Monday isn't a normal playing day for the Reagan boys, and Coach Howard West knows that it showed during the first round of the NCHSAA 4-A basketball playoffs.
West said that his team struggled to find any intensity in a 65-51 win over Southwest Guilford. But the Raiders did find a way to win and advance.
Reagan (20-3) will be at home tonight against High Point Central (13-11) in the second round of the 4-A West Sectional 2 tournament.
Thirty other teams from Northwest North Carolina also won first-round games and will play semifinals tonight. The winners will advance to Friday's sectional finals to play for spots in next week's regional tournaments.
Reagan won a difficult game against Mount Tabor last Friday to lock up the Central Piedmont 4-A Tournament title and the conference's No. 1 playoff seed, then went into Monday's game with a bit of a hangover.
"We were emotionally not into the same area we were Friday night when we had to execute each possession," West said. "We were kind of in a ‘blah' atmosphere and attitude. Monday is not a day we normally play on, but for whatever reason, the (NCHSAA) wanted everyone to play Monday after having Sunday off."
West said he was going to do some scouting on High Point Central yesterday.
"Right now, and it's been this way pretty much for a long time now, I don't concern myself a lot with who has what, who doesn't have what," West said. "I like to get a visual on a team, how their kids move, whether or not they play together and compete. And after that, we will do what we do, and if they stop it, they will have a chance to beat us."
Elsewhere, the Bishop McGuinness' boys will play East Surry -- a Northwest 2-A/1-A rival -- for the third time this season in a second-round Class 1-A game.
McGuinness defeated Bessemer City 73-57 in its opener, and Aaron Toomey played a big role, pouring in 49 points and personally outscoring Bessemer City 25-22 in the fourth quarter.
"He scored more points in a quarter than I ever scored in a high-school game," Coach Josh Thompson of McGuinness said. "He definitely doesn't want his season to be over, definitely not in the first round at home.
"And the thing about Aaron, he is just a winner. (On Monday) he got into the game and had some issues going on with his stomach and asked to come out two or three times, and he never does that. He was worn out and looked under the weather.
"But he found a way to put us on his back."
McGuinness beat East Surry twice in the regular season, but Thompson said both games were close and hard-fought. East (12-12) made the playoffs as a wild card but announced its presence loudly, winning 76-74 in double overtime at North Rowan, a No. 1 seed.
"They know us well, and we know them well, and we expect it to be another close game," Thompson said. "They are definitely going to have some momentum coming off that win over North Rowan. East was a wild card so that speaks to the strength of our league."
The McGuinness' girls, four-time Class 1-A state champions, will have a tough road game at Chatham Central (23-4), and the Mount Tabor boys and girls will face difficult 4-A games at Greensboro Dudley. The Mount Tabor boys are the defending Class 4-A state champions.
Carver had both teams advance in Class 2-A, and both won. The Carver girls (21-4) will be at home tonight against North Stanly (25-3), and the Carver boys (14-12) will play at Lexington (13-13).
mlinker@wsjournal.com
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