Basketball Postseason Arrives

Five of the eight high school basketball teams in Rutherford County made the postseason with the first three rounds taking place on Tuesday (February 26th), Thursday (28th) and Saturday (March 2nd)

Men's Basketball

East Rutherford (19-5) finished second in the Southwestern 2A Conference Tourney after they were downed by 23 to Shelby. Before that, East got revenge on R-S Central in the semis in a 20-point victory. The Hilltoppers had just beaten them by 27 a few days earlier

R-S Central (17-9) got past Chase last week, but East Rutherford was a bigger challenge. The Cavs Isaiah Lathan and Owen Chapman were big in the win against Central in the semis of the league tourney last week.

Whether Central or East wins in the first round, they will likely have to go to Hendersonville. If one survives, it's a meeting with likely West Stokes in the third round.

I think it's a shame that Central and East play for the third time in the last four games this season. They should never see each other in the first round of the playoffs. NEVER EVER! There are teams out there that deserve to see how challenging the Men's conference is in general instead of having to eliminate one of our own in the first round.

Also, Thomas Jefferson (9-14) got a 28 seed and faced Starmount on the road. Scotty Camper leads the Gryphons into the 1A West playoffs. No matter what, Thomas Jefferson is on the road this postseason.

Ladies Basketball

East Rutherford (21-3) won the Southwestern 2A Conference Tourney on a Jaylyn Twitty runner in the lane with three seconds remaining in the finals. R-S Central's Maddie Gillie did the same about 10 seconds before that to climb back into the lead from a nine-point deficit in the second half. Twitty and the Cavs were not to be denied in the end on the final shot of the game.

Congrats on the Lady Cavs Conference Tourney victory which put them in a higher seed.

The Lady Cavs faced Lexington as the 7th seed in the first round and would host again Thursday if they won. Win the first two rounds and it's likely a matchup in Salisbury on Saturday.

11th-seeded R-S Central (16-10) played South Rowan at home in the first round and if they won would likely play at Wilkes Central. If they got past round two, it would be a chance to host Shelby or a trip to Forbush on Saturday.

Congrats to Jada Logan for being name Player of the Year in the Southwestern 2A Conference in Ladies hoops while Elijah Carson earned the award in the Men's. Both were from R-S Central. The rest of the All Conference selections from the county were Jada Wilkins (R-S Central), Maddie Gillie (R-S Central), Osha Makerson (East Rutherford), Brooklyn Henderson (East Rutherford), Jaylyn Twitty (East Rutherford) and Arionna Liberati (Chase).

On the Men's side it was...Christian Walker (East Rutherford), Quay Logan (East Rutherford) Tyler Whiteside (Chase) and Ty Watkins (R-S Central).