By Staff
Commentary by KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
Some former area coaches are doing some pretty special things with new teams these days.
Former Plymouth High School head basketball coach Chris Cherry is enjoying success with the Southern Lee Cavaliers. Cherry has his Cavaliers playing extremely well as they lead the Class 3-A Cape Fear Valley Conference with an 8-1 record.
Cherry’s team is 13-4 overall and is poised to make some noise in this year’s state tournament. I know the team is young this year, so Cherry could have a solid group for years to come.
Another old friend is doing well with his new basketball team. Jason Smith, the previous head coach at Washington High School, is now the head basketball coach with the Chester Cyclones in South Carolina.
Smith, the son of coaching legend Dave Smith and a former standout basketball player at Memphis, had his team off to a 9-5 start. That includes a 4-4 slate in conference game.
Calvin Daniels, who is Washington High School’s all-time leading scorer in basketball, is up to his old tricks with the New Horizon Academy Warriors in Virginia.
Daniels led his team with 22 points in a 102-95 overtime setback to Massanutten Military Academy in his most recent game.
A couple weeks ago, Daniels erupted for 34 points in a 94-91 loss to George Washington High School.
The Warriors are 16-6. Daniels and his club will be playing in Wilson on Feb. 9 against Charis Prep. Charis Prep features Washington’s Joe Davis.
Moving over to football, a former area coach has found a new home.
Donnie Kiefer, who used to be the head football coach at Roanoke High School, accepted the same position at Tuscola High School.
The Mountaineers are getting a good one.
By The Numbers
A reader wanted to know the difference between a 1-A school and a 3-A school based on my story that Washington and Northside were going to renew their football rivalry.
Classifications are based on the number of students who are enrolled at each school. The more students enrolled, the bigger the school.
Classifications are based on a certain number. All the NCHSAA schools in our coverage area are 1-A with the exception of Washington, which is a 3-A member. There are 1,117 students enrolled at Washington.
Conversely, there are only 512 students enrolled at Northside.
Among the 1-A schools in our coverage area and their enrollment figures are Southside (558), Williamston (546), Plymouth (522), Roanoke (346), Columbia (204), Mattamuskeet (200), Jamesville (187) and Creswell (94).
By The Numbers II
Check out the top of the scoreboard for the latest Coastal Conference basketball standings. We have a few teams in the Atlantic and Tideland, but all schools don’t report their scores.
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Kevin Travis is the Sports Editor of the Washington Daily News. You may reach him at 940-4217 or by email at Kevin@wdnweb.com.