Category Archives: 2008 GSK Holiday Invitational

Reggie Bullock named first-team All-State

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Congratulations to Kinston High School junior guard Reggie Bullock, who collected 14 of 16 first-place votes to earn first-team All-State recognition by the Associated Press.

From the AP:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Kinston’s Reggie Bullock and West Charlotte’s Christal Caldwell were the leading vote-getters on The Associated Press All-State prep basketball teams for North Carolina.Bullock was a first-team pick on 14 of 16 ballots and earned 30 points in voting by sports writers across the state in results released Wednesday. The 6-foot-7 junior has committed to North Carolina and averaged 23 points per game.

The 2008-09 Associated Press All-State prep basketball teams for North Carolina, as selected by 16 sports writers across the state. With school, number of points in parentheses, height, position and class:

MEN

FIRST TEAM

Reggie Bullock, Kinston (30), 6-7, G, Jr.

C.J. Harris, Winston-Salem Mt. Tabor (28), 6-3, G, Sr.

John Wall, Raleigh Word of God (24), 6-4, PG, Sr.

Ryan Kelly, Raleigh Ravenscroft (20), 6-10, F, Sr.

J.T. Terrell, Burlington Cummings (20), 6-3, G, Jr.

SECOND TEAM

Ian Miller, Charlotte United Faith (18), 6-3, G, Jr.

Eric Mayo, Shelby (12), 6-4, F, Sr.

Mason Plumlee, Arden Christ School (11), 6-11, F, Sr.

Aaron Toomey, Kernersville McGuinness (8), 6-1, PG, Jr.

Akeem Richmond, Southern Lee (7), 6-2, G, Sr.

A postscript: Of the 10 players on the All-State team, five played in the 2008 GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational: Bullock, Wall and Kelly on the first team, along with Plumlee and Richmond on the second team. The GSK is — without a doubt — the best holiday invitational in the state (and maybe even the Southeast).

Webb Wellman’s GSK video

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Arendell Parrott Academy Class of 2005 graduate Webb Wellman has produced an outstanding video of highlights from the 2008 GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational:

My take: I just watched it and was highly impressed. My only beef (and it’s a small one) is that too much time was dedicated at the beginning to the pre-game chants by the teams.

However, that’s my only complaint. The dunks he captured are awesome. And you have to appreciate how much time Webb put into this; sure, the video is only 3 minutes and 22 seconds long, but he had to be at more than 10 or 11 games to capture each of those.

And to edit all those down to just 3:22 is a lot of work.

Great work, Webb! Can’t wait to see more of your work in the future.

Talkin’ Sports with Gattis Hodges

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If you’re in or around the Murfreesboro or Roanoke Rapids area, I know you’re familiar with Gattis Hodges’ sports talk show, which airs on WDLZ 98.3-FM in Murfreesboro and on WCBT 1230-AM in Roanoke Rapids.

I had the opportunity to be a guest on his show for this week’s edition, which will air at 5 p.m. on Thursday. In the taped segment I was on, we discussed the 2008 GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational, along with prep basketball and prep football throughout North Carolina.

If you get a chance, listen to it. Gattis does a fantastic job of sportscasting and sports talk radio in Northeast N.C., and it was an honor to be on his show again.

Morning News Report; Jan. 5, 2009 (or, What I did on Christmas vacation)

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I’ll return to the regular MNR tomorrow; today, I decided to use this space today for a selfish version of “What I did over my Christmas vacation.” I’ve been away from The Free Press offices since Dec. 24, so imagine my surprise that when I get back, the building is still standing.

I thought Jon Dawson was supposed to take care of that.

Anyhoo, here you go:

  • As you noticed, this became the official blog of the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational. It was an overwhelming success. Thanks to you and a bunch of new viewers, this blog received 16,962 page views from Dec. 26-30. That pushed the blog over 500,000 PVs for the first time in history — we finished with 501,377 PVs in 2008. THANK YOU to all of you who continued to hit “refresh” during the game updates. Also, special thanks to our good friend, J.T. Tribula, who provided — literally — second-by-second updates of the final two Kinston basketball games at the Glaxo, which generated several thousand PVs. No, I don’t receive any extra dinero for PVs, but it shows our parent organization (Freedom Communications) that a little ol’ blog from one of the smallest papers in its company can kick some ass (yes, I said it).
  • I also want to give serious props out to Jonathan Massey, who was my right-hand man in Raleigh throughout the tournament. I literally ran him to death throughout the tournament in my role as the media coordinator and he didn’t complain once (although I caught him hitting on N.C. State co-eds a couple of times).
  • There’s a Web site in Raleigh that is amazing — and it’s operated by two great guys. It’s High School OT.com, a site that is the baby of Nick Stevens and Tim Candon. The site specializes in everything HS sports in the Triangle. Hopefully, The Free Press’ own freepresspreps.com can raise its game to this level. Nick and Tim were at all 26 Glaxo games with me, taped every post-game press conference and were extremely helpful on 800 different levels. Nick invited me to tape a wrap of the tournament; you can see it by clicking here. A quick note: Nick is only 19! The kid has a bright, bright future ahead of him.
  • At the Glaxo, I also met Eastern, who is near the top of our little football pick ‘em contest. He’s a hell of a nice guy who helps run the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association. He lives in Northeastern N.C., and is very proud of the three NCISAA teams (Arden Christ, Raleigh Ravenscroft and Raleigh Word of God) who made it to the two Glaxo championship games.
  • Speaking of the Glaxo, I still have a few nuggets I may turn into a post soon, including records that were set, etc. Look for it in the next couple of days.
  • I also had a chance to see Friend of the Blog, COliver, at the Glaxo — the man who is currently leading the picks contest. Might be handing him a valuable prize package soon!
  • Speaking of COliver, I had my hand smacked by his mother, who said she does NOT approve of the ECOTD. I don’t know what her problem could be with it — we’re celebrating the beauty of women!
  • Speaking of the ECOTD, I have taken your advice and there WILL NOT be male ECOTDs. What the heck was I thinking?
  • This was, by far, the worst fantasy football season I’ve ever had. Not only did I not make the playoffs in the HBFL (which was won by our good friend, Drew Loftis), I also failed to make the playoffs in the infamous Kinston-based Walrus Football League, which is run by David Grimes of the Kinston/Lenoir County Parks and Recreation Department. I have played in the Walrus League every year since 2003, won the previous two championships (cha-ching!), finished as the runner-up the year before that and NEVER failed to make the playoffs. I finished 8-9 this year and basically stunk up the joint. The fantasy season (in which I played in four leagues, the lowest total in 10 years) wasn’t a complete wash, though — I won the title in a keeper league I’ve been in since 1995.
  • Celebrated New Year’s Eve at the RBC Center with 18,000 Carolina Hurricanes fans. I hadn’t been to a Canes game in a couple of years and I forgot how much fun watching them can be. Carolina beat Atlanta, 3-1. The Hot Blonde and I didn’t stick around for midnight to strike, though; it was a bit too crowded for us.
  • For the third time this season, I worked the PA at the Kinston-Rocky Mount game. It was a blast! My Western N.C. friend, Brian “Big Papa” Rushing, does it professionally for several organizations and I now see the rush he gets from it. It’s a lot of fun (except when you call Marquez Jones, Marquez Powell).

The iPod shuffle (which, thanks to the Hot Blonde’s sister, is now back up to 1,494 songs!)

Stronger — Kayne West

Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses — U2

Love Me Two Times — The Doors

Your Only Friends Are Make Believe — The Bloodhound Gang

Crazy For This Girl — Evan & Jaron

2008 GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational all-tournament teams

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Shavlik Randolph Foundation 8-team tournament:

Most Valuable Player: Mason Plumlee, Arden Christ School

Most Outstanding Player: John Wall, Raleigh Word of God

All-tournament (in alphabetical order):

Garrius Adams, Apex Middle Creek

Reggie Bullock, Kinston

Lakeem Jackson, Arden Christ School

Tyreak Johnson, St. Raymond (Bronx, N.Y.)

C.J. Leslie, Raleigh Word of God

Tashawn Mabry, Rocky Mount

Akeem Richmond, Southern Lee

Tom Tankelewicz, Apex Middle Creek

Summit Hospitality Group 8-team tournament:

Most Valuable Player: Lorenzo Brown, Centennial (Ga.)

Most Outstanding Player: Ryan Kelly, Raleigh Ravenscroft

All-tournament (in alphabetical order):

Luke Davis, Raleigh Ravenscroft

Nolan Dennis, Richland (Texas)

Weston Murphy, Apex

Josh Ogden, Father Henry Carr (Toronto)

Stanley Okoye, Knightdale

Adrian Rodgers, Centennial (Ga.)

Earnest Ross, Cary Panther Creek

Melvin Tabb, Raleigh Enloe

Girls’ GSK tournament:

Most Valuable Player: Brittany Morris, Raleigh Broughton

Most Outstanding Player: Asia Williams, Durham Hillside

All-tournament (in alphabetical order):

Erin Bratcher, Raleigh Ravenscroft

Lindsay Cowher, Raleigh Ravenscroft

Shala Hodges, Raleigh Enloe

Amber Nichols, Raleigh Broughton

Game 26 (tournament 1 championship) final: Arden Christ 76, Word of God 73

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End of first quarter: WOG 22, Christ School 11

Halftime: WOG 42, Christ School 35

Scoring leaders: WOG — John Wall 15, C.J. Leslie 11. Christ School — Mason Plumlee 13, Lucas Troutman 7, Lakeem Jackson 5.

Third quarter updates:

3:06 — WOG 49, Christ 48, Montel Baines hits a FT

2:47 — Christ 50, WOG 49, Marshall Plumlee hits two FTs

2:16 — Christ 52, WOG 49, Lakeem Jackson hits two FTs

1:42 — Christ 54, WOG 49, Mason Plumlee hits a drive

1:32 — WOG timeout

0:22.4 — Christ 57, WOG 53

End of third quarter: Christ 57, WOG 55

Fourth quarter updates:

7:51 — goaltending on WOG, Christ 59, WOG 55

7:35 — Christ 59, WOG 57

7:25 — Christ 61, WOG 57

6:24 — Christ 63, WOG 57, WOG timeout

6:06 — Christ 63, WOG 59

2:46 — Christ 68, WOG 65

1:56 — Christ 70, WOG 67, WOG timeout

1:26 — Christ 70, WOG 69

1:09 — Christ 71, WOG 71

0:39.4 — Christ 72, WOG 71 — Marshall Plumlee hits 1 of 2 FT; Christ timeout

0:32.4 — Christ 72, WOG 71 — Lakeem Jackson misses 2 FT

0:20 — WOG 73, Christ 72 — John Wall hits drive

0:14.8 — Christ 74, WOG 73 — Lucas Troutman gets basket on goaltend, Christ timeout

0:4.8 — Christ 74, WOG 73 — WOG misses drive, Christ ball, WOG timeout

0:03.5 — Christ 74, WOG 73 — Troutman fouled, going to line, WOG timeout

0:03.5 — Christ 76, WOG 73 — Troutman hits both FTs, WOG timeout

0:03.5 — Christ 76, WOG 73 — long downcourt pass is thrown away

FINAL: Christ School 76, WOG 73

Game 25 (tournament 2 championship): Centennial (Ga.) 72, Raleigh Ravenscroft 53

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Statistics and story coming up 

End of first quarter: Ravenscroft 17, Centennial 12

Halftime: Centennial 30, Ravenscroft 28

Scoring leaders: Centennial — Lorenzo Brown 14, Kamren Belin 6. Ravenscroft — Ryan Kelly 14, Matt Wilson 8.

End of third quarter: Centennial 53, Ravenscroft 41

For our new friend, Knightswin, here are scoring updates throughout the 4Q:

6:50 — C 55, R 41, basket by Adrian Rodgers

6:15 — C 56, R 41, Ravenscroft intentionally fouls Lorenzo Brown, he hits 1 of 2

5:34 — C 56, R 44, 3-pointer by Ryan Kelly

5:14 — C 58, R 44, follow basket by Brown

5:05 — Timeout, Centennial

4:44 — C 60, R 44, reverse by Jusitn Bradley

4:28 — C 60, R 46

4:10 — C 62, R 46, basket by Adrian Rodgers

3:35 — C 64, R 46, Lorenzo Brown layup

3:24 — C 64, R 48, Matt Wilson basket, timeout, Ravenscroft

1:20 — C 66, R 48, Rodgers two FT

1:00 — C 66, R 51

0:58 — C 68, R 51

0:46 — C 68, R 53

0:42 — C 70, R 53

0:36 — C 72, R 53

Final: Centennial 72, Ravenscroft 53

Game 24 (tournament 1 third-place), final Kinston 61, St. Raymond (N.Y.) 51

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Kinston finishes third in the Shavlik Randolph portion of the 2008 GSK.

For the game story, visit Kinston.com after midnight tonight (I will post the link here later).

St Raymond -  13   10   14    14  =   51

Kinston -          18     7    16    20 =   61

Box Score:

St. Raymond:  McBride 15, DeLarosa 10, Johnson 8, Whittingham 8, Johnson 6, Okoro 2, Pierce-Bias 2

Kinston:  Singleton 14, Bullock 13, Height 12, Jones 6, Hines 5, Best 5, Matthews 4, Benoit 2

Rebounds:  SR 27 (10 offensive), Kinston 24 (8 offensive)

Assists:  SR 5, Kinston 8

FT:  SR 14-27 (51.9%), Kinston 16-27 (59.3%)

3ptr:  SR 3-14 (21.4%), Kinston 3-8 (37.5%)

Very slow tempo game.  St. Raymond’s was very intentional to slow the game down.  Kinston looked great in their half-court offense.  Kinston did a much better job boxing out and crashing the boards.  St. Raymond was very tall, but only outrebounded Kinston by 3. 

Kinston will host Rocky Mount this Saturday.  Come out and support the Vikings!

Again — mucho gracias to J.T. Tribula for helping out with this game.

Starting Lineups: 

Kinston – Reggie Bullock, Dori Hines, Joshea Singleton, Marquez Jones, Dallas Best

St. Raymond – Harold McBride, Tyreak Johnson, Nkereuwem Okoro, Jatone Peirce-Bias, Amani Inniss

1st Quarter:

Tip Off:  Kinston wins the tip off.  Jones misses layup.

SR 15 ft. jumper.   SR 2, K 0.

Dallas Best fouled on the low block.  Two free throws.  1st one is no good, 2nd one is good.  SR 2, K 1.

SR offensive rebound put back.

Jones back down on fastbreak layup.  SR 4, K 3.

SR 3ptr.  SR 7, K 3.

Dallas Best with 15 ft. jumper.  SR 7, K 5.

SR misses 3ptr, out of bounds ball to Kinston.  SR picks up man to man full court press.

Kinston breaks pressure, Dallas Best layup.  SR 7, K 7.

SR layup.  SR 9, K 7.

Bullock jumper with foot on the 3pt line.  SR 9, K 9.

SR turnover.  Kinston ball 5:07 left in 1st.

Joshea Singleton fouled going up for layup.  1st free throw is good, 2nd free throw is good.  Kinston takes the first lead of the game.  K 11, SR 9.

SR fouled going up for layup.  1st free throw is no good.  2nd one waived off for lane violation.  K 11, SR 9.

Singleton grabs offensive rebound and fouled going back up.  1st free throw is good.  2nd one is good.  K 13, SR 9.  3:34 left in 1st.

SR turnover, Kinston ball.  SR back in half court defense.

Benoit misses runner.  SR rebound.

SR fouled after grabbing an offense rebound.  1st free throw is no good.  2nd free is no good.

Marquez Jones strong to the basket with left hand layup.  K 15, SR 9.

SR gets ball down in low block, spin move good, fouled by Michael Tyson.  Free throw is good.  K 15, SR 12.

Mister Height misses 3ptr.  SR back down on fast break.  Ball blocked out of bounds.  SR throws over the top and fouled.  1st free throw is no good.  2nd one is good.  K 15, SR 13.  25 seconds left in 1st.

Mister Heigh banks in a 3ptr as the buzzard goes off.  K 18, SR 13.

Quick Analysis:  SR struggling from free throw line.  So far game has been a half court game.  Hardly any points off fastbreaks.

2nd Quarter:

SR misses baseline jumper and Kinston turns the ball over pushing the tempo.

Benoit with a steal, Kinston back down the court fast.   Turnover, SR layup and fouled.  Free throw is good.  K 18, SR 16, 6:42 left in half.

Illegal screen on Kinston’s Joshea Singleton. 

SR trys to throw ball over the top and throws it out of bounds.

Kinston walks ball up court and Mister Height hits 3ptr baseline.  K 21, SR 16.  5:50 left in half.

SR calls a timeout.  5:27 left in half.

SR misses 10 foot shot.  Kinston back down the court in half court offense.  Travel called on Mister Height.

SR with nice layup after a nice penetration dish.  K 21, SR 18.

Joshea Singleton misses 18 ftr, SR back down on break and gets fouled.  SR shooting one and one.  1st free throw is good.  2nd free throw is good.  K 21, SR 20.  3:44 left in half.

Jones misses 15 ftr, Bullock crashes boards and gets easy layup.  K 23, SR 20.

SR turns ball over.  Bullock misses 3ptr.  SR misses 5 ftr, ball out to Kinston.  2:29 left in half.

Dallas Best with strong move but misses layup. 

SR misses 3 ptr but gets the weakside offensive rebound.  SR fouled shooting two shots.  1st free throw is good, 2nd free throw is no good.  K 23, SR 21.  1:44 left in half.

Bullock misses 10 ftr.  SR misses a couple of easy opportunities as does Kinston on the other end of the court.

SR back down with easy layup and fouled.  Free throw is no good.  Kinston rebound.  Bullock gives ball up to Matthews for layup.  K 25, SR 23. 

Good defense by Matthews and SR throws up a prayer that is no good.  At the half K 25, SR 23.  Stats to follow.

Halftime Stats:

Scoring Summary: 

SR – DeLarosa 6, McBride 5, Whittingham 5, Johnson 3, Okoro 2, Johnson 2.

K – Mister Height 6, Dallas Best 5, Reggie Bullock 4, Joshea Singleton 4, Marquez Jones 4, Darnell Matthews 2.

Rebounds:  SR 12 (4 offensive), Kinston 10 (4 offensive). 

Assists:  SR 3, Kinston 4.

Steals:  SR 3, Kinston 1.

Team Fouls:  SR 4, Kinston 8.

Free Throws:  SR 6-13 (46.2%), K 5-6 (83.3%)

3ptrs:  SR 1-5 (20%), K 2-5 (40%)

3rd Quarter:

Dallas Best turnover and fouls SR player on the other end of court.  1st free throw is good.  2nd free throw is good.  Tie game at 25.

Jones blocked taking it to hole.  SR back down with easy layup.  SR takes the lead for the first time since early 1st quarter.

Singleton layup.  Tie game at 27.

SR 10ft shot.  SR 29, K 27.

Illegal pick called on Dallas Best.

Bullock steal and passes up to Singleton for left handed layup and gets fouled.  Free throw is no good. Tie game at 29.

SR with offensive rebound put back.  SR 31, K 29.

Dori Hines misses left hand reverse layup. 

SR misses 3ptr. 

Jones misses layup but gets his own rebound and put back is good.  Tie game at 31.

SR turnover.  Bullock’s fourth shot of the game is good from 18 ft.  K 33, SR 31.  4:00 left in 3rd.

Jones turnover, SR down with layup.  Tie game at 33.

Singleton misses 5 ftr.

SR down with another layup.  SR 35, K 33.

Singleton baseline drive is fouled.  1st free throw is good, 2nd free throw is good.  Tie game at 35.  2:35 left in game.

SR fouled going to the rim.  Foul on Bullock, his first.  1st free throw is good.  2nd free throw is no good.  Bullock rebound.  SR up one 36 to 35.

Kinston misses jumper, SR back down and once again fouled.  Benoit called for the personal.  Gulledge calls a timeout.  2:01 left in 3rd.

1st free throw is good.  2nd free throw is no good.  SR 37, K 35.

Kinston turnover, SR misses 2 wide open layups. 

Matthews with rebound and strong put back over their center.  Tie game at 37.

Matthews steals and Hines fouled while driving.  Hines misses both free throws. 

Height makes 3ptr and fouled.  Free throw is good for 4 point play.  K 41, SR 37.

SR misses runner. 

Hines misses spin fade away jumper and Benoit desperation 3 at the buzzer is no good.  K 41, SR 37.

4th Quarter:

SR turnover.

Bullock fouled on baseline move.  1st free throw is good.  2nd free throw is good.  K 43, SR 37.

Kinston gets in their zone full court press forces a turnover. 

Hines with layup and fouled.  Free throw is no good.  Kinston gets offensive rebound, Matthews misses 15 ftr.  K 45, SR 37.

SR airballs 3ptr.

SR calls timeout with 6:11 in game.  K 45, SR 37.

Kinston offensive rebound and turnover.  SR called for illegal pick on inbounds play.

Benoit misses front end of one and one.

Singleton forces jump ball on SR’s center.  Possession arrow to Kinston.  5:33 left in game.

Turnover on Kinston. 

SR fouled and makes both free throws.  K 45, SR 39.

Another turnover by Kinston.  SR fouled shooting.  1st free throw good, 2nd one is no good.  K 45, SR 40.

Bullock fouled and basket is good.  Free throw is good.  K 48, SR 40.

SR layup.  K 48, SR 42.

Singleton layup.  K 50, SR 42.

SR 3 ptr.  K 50, SR 45, Timeout SR.

Singleton penetrates and kicks to Bullock for easy layup.  K 52, SR 45.

SR to the line for two shots.  1st free throw is no good.  2nd free throw is no good.  Bullock rebound.

Hines with a nice drive and 5 ft pull up jumper that is good.  K 54, SR 45.  2:20 left in game.

SR to the line and makes one free throw. 

Height with 2ptr jumper.  K 56, SR 46.

SR hits a long three.  K 56, SR 49.  1:34 left in game.

Bullock fouled and misses both free throws.  1:15 left in game.

Hines misses both free throws. 

SR misses 3ptr, Hines grabs the rebound and fouled.  1st free throw is no good.  2nd free throw is good.  K 57, SR 49.  55 seconds left in game.

SR misses shot and ball goes out of bounds.  Kinston ball.

Singelton fouled.  1st free throw is good.  2nd free throw is good.  Kinston 59, SR 49.  30 seconds left in game. 

SR easy layup.  K 59, SR 51.

Benoit fouled.  1st free throw is good.  2nd free throw is good.  K 61, SR 51.

SR turnover and Bullock runs out the clock.  Kinston 61, St. Raymond 51.

Kinston wins 3rd place in the Shavlik Randolph tournament.  Stats will follow!

Game 23 (girls’ championship): Raleigh Broughton 63, Durham Hillside 58

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Statistics and story coming soon 

End of first quarter: Broughton 16, Hillside 15

Halftime: Broughton 37, Hillside 29

Scoring leaders: Broughton — Brittany Morris 9, Amber Nichols 8, Jolanda Mitchell 8. Hillside — Asia Williams 12, Morgan McGee 6, Erin Neal 5.

End of third quarter: Broughton 48, Hillside 46

Final: Broughton 63, Hillside 58