Gallagher column: State championship notes 'n' quotes

Salisbury's Andrew Mitchell takes a timeout during game with Newton Conover in the Western Regional Finals. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Getting ready for Salisbury's state championship game ....Salisbury Hornet fans should stay in their seats after Saturday's 2A state championship girls game is finished at N.C. State's Reynolds Coliseum.

There are potentially three entertaining matchups to follow.

Salisbury (28-0) starts the day at noon when it faces off against another unbeaten team in East Bladen (28-0).

Hornets' coach Andrew Mitchell said his team is leaving at 6:45 a.m. on Saturday. The team will stop in Burlington for breakfast.

Mitchell has no problem with an early start.

"We played an early game last year," said Mitchell, who would rather play first.

"You wake up fresh," he said. "You don't have to sit around all day."

The other three championship games at Reynolds:

- If you're a Tar Heel fan, the 2:30 p.m. 2A boys matchup between Kinston (27-4) and West Caldwell (27-2) is for you.

Kinston features North Carolina recruit Reggie Bullock, a 6-foot-7 forward who averages 28 points and 11 rebounds. He is a McDonald's All-American.

Bullock, the Eastern Regional MVP, had 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the final against Clinton.

- Four undefeated teams will play in Reynolds. Besides Salisbury and East Bladen's girls, the 4A girls game will pit Green Hope (31-0) against Butler (24-4).

Butler was going to play Salisbury earlier in the year but that contest was canceled due to bad weather.

"They lost a game for whatever reason and their coach called," Mitchell said. "She wanted to be challenged. Everybody wanted that game."

At 5 p.m., Hornet fans can see what they missed.

Butler is coached by, appropriately enough, Stephanie Butler.

- Even the final game of the evening, the 7:30 clash of 4A boys, has a familiar name. Lake Norman (25-3) played against West, South and East Rowan, as well as Carson, in the 3A North Piedmont Conference before realignment sent the Wildcats to 4A.

Lake Norman will meet yet another unbeaten squad in 31-0 Terry Sanford out of Fayetteville.

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The other four matchups will be in the Smith Center in Chapel Hill:

Noon, 1A girls: Williamston (29-0) vs. Bishop McGuinness (22-7).

2:30, 1A boys: Goldsboro (23-7) vs. Monroe (31-1).

5, 3A girls: South Central (28-4) vs. Forestview (26-2).

7:30, 3A boys: Rocky Mount (23-3) vs. Concord (25-6).

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Howard Platt and The Coach, Bob Parker, will broadcast Salisbury's noon game on WSTP 1490 AM.

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A preview of the Salisbury-East Bladen matchup will appear in Saturday morning's Post.

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If Salisbury wins, it will be the third time since 1986 that Rowan County has celebrated back-to-back state championships.

- In 1986, Mitchell's alma mater North Rowan (29-2) beat Ayden Grifton 74-69. Antoine Sifford scored 25, Jimmy Kesler 20 and MVP Ralph Kitley 17, with 14 rebounds.

In 1987, Salisbury beat Farmville Central 63-45 to finish 30-2. Fred Campbell had 22 points and Brian Withers 20.

- In 2002 and 2003, West's boys won 61 straight, beating Parkland 80-68 in 2002 to finish 30-0. Donte Minter scored 29 with a broken wrist.

In 2003, MVP Junior Hairston scored 22 points and Phillip Williams 20 in a 72-57 win against Goldsboro to finish 31-0.

- And don't forget 1997 when Bobby Shipwash coached West to a 79-67 win against Wallace Rose-Hill. That's the night a freshman named Scooter Sherrill set a Smith Center record for prep players with 25 second-half points. He had 29 for the game.

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This is the 96th edition of the state championships for boys and the 39th for the girls.

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There are 16 teams and 14 nicknames in the state championships, including two Falcons and two Bulldogs.

There are also Hornets, Eagles, Vikings, Warriors, Wildcats, Tigers, Villians, Cougars, Redhawks, Gryphons, Jaguars and Spiders.

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Bishop McGuinness is in its fifth straight title game.

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The best player you've never heard of: Williamston's Katie Paschal. The 5-8 guard has scored over 3,000 points.

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Concord coach Scott Brewer was an assistant at Catawba when Carson coach Brian Perry (East Rowan) played there.

Speaking of Brewer, he won the state 3A title in 2000 at Central Cabarrus. His team beat West Rowan in the Western final.

Speaking of Concord, this is the third time in five years the Spiders have made it this far. Along the way, they defeated East Rowan 89-50, Salisbury 97-89 and West Rowan in the Western final 67-63.

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This is Goldsboro's first trip back to a final since 2003 when it lost the 3A title to West Rowan.

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Phil Ford had to move over this season.

The North Carolina legend saw his scoring record at Rocky Mount shattered by Tashawn Mabry, who scored 37 in the East Regional final. He'll play in the North-South All-Star game.

It's up to Brewer to come up with a plan to stop him.

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And finally, some notes ...

No noisemakers, banners, streamers, body paint, placards, confetti, thunder sticks and signs will be allowed inside the arena. ... Tickets are $10 at the door. It's good for all four games. ... Ticket windows open at 10:30 a.m. ... Directions to Reynolds Coliseum can be found on nchsaa.org.