A couple more photos from Tuesday night

The Hunt cheerleaders are at it again during a time-out.

The Golden Demons celebrate their first championship since 2005.

Congratulations to Fike for Classic sweep

The 33rd (31st for girls) Eastern Carolina Classic holiday basketball tournament concluded Tuesday night with a first, at least in my four-plus years at The Wilson Daily Times — a loss to a county rival by the Beddingfield girls.

The Lady Bruins were denied their fifth straight Classic title by Fike as the Lady Golden Demons won 57-50 to push their tournament-record championship total to 17. It was a sweet night for Fike as sensational senior Jeremy Atkinson led the Golden Demons to a 92-59 pounding of Hunt in the boys championship.

Atkinson finally won the Harvey Reid Jr. Memorial Award for boys MVP while Fike sophomore Leslie Finch (who won a national Punt, Pass and Kick championship three years ago) was saluted as the Eddie Summerlin Memorial Award recipient as the girls MVP.

Beddingfield thumped Greene Central 68-48 in the boys consolation meaning neither Greene Central team won a game this year. I wonder how many times that's happened.

Looks like the tournament came close to drawing 3,000 spectators based on my very unofficial estimate.

Here's another round of great photographs by Daily Times staff writer Ryan Bisesi.

Happy New Year!

A view of the scrumptious spread in the hospitality room reveals the outstanding preparation of tournament director Lee Matthews.

Beddingfield's Shaniqua Clay (11) and Fike's Tramicka James in action during the first half.

Nobody has the sideline intensity of Lady Bruins head coach Debra Pegram.

Smile, Leslie Finch! You've just been named the 2008 Eddie Summerlin Memorial Award winner!

Jeremy Atkinson brings the pain against Hunt and the rim in the Fike gym.

Second night of Classic is always fun

Maybe it's because the gym is usually a little less crowded but the middle night of the Eastern Carolina Classic holiday high school basketball tournament always seems more fun. Monday night at Fike for the 33rd Classic (31st for girls) certainly fit the bill.

I didn't get there in time to see Hunt beat Greene Central 42-25 in the girls consolation game but the boys semifinals matchup between Hunt and Beddingfield was well worth putting off my desk work for an hour or so. The Warriors went on an 18-0 spree in the third quarter to overcome a 17-point halftime deficit and turned the game into a tense, back-and-forth affair in the fourth quarter.

Play was sloppy at times, the officiating was lax at times and the decision-making was, well, horrible at times. But the game was pretty much as good as it gets in high school basketball. Fike's packed, sweaty gym reverberated with fans' reactions to the players' intensity. The kids were working so hard, knowing that a big play in front of a big Classic crowd was worth 10 times more than one during just about any other game.

Adding to the atmosphere was a battle between the cheerleaders as during many timeouts, one or two members of each squad would hit the floor for a series of somersaults that made me queasy just watching them spin. The Hunt cheerleaders clearly dominated here and they made sure their Beddingfield counterparts knew it.

It seems the Classic is back on good footing after a poor turnout at Hunt last year. The Wilson Daily Times (that's us) reported tickets sold through the first two nights in 2007 numbered around 1,300. Fike athletic director John Gay told me Monday night that around 1,162 were sold at Saturday's opening round and about 775 more for Monday's two games. Considering Fike's gym seats considerably less than Hunt's facility, that made for a great environment and I'm sure Tuesday will be as good, if not better.

Here are a few more outstanding photos from Monday night's action, taken by Daily Times staff writer Ryan Bisesi who also shot the images on my last blog entry.

Hunt girls head coach Quentin Rogers, right, gives senior Shantia Creech props as she comes off the floor against Greene Central.

The Warriors take the floor flanked by the Hunt cheerleaders.

Ken Spells, right, helps Beddingfield teammate Daquan Langston up. Spells had the right idea because Langston hit six 3-pointers for a game-high 23 points.

I thought this was a bad shot by Beddingfield senior Jermal Artis (22) but I couldn't see from the other end of the court that Hunt's Ahmad Young fouled him — as it appears here. But it wasn't called and the Warriors got the rebound.

Friends try to console Terrell Winstead, whose potential game-tying jumper was just short in the Bruins' 60-58 loss. Don't fret, Terrell, you'll get at least two more shots at the Warriors this season.

Classic off to a non-surprising start

The 33rd Eastern Carolina Classic holiday tournament (31st for girls) got off to a non-surprising start Saturday in the Fike gymnasium.

All the favorites won as the Beddingfield girls continued their recent domination with a 56-44 defeat of Hunt; the Fike girls continued their recent solid play with a 58-23 humbling of Greene Central and the Fike boys more or less cakewalked over winless Greene Central 73-42.

The best game of the tournament comes Monday night when the Hunt and Beddingfield boys tangle for the right to play Fike for the tourney crown. Both teams are contenders for the No. 2 spot in the 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference. I say No. 2 spot because I don't see anyone beating reigning conference and state champion Kinston, whose junior star Reggie Bullock was in Chapel Hill on Sunday night taking in the UNC-Rutgers game.

But back to the Classic, it continues to draw a big crowd, although the Fike gym limits the number of spectators that Hunt or Beddingfield see in the years they host. I still say the best place to play it is where it all began — Wilson Gymnasium on the Barton College campus. But that will not happen unless Barton offers its gym for free and, like I said, that will not happen.

Here are a few pics from Saturday's game. I'll have more here Monday night from the girls consolation game and the Hunt-Beddingfield boys semifinal.

Former Fike star and current Duke University running back Re'quan Boyette, center, watches the action.

Scheyler Jones of Fike (32) gets ready to can a jumper to put the Demons ahead by 30, so why won't Coach D sit down?

Leslie Finch of Fike brings the intensity as she tries to score between Shawan Daniels and Shonice Pettaway.

Beddingfield's Casey Elliott draws a bead on a 3-pointer.

GSK field includes Rocky Mount and Kinston this year

The Eastern Carolina Classic isn't the only holiday tournament going on in the area. The Nash County Christmas Tournament begins today at Nash Central while the Edgecombe County Christmas Classic will be played Saturday and Monday. The Johnston County North-South Christmas Tournament is scheduled to tip off Monday.

The biggest holiday basketball tournament is in Raleigh with the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational which runs from Friday to Tuesday at Broughton High School. Two teams that are well-known in these parts — Kinston and Rocky Mount — are in this year's boys tournament.

Here is the complete GSK schedule:


Schedule
The 2008 GSK Holiday Invitational Tournament will be held December 26-30 at Raleigh Broughton High School’s Holiday Gymnasium. Click here for tournament brackets and please see below for the tournament schedule:

Dec. 26
2:20 p.m. - Girls: Raleigh Enloe vs. Durham Hillside
4 p.m. - Girls: Raleigh Ravenscroft vs. Raleigh Broughton
5:40 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 2): Raleigh Enloe vs. Cary Panther Creek
7:20 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 2): Raleigh Ravenscroft vs. Apex
9 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): Raleigh Word of God vs. Rocky Mount

Dec. 27
11 a.m. - Boys (Tournament 2) Loser’s bracket semifinal, Enloe/Panther
Creek loser vs. Ravenscroft/Apex loser
12:40 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 2): Richland (North Richland Hills, Texas)
vs. Knightdale
2:20 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): North Mecklenburg vs. St.
Raymond (Bronx, NY)
4 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 2): Father Carr (Toronto, Ontario) vs. Centennial (Roswell,
Ga.)
5:40 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): Kinston vs. Southern Lee
7:20 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): Apex Middle Creek vs. Arden Christ School
9 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 2): Semifinal, Enloe/Panther Creek winner vs.
Ravenscroft/Apex winner

Dec. 29
11 a.m. - Girls: Third-place game
12:40 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 2): Loser’s bracket semifinal,
Richland/Knightdale loser vs. Father Carr/Centennial loser
2:20 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): Loser’s bracket semifinal, Word of
God/Rocky Mount loser vs. North Mecklenburg, St. Raymonds loser
4 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): Loser’s bracket semifinal, Kinston/Southern
Lee loser vs. Middle Creek/Christ School loser
5:40 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 2): Semifinal, Richland/Knightdale winner vs.
Father Carr/Centennial winner
7:20 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): Semifinal, Kinston/Southern Lee winner
vs. Middle Creek/Christ School winner
9 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): Semifinal, Word of God/Rocky Mount winner
vs. North Mecklenburg/St. Raymond winner

Dec. 30
11 a.m. - Boys (tournament 2): Fifth-place game
12:40 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): Fifth-place game
2:20 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 2): Third-place game
4 p.m. - Girls: Championship game
5:40 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 1): Third-place game
7:20 p.m. - Boys (Tournament 2): Championship