Greetings HS hoops junkies from across the NFL playoff watching Piedmont! The Great One began his inaugural GOTW schedule with North Meck visiting Chambers. This has always been an intense rivalry that has produced a few classics. This one would be no different as the Cougars jumped out to a 7-2 lead behind the shooting of Tarris Bouie and Marcus Kerr. Chadlyn Traylor and Ashton Pierce would rally the Vikings to only trail 19-17 at the end of the 1st quarter. The 2nd frame saw North Meck turn it up a notch as Traylor and Pierce heated up for 15 of the Vikings 21 points while holding the Cougars Dynamic Duo to just 6. With the score tied at 27, Traylor unleashed a monster jam down the lane and Pierce dropped a dime capping a North rally to take a 32-27 lead. Down 32-29, Chambers had two point-blank misses at the 1:42 mark and Kerr picked up his 3rd foul with:59.4 left in the half. The Vikings took a 38-31 lead to the locker room with Pierce leading the way with 18. The 3rd quarter saw Bouie and Kerr struggle with the Viking defense only managing 4 points combined but Malik McCotter kept the Cougars in the game with 10 points in the quarter. North Meck began to pull away and posted a 59-46 lead after an Alex White steal led to another Traylor bucket. The Vikings carried a 64-49 lead into the 4th quarter. Everyone knew the Cougars wouldn’t go quietly into the night at home and they didn’t disappoint. After North went up by 17, Chambers employed a press that produced turnovers on 4 out of 5 possessions as Kerr and Bouie went on a 7-0 run to cut it to 10. With the score at 68-60, an Exzavier Young slam put the Vikings back up by double digits but the Cougars weren’t done yet. With 1:48 left, a Kerr trey cut the lead to 70-65. After another Young layup, McCotter notched a trifecta of his own and a conventional three-point play which cut the lead to 74-73 setting up a fantastic finish. Greg Murray put the Vikings up 76-73 after making 2 free throws which set the stage for a final shot for Chambers to tie it. After a time-out, a play was ran for Kerr who was defended by Traylor and his shot missed to the right of the rim preserving first place in the QC 3A/4A standings for the Vikings. Pierce was the gamer in points with 25, Traylor also tallied 22 but the Player of the Game was Young who posted 21 points and 18 boards. Kerr paced Chambers with 22 and Bouie added 19. Malik McCotter scored 15, all in the 2nd half. The next Game of the Week is coming up as The Sadster will be going to Country Day on Friday 1/17 as the Buccaneers host the Hawks of Charlotte Latin in an age-old private school rivalry matchup. See you there!
SAD SAM – HS HOOPS GENIUS