heavily braced. She did play some in the 4th period. Reynolds will need her at 100 percent friday night.

In the opener, McDowell came out on fire against Freedom outscoring them 26-9 in the first period. The rest of the game was about even with McDowell winning 85-63. Atkinson continues her hot play, 19 points and a lot of assiste. Along with Anna, Emily Lovik was torching the basket from downtown, she ended up with 22 points. I would bet both girls had 2 or 3 3's each in the first period. Aimee Kiser continues to improve in her play from game to game, she had 16 tonight. She was the most aggressive I have seen her on offense all season long. McDowell will need that badly as the state playoffs start next week.

Friday Night is going to be another good game between McDowell and Reynolds, the #1 seed for the sectionals are at stake. I will make a prediction later. Also, at 5pm, we will have a play-in game between Freedom and South Caldwell. The winner gets the #3 seed from our conference in the state sectionals, and the loser will get the #4 seed and will travel to Charlotte in the first round of the sectionals.

 

Another very exciting game to watch between these 2 teams. South's Heather Pritchard hit a 3 off a jumper at the half time buzzer to cut the Rocket lead to 2. Katie McGalliard had 16 for the Rockets, hit the 3 well. Alex Thompson had 11. Pritchard lead all scorers with 18 and handed out a lot of assists but unfortunately so many shots wouldnt fall including Woodie's 3's. Keep shooting Woodie!! Good game from both teams. Good luck to both teams Friday and in the post-season!

 

okay, anybody wanna take stab at predicting the Reynolds/McDowell Championship Game? Here is my call...

First off, I think we'll have another huge crowd for this game. The key for Reynolds, IMO is not to let McDowell to come out to a hot start like McDowell did against Freedom on Wednesday. Reynolds needs to establish an inside presence early. Get some easy baskets and crash the boards hard on the missed shots. Reynolds better also keep the tempo of the game at their level, which is down. They tried to play at South Caldwell's pace at times Wednesday night and had quite a few turnovers. They're also gonna need all players at 100 percent. Katie Rybacki had problems with her knee last night, they will need her at full speed.

For McDowell, it would be nice if they could come out and resume what they did against Freedom, but I don't think it will come that easy. McDowell needs to maintain a tough man-to-man defense all night long and don't allow Reynolds a good look from outside. Atkinson will once again play huge, she's a big game player. Lovik's abily to drive and hit the medium range jumper will help her get some open looks from behind the arc. Patrice Smith needs to continue her good play. She is good at driving inside and getting easy shots. Her motion looks kinda off balance, but she gets by the defender easier that many people would think. Akendra Brown and Aimee Kiser will have to crash on the boards and get 2nd chance points. McDowell also needs to get Aimee the ball in the half court offense and go right at Alexander, and try to get her in foul trouble again. The McDowell bench could end up being huge in this game. Bruington plays hard inside every time she's out there, Revis plays tough defense and can hit the open shot.

This has all the makings of being a very close game. I think being at home and play as good as they are right now, McDowell will prevail, 76-68

Anybody wanna make predictions on All-Tourney Team?

I think Atkinson, Lovik and Thompson are locks for all tourney. I think Pritchard, Barrier, Alexander and McGalliard are likely candidates for the two other spots.

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head with summary of what ACR needs to do, hit the boards HARD, get easy baskets INSIDE, and play to their tempo, and not let McDowell get off to a big first quarter. ACR does all this, and doesn't let the crowd rattle them, then they have a chance. NOW, saying all this and DOING all this is two totally different stories! I look for Atkinson to have a great game as ACR will have problems defending her, and I look for Lovik to have a good game as well. For ACR Alexander and Thompson have to score well tonight or the game will be over quickly, as I don't see Rybacki being full strength. Should be another great game with McDowell winning at home again 67-54. I hate to go against my team, and I do think they have the ability to win, but at McDowell it will be REALLY tough. I wish McDowell and all the NW4A teams the best in the playoffs, and I hope that one of us will be in Chapel Hill representing the West in the State Finals! Good Luck to all, and here's hoping all the girls stay healthy for the playoffs! One last thing, with this being the last official NW4A game of the year, I want to say I only hope next year is as exciting as this year, and to all the seniors from each team this year thank you for a great year and we hope you have a successful future!

 

McDowell prevails with a 68-60 victory tonight in the Tourney Championship Game. I don't have player stats with me, I'll post them later, but McDowell came out hot with a 20-9 first period run. The Lady Rockets tried to fight back, but McDowell kept them at 12 points going into halftime. In the 2nd half, Reynolds came out on a mission, and McDowell came out flat in all aspects. It quickly got shaved down to a 6 point lead. After a McDowell timeout, Emily Lovik hit probably the biggest shot of the game, a mid range jumper which broke the Reynolds run, and at the end of 3, McDowell actually stretched the lead by one point, to a 13 point lead going into the 4th. Reynolds tried one more run in the 4th, but McDowell held them off and came away with the victory. It was pretty much a full house at McDowell tonight, only a few upper level seats were open.

McDowell used their tough man-to-man defense to deny Reynolds an open look for outside. The pace also was to McDowell's liking for the most part. All of McDowell's points in the first period were short range shots or from the foul line. No 3 pointers were attempted by McDowell in the first period. With the win, McDowell get the #1 seed in the state sectionals, while Reynolds will get the #2 seed, they will have a home game Monday evening against Hopewell, game time will likely be around 7pm.

In the 3/4 play-in game, Freedom blew an 8 point lead in the 4th quarter to South Caldwell and ended up losing by 4, I think the final score was 62-58. South Caldwell gets the #3 seed in the sectionals and will host a home game Monday Night against Myers Park. Freedom will be the 4 seed and will travel to Butler monday night.