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The only thing left to do is to win the 2A state title, which they will get that chance on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Chapel Hill against Northwood.
People from around the state have been saying, East can’t guard Jackson Simmons of Smoky Mountain, they can’t guard an athletic Salisbury team and they can’t guard Mountain Heritage’s John Cannon…wrong, wrong and wrong. Senior, Devince Boykins gets most of the credit on covering the big men, but the defensive rotation by all has been outstanding.
The fact of the matter is East Rutherford’s defense has been a monumental key this whole year, especially in the postseason. Since 2011 began, the Cavaliers defense has allowed 60 points or more just four times. In the postseason….not even once.
While speed and versatility being two offensive strengths, 42 three-pointers in five postseason games isn’t too shabby either.
With basketball still in mind, the North Carolina-Duke game was certainly a wake up call. Carolina, who owned Duke the entire contest, has now won 12 of its last 13 games since a thrashing by Georgia Tech back on January 16th. The only loss during that span was to Duke at Duke, which Carolina led for the majority of that contest as well.
Although the first half of the season was rocky, the Tarheels have turned it around down the stretch. They shot nearly 53 percent last Saturday and dished out 18 assists, while holding Duke to 22 percent from beyond the arc.
On the other hand, this maybe what Duke needed. Is losing to the Tarheels a downer in Durham? Absolutely it is, but I am sure Mike Krzyewski can only use this loss to make them work even harder for this weekend’s ACC Tourney, and the upcoming NCAA Tourney too.
While Kendall Marshall, Harrison Barnes and John Henson are all playing well for Carolina, the most thought of question in the ACC is when will Duke’s Kyrie Irving be back?
At the moment, it doesn’t look like he will make it back this year, but there is a glimmer of hope that he may recover from his toe injury in time to wreck havoc, if Duke can make a deep run into March Madness.
How bout round three, Duke-Carolina on Sunday? I think so.
For those who wonder about the ACC getting NCAA tourney bids, I think five are in pretty good shape… UNC, Duke, Florida State, Clemson and Boston College. Virginia Tech has a little more work to do, while the other six clubs will have to win the ACC Tourney to make “The Big Dance.”
