Reidsville avenges last season's loss, beats Farmville Central in overtime in 2A championship
The sequel was just as good, if not better, than the original.
In overtime, Reidsville defeated Farmville Central 78-77 in a rematch of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A championship on Saturday to avenge last year's title-game loss.
- Box Score: Reidsville 78, Farmville Central 77
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Dionte Neal's driving layup put Reidsville up 78-77 with 17 seconds left in overtime, setting up a final Farmville Central timeout and a shot for the win. Farmville drove, kicked, and found an open shooter in the corner. But the shot didn't fall, and the Rams were the champs.
"I didn't want to lose," Neal said.
The two teams battled in their different-but-similarly-electrifying styles in front of approximately 7,000 fans -- they filled the lower bowl of Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum and hundreds more sat in the upper level.
"This time last year we were all sitting here dejected, defeated because we had lost to that same team," Reidsville coach Jason Ross said. "My guys have been saying all year this is the 'revenge tour' but I wouldn't call it a revenge tour. This was just young men who set a goal for themselves a year ago but they did what they had to do to meet that goal and did what they had to do and -- look at God."
To get to the extra period, it was Farmville's M.J. Williams who was the hero. He hit a 3 at the end of regulation that tied it at 70-all. Reidsville's attempt to beat the buzzer misfired.
In overtime, Reidville's Johnniyus Sharpe opened the period with a hanging runner to take a two-point lead. Farmville's Alex Moye got a tip-in to tie it up at 72-all.
Kendre Harrison's putback got the Rams a 74-72 lead, and he got another to go up 76-72 with less than two minutes left in overtime. Tyler Whitehurst answered almost immediately with a 3 to make it 76-75 with 1:33 to go. A driving layup by Williams gave Farmville the lead, 77-76, with 56 seconds left.
Reidsville (29-0) led 57-53 going into the fourth quarter. Farmville Central (30-2) cut it to one with less than four minutes left in the game when Reidsville's Sharpe hit a long 3 to make it 64-60.
With under two minutes left, Reidsville's Harrison got three straight blocks on Farmville Central drives to keep the Rams in front. Farmville Central got a stop on the other end and it led to a run out by J.D. Daniels to cut the lead to 64-62 with 1:15 left.
Sharpe hit two free throws with 46.9 seconds left to go up by four, but Moye tipped in his own miss to cut it back to two, 66-64 with 35.8 seconds left.
Reidville's Al Lee, the quarterback of this year's 2A title football team, hit both of his free throws with 28.1 left but Farmville's Daniels hit a 3 with 18.3 left to cut the lead to 68-67.
That set up two more Sharpe free throws with 16.7 left to push the lead to 70-67 before Williams game-tying 3.
For Farmville Central, Williams was the Jaguars' Most Outstanding Player, totaling 23 points (4-of-8 from 3) and five assists. Moye had 22 points (12 rebounds) and Evans 18 (eight rebounds).
Farmville shot 42.9 percent from 3 to keep up with Reidsville's 51.8 percent from the floor.
"I told my team I could live with it because that last shot is how we play. It was the penetrate, kick -- we got a two-foot paint touch, next pass," Farmville coach Larry Williford said. "I thought it was going down, but so is life. We'll keep our head up and move on and be proud of what these guys accomplished this year. I was really proud of our guys' effort that we didn't fold early."
Reidsville's Harrison won MVP honors with 19 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Sharpe, the Most Outstanding Player for the Rams, had 29 points on 8-of-12 from the floor. Dionte Neal added 14 (10 assists) and Lee had 12.
Both teams were tied at halftime 37-all despite Reidsville jumping out to a 22-13 first-quarter lead. The Jaguars scored with 22 seconds before half to knot it up.
Hampton Evans opened up the second half with his team's first 10 points, two 3s and two putbacks, to put the Jaguars in front.
Reidsville, the 1-seed from the West, has five championships in five appearances. Farmville Central, the 1-seed from the East, has seven titles in 10 appearances, including five in the last nine years. Both of Farmville's losses this year came to Reidsville, including a matchup in the John Wall Holiday Invitational.
Before the game, one player from each team was given NCHSAA sportsmanship awards. Reidsville's Cam'Ron Jones and Farmville's Whitehurst were their teams' respective winners.
Box Score: Reidsville 78, Farmville Central 77
Reidsville: Johnniyus Sharpe Jr. 29, Kendre Harrison 19 (13 rebounds), Dionte Neal 14 (10 assists), Al Lee 12, Cam'Ron Jones 4.
Farmville Central: M.J. Williams 23, Alex Moye 22 (12 rebounds), Hampton Evans 18, Tyler Whitehurst 6, J.D. Daniels 4, Chris Rhodes 3, Omaurie Phillips 1.
