THE GREAT ONE’S STATE TITLE RECAP AND YEARLY FAREWELL

Greetings HS hoops junkies from across the bracket-filling-out piedmont. The Sadster is here to recap the NC state playoff season and bid his customary farewell to the season. This year the state playoffs gave us many exciting moments and Cinderella stories, but all good things must come to an end. The Sadster stumbled to a 2-2 mark in the state finals bringing his record to 149-39, or 80%. Although 80% is a dream for all other prognosticators, The Great One underachieved by his standards in this year’s playoffs thanks to a handful of upsets in the 1A, 3A and the 3rd round carnage of the 4A west brackets. However, the Sad One had a great time as usual and will hold himself to a higher standard next year! Since he forgot to this year, he will also remember to polish the ol’ cubic zirconia ball (can’t afford crystal) after the 3rd round to eliminate any misreadings of results. We will now recap the state finals……. In the 1A, Bishop McGuinness outlasted Henderson collegiate, 55-54 behind MVP Andrew Budzinski’s 23 points. An injury to Henderson Collegiate star Kameron Brooks in the 2nd quarter aided the effort as Brooks had scored 11 points already, but teams of destiny tend to get breaks like that. The Cinderella slipper fit for Bishop McGuinness as their last 4 games in the tournament were decided by an average of 2 points each. What a memorable run for the Villains that resembled Charlotte Catholic’s improbable 2016 title! In the 2A, Farmville Central completed a 32-0 undefeated season by denying Forest Hills a back-to-back championship, 86-71. Justin Wright collected MVP honors for Farmville as their average margin of victory in the tournament was 27 points per game. In the 3A, wrecking machine SW Guilford completed a historic 32-0 season of their own by outlasting Walter Williams, 67-60. Keyshaun Langley garnished MVP honors and also ended his career with 2 rings. The Cowboys had an average margin of victory per game of 31 points, which is one of the more dominating performances The Great One has ever seen in the state playoffs. In the 4A, South Central found an emphatic answer to West Charlotte’s and future Seminole Patrick “The Question” Williams in UNC bound Day’Ron Sharpe. Sharpe collected MVP honors as the juggernaut Falcons blew out the Lions 72 – 46, giving them an average victory margin of 27 points per game………..

There you have it folks! We must now say Adios to the 2018-19 season and move on to a new set of issues…. Can Zion lead Duke to the Promised Land, can the Dubs win another ring and can the Red Sox repeat' We’ll find out these things in the natural course of time and although the 2019-20 season is 8 months away, The Amazing One may pop up with a review of an AAU tourney or a summer camp. However, you can rest assured that when you’re putting away the Halloween decorations and God is applying His paintbrush to the landscape, The Sadster will be burning the midnight oil with the ol’ cubic zirconia ball (can’t afford crystal) to give a clear path to what will transpire in the coming season. The Incredible One will now wrap up the season with his customary blessing,……..God bless, and may all of your long putts fall “in the leather”.