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Kevin Carver
Unfortunately for the two Rutherford County teams, Central’s girls were upset at home and East was dealt one of its biggest losses in quite sometime.
Central’s Shannon Hines hit three of her first four shots to give Central a 7-0 lead, but hit two of nine during the rest of the half. In the second half, Freedom played by far it’s best game of the season to pull off the 58-49 upset.
On the boys side, East had just five first half field goals as Freedom maintained a 20-point lead throughout in a 22-point Cavalier loss.
On Monday, Rutherford County came back in a huge way with all five schools who made the postseason, earning first round wins.
R-S Central girls (23-2) got the job done in a 56-40 win over Hibriten. Mercedes Davis reaches the 1,000 point plateau of her career in the victory. While Shannon Hines earned a game high 20, Tia Bristol double-double was the bigger story. Bristol boarded 15 rebounds and scored 14 points on Monday.
If Central won Wednesday, they will likely host Forestview in the third round on Friday.
Like all year long, Rachel Camp with assistance from Shay Dewberry pushed the East Rutherford girls (18-7) to a win over Smoky Mountain. If East can get past Mountain Heritage on Wednesday, they will likely face a stout Newton-Conover club on the road.
East Rutherford boys (23-4) put four kids in double figures as they breezed past Draughn in the second half for a 85-59 win. Devonte Boykins registered a team-high 26 points and 14 boards, while T. J. Watkins posted 20 points. Donald Wilkins and Maddox Stamey added 15 and 11 points apiece in the win. Should they win Wednesday night, they will either see Smoky Mountain or Mountain Heritage. East knocked both of those teams out of the playoffs one year ago.
The No.14 seeded R-S Central boys (11-12) got hot from three point land as they hit 12 from beyond the arc and held onto a 70-68 win over No.3 seeded 3A Forestview in Gastonia. Jordan Hamilton sank the winning free throws late, while Traesean Lynch made the defensive play of the game just before the horn with an interception to ensure Central’s victory. Sharrod Hines led the Hilltoppers with 25 points. If Central beats Ashbrook on Wednesday, they will likely see Hickory on the road, Friday.
TJCA Boys (13-11) also had success on the road as they win in their first ever boys basketball playoff appearance. The Gryphons destroyed Hiwassee Dame 86-59 in the first round on Monday.
If Thomas Jefferson downs undefeated Hayesville on Wednesday, chances of a third round win look good. Which means, Hendersonville might just see them again in the fourth round.
Ofcourse, NASCAR begins its official points season with The Daytona 500 this weekend. With pack racing back, I believe you will see much more intrigue compared to the last couple of 500’s. The Budweiser Shootout seemed to point out a prelude of what is to come as three big crashes and two spectacular saves by Kyle Busch before Busch comes back to win the event.
The Gatorade Duels on Thursday and I will take Jamie McMurray to win the first duel and Kyle Busch in the second.
After what I have seen so far, the cars are very equal again with restrictor plate racing, finding what to do at the right time is the trick. There are a lot of guys that I think can win this thing, but I am going to take Dale Earnhardt Jr. In looking at how he performed last week and how he put the third fastest stand alone time in qualifying, I would say that makes a good pick.
And I know people are wanting to see how Danica Patrick does this weekend at Daytona. Yes, Danica does possess talent, but her marketability is what captures NASCAR’s attention. Don’t expect her to set the world on fire this weekend, but I do believe that she can get a good finish this weekend if she plays it cautiously for the first 180 laps.
