By By KEVIN TRAVIS
Sports Editor
The jump ball for the Washington Daily News’ annual basketball tournament came 30 years ago.
Washington, Pantego, West Craven and New Bern comprised the field for the first tournament, held Dec. 29-30, 1980.
Basketballs have continued to bounce during tournament play over the next three decades, leading up to the 30th annual WDN/PotashCorp Aurora Holiday Tournament, which tips off tonight at Northside High School. The field for this year’s tournament are Northside, Southside, Washington, Terra Ceia, Mattamuskeet, Creswell, Pamlico, East Carteret, South Central, Stevens Prep and The Miller School.
Keith Boyd, Northside High School’s athletic director and the tournament director, is expecting a good show.
“I think it will be very competitive,” Boyd said. “I think this is good for our area.”
The tournament begins with tonight’s Showcase game pitting The Miller School against Stevens Prep Academy. Action really heats up with five games Saturday, including the Showcase game featuring The Miller School taking on South Central. The tournament continues with games on Monday and Tuesday.
Mike Proctor, the basketball coach for the Northside Panthers, is thrilled that his school can play host to the tournament.
“I think it’s an honor to host the tournament, and to bring in the Showcase teams,” Proctor said. “We take pride in our gym, the school and the community and it’s a good way to show it off.
“We wouldn’t be able to do this without the help from Keith, the booster club and the administration.”
TICKETS/CONCESSION
The Miller School and Stevens Prep will tip off at approximately 9 p.m., following tonight’s regular-season game between Northside and Perquimans. Ticket prices are $5 at the door.
On Saturday, ticket prices will be $7 because of the five games being played. Ticket prices for Monday’s and Tuesday’s games will be $6.
No booster club passes will be accepted. If you leave the building, you must repay to enter again.
Boyd said there will be plenty of food available at the games, including pizza, hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and candy.
THE MATCHUPS
FRIDAY’S GAME
The Miller School Mavericks (3-1) take on the Stevens Prep Academy Golden Griffins (9-4) in tonight’s Showcase game.
Scott Willard, the first-year coach for the Mavericks, is looking forward to the tournament.
“It will be a good measure of our toughness,” Willard said. “They will have some time off after the holidays, so we are just going to play hard against two very good teams and use this as a learning experience.”
Miller is led by local star Mychal Parker (25.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.0 apg), Hippolyte Tsafack (13.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and Brice Kofane (15.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.0 bpg).
The Golden Griffins, who won the Pamlico Christmas Tournament championship earlier this week, are led by Chris Hill (30.0 ppg, 13.0 rpg, 5.0 apg, 4.0 bpg), Kevin Adams (17.5 ppg, 5.5 apg) and Jamal Williams (16.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg).
“We are just going to go hard all week,” Stevens Prep coach Darryl Harris said. “We are very excited to get there and play. We expect a really tough game from (The Miller School) and we will just try to go out and play hard.”
SATURDAY’S GAMES
MATTAMUSKEET-TERRA CEIA
The Mattamuskeet Lakers (4-3) and Terra Ceia Knights (6-3) will tip off the action Saturday at 1 p.m.
Davonte Green (18.0 ppg), David Grays (15.0 ppg), Emauri Byrd (13.5 ppg), Saquon Cunningham (13.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg) are players to watch for the Lakers, who are coming off a 50-46 loss to Creswell that snapped a three-game winning streak.
“We’re looking to play as many games as possible,” Mattamuskeet coach Melvin Blount said. “We’re looking to improve and, hopefully, get some wins.”
Blount isn’t exactly pleased with how his team has played thus far in the season.
“I’m a little disappointed,” Blount said. “We have six seniors on the team and I’ve been a little disappointed in the leadership. We’re making a lot of mental mistakes that you shouldn’t make with so many seniors.”
The Knights, led by the likes of Justin Lilley, Kiam Boerema, Thaddeus Van Essendelft and Blake Butcher, are looking to snap a three-game losing streak after winning their first six games of the season.
“We’re going in there (to the tournament) feeling like we have a shot (to win it),” Terra Ceia coach Roger Klaassen said. “The kids just have to step up to the challenge.”
PAMLICO-CRESWELL
The Pamlico Hurricanes (4-4), the defending WDN tournament champions, faces the Creswell Tigers (3-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Coach Earl Sadler’s Hurricanes are coming off a 78-64 loss to Stevens Prep in the championship game of the Pamlico Christmas Tournament. Anthony McCray pumped in a career-high 27 points in the loss. Shane Whitfield added 20 points for the Hurricanes.
“We’re expecting it to be a good tournament,” Pamlico assistant coach Calvin Campbell said. “We’re looking to get better every day. I think we’re doing pretty good right now, but we’re a young team. We have a lot of highs and lows.
“We’re looking forward to the tournament. It’s something we look forward to each year.”
Coach Wayne Rodgers is seeing balance out of his Tigers. The team is led by Danvonte Phelps (11.6 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.2 bpg), Justin Phelps (10.6 ppg), Garry Blount (9.6 ppg), Jaquan Bryant (6.5 ppg) and Xavier Owens (3.2 ppg).
SOUTHSIDE-WASHINGTON
The Southside Seahawks (2-4) and Washington Pam Pack (4-4) meet in the 4 p.m. game Saturday. The Pack won both games against the Seahawks earlier in the season, 69-64 at Washington and 62-60 at Southside.
Southside, which plays at Manteo tonight, is coming off a 61-50 loss to Camden to snap a modest two-game winning streak.
“On a scale of 1-10, I think we’re playing at a 4 for our potential,” Southside coach Dwayne White said. “We’re getting better. We’re trying to put in our presses, work on our chemistry and our defense has to pick it up.”
White said his Seahawks, led by Curtis Myers (12.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.5 spg), Willie Ruffin (10.3 ppg), Lonnie Williams (9.3 ppg), Jordan Benston (9.0 ppg) and Tony Grice (6.7 ppg, 2.3 bpg), are looking to bring home the trophy.
“If we’re in it, we’re trying to win it,” White said.
Washington is coming off it most impressive performance of the season, taking a 79-58 win over Greene Central to snap a two-game skid. Coach Joe Lawrence, whose team plays at Havelock tonight, said wining the tournament would be nice, but his Pam Pack is taking the one-game-at-a-time approach.
“The only thing we talk about is the next game we’re about to play,” Lawrence said. “We just want to get better each game.”
Leading the way for Washington is Taraja Langley (18.3 ppg, 5.6 apg), Brandon Tripp (14.8 ppg, 10.6 rpg), Chris Albritton (12.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg), Lindsey Harris (8.8 ppg, 2.0 apg) and Ridge Hodges (8.0 ppg).
NORTHSIDE-EAST CARTERET
The Northside Panthers (3-4) battle the East Carteret Mariners (2-3) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Northside coach Mike Proctor, whose team plays host to Perquimans tonight, is hoping the homecourt advantage will benefit his team.
“We just want to keep getting better,” Proctor said. “The players are starting to step up, which is good. Overall, we are playing really hard and good.
“These guys are very unselfish. I don’t remember a team that has worked so hard.”
Isiah McCullor (14.2 ppg), Nathan Cahoon (8.7 ppg), Damount Harvey (8.3 ppg), Calvin Cox (8.2 ppg) and Taylor Woolard (6.7 ppg) lead the Panthers.
East Carteret coach Billy Anderson said his players will give their all in the tournament.
“We’re scrappy and we play hard,” Anderson said. “The goal is to just compete and play hard. We’re looking forward to it. Coach Proctor always does a good job of it, and I’ve always been impressed with the tournament.”
The Mariners, who have battled everything from broken noses to the flu to a death in the family this year, made it to the championship game two years ago, where they lost to Terra Ceia.
Matt Collins, Tre Godette and Christian Lewis pace the Mariners.
THE MILLER SCHOOL-SOUTH CENTRAL
The Miller School (3-1) and South Central Falcons (7-0) will close out Saturday’s play with this 7 p.m. Showcase game.
Coach Chris Cherry, in his first year at South Central, is no stranger to the tournament. He guided the Plymouth Vikings to tournament championships in 2006, 2002 and 2001, along with runner-up finishes in 2005, 2004 and 2003.
“I expect our team to play hard and compete no matter who we play,” Cherry said. “We have some good players, too. We will use this game to see where we are at.”
The Falcons are led by Donta Harper (19.6 ppg, 3.9 apg), James Carlton (13.6 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 3.4 bpg), Anthony Hilliard (10.0 ppg), Cameron Garrison (8.2 ppg) and Josh Tatum (7.8 rpg, 2.1 bpg).
PAST CHAMPIONS
2008 Pamlico (over Washington)
2007 Terra Ceia (over East Carteret)
2006 Plymouth (over Washington)
2005 Washington (over Plymouth)
2004 Washington (over Plymouth)
2003 Northern Vance (over Plymouth)
2002 Plymouth (over Pamlico)
2001 Plymouth (over Northern Vance)
30th Annual Washington Daily News/PotashCorp Aurora Holiday Tournament
Northside High School
Ticket prices:
$5 on Friday
$7 on Saturday
$6 on Monday
$6 on Tuesday
Game Schedule
Friday, Dec. 18
Showcase Game
9 p.m. – Miller School (Va.) vs. Stevens Prep Academy
Saturday, Dec. 19
1 p.m. – Mattamuskeet vs. Terra Ceia
2:30 p.m. – Pamlico vs. Creswell
4 p.m. – Southside vs. Washington
5:30 p.m. – Northside vs. East Carteret
Showcase Game
7 p.m. – Miller School (Va.) vs. South Central
Monday, Dec. 21
2:30 p.m. – TBA
4 p.m. – TBA
5:30 p.m. – TBA
7 p.m. – TBA
Tuesday, Dec. 22
2:30 p.m. – TBA
4 p.m. – TBA
5:30 p.m. – TBA
7 p.m. – TBA
Showcase Teams
Miller School (Va.) Mavericks – coach Scott Willard
Stevens Prep Academy Golden Griffins – coach Darryl Harris
South Central Falcons – coach Chris Cherry
Tournament Teams
Northside Panthers – coach Mike Proctor, Class 1-A Four Rivers Conference
Southside Seahawks – coach Dwayne White, Class 1-A Four Rivers Conference
Washington Pam Pack – coach Joe Lawrence, Class 3-A Coastal Conference
Terra Ceia Knights – coach Roger Klaassen, NCISAA Class 1-A Tarheel Independent Conference
Mattamuskeet Lakers – coach Melvin Blount, Class 1-A Tideland Conference
Creswell Tigers – coach Wayne Rodgers, Class 1-A Tideland Conference
Pamlico Hurricanes – coach Earl Sadler Jr., Class 1-A Coastal Plains Conference
East Carteret Mariners – coach Billy Anderson, Class 1-A Coastal Plains Conference