High School Basketball is underway

High School Basketball has began all of a sudden and here is how the SMAC Men and Women are projected to do this year.

9) Chase - They do have Petey Walker back at point, but they are missing Zach Anderson due to injury.

8) Burns - Gabe Falls is the go-to-guy, but they are living and dying by the 3-ball.

7) Draughn - No doubt, they are big inside, but they are going to have to shoot really well and slow the pace down to keep games close.

6) East Burke - Never doubt these Cavs either. However, they lost their two best players to graduation and are living and dying by the 3 this year.

5) Crest - Crest has four key returnees that average near or over double figures in points with Cavious Hamilton leading the way at guard.

4) R-S Central - The Hilltoppers made a deep playoff run a year ago. They still have most of their team back from a year ago. Tyrese Tate and Zyrion Wilkins should make a make a big impact. Scoring has been a little bit of a problem so far, but if the defense continues to get better, they will be hard to beat on any given night.

3) Kings Mountain - They have a lot of athleticism with guards with Zeke Littlejohn and Adrian Delph leading the charge. Josh Helton is also a big target inside.

2) East Rutherford - This maybe the deepest Cavalier team the school has ever seen. They want to inflict 32 minutes of chaos with an up tempo style while pressing that leads to easy baskets. They can score, but defensively they have to get much better as the year goes along. They should.

1) Shelby - They have a ton of talent that comes up from an 18-1 JV team a year ago. Quay Kimble leads them at the point with five other vets that played in 25 games or more a year ago.

Girls

9) Chase - Effort won't be a problem. It's just a REALLY tough conference this year.

8) Burns - Not much guard play, but they may impress some people along the inside this year with two solid post players.

7) Crest - It's a young group with some trouble scoring, but they should be competitive with half the teams in conference.

6) Draughn - Shaedyn Housch leads them at point and should fight with Shelby for that fourth and final SMAC spot in the 2A playoffs.

5) Shelby - Athleticism shouldn't be a problem. Getting back to offensive and defensive consistency is the question. I expect them to be a little better than a year ago.

4) Kings Mountain - They are balanced, they don't quit and that's dangerous.

3) East Rutherford - They are 7-10 deep and led by Kendra Ross and Osha Makerson. Curious to see where they are at the end of the year.

2) R-S Central - They aren't as deep as they were a year ago and lost Teja Twitty to graduation. Led by Jada Logan and Kyra Davis, Central also has five other veteran role players in the mix.

1) East Burke - Their first eight are quality players with four guards, two forwards and two centers. Any of the eight could score in double figures on any given night.