Basketball Jones

In the fall, I wrote a column about the depth of talent in Sampson County. I have written numerous articles covering games where Sampson County teams dominated their opponents in various sports since then, too. I witnessed two state championship games in my first season ever as a sports editor. And now, I’m once again seeing great levels of talent on the basketball court.

It’s not just right now, either. In case you’ve missed it over the last few months, I’ve done a deep-dive into the last decade of Sampson County sports. For the sports I’ve covered so far — football, volleyball, men’s soccer and boys’ basketball — I’ve seen that the pool of talent here has seen continued growth over at least the last decade, but surely longer.

I saw plenty of success in the fall, but I wasn’t expecting what I’ve seen on the courts all around the county this winter for both boys’ and girls’ basketball.

Did you know that Lakewood’s Xavier Hall is sixth in the country and number one in the state with 6.6 blocks per game? You might have also seen Harrells’ Antonio McKoy receive his first ACC basketball offer from Cal (and this might serve as a reminder that they’re in the ACC now) — a move they’re surely making to take in-state talent from conference foes like UNC, Duke, and NC State. Hall’s teammate, Cameron Williams, is third in the NCHSAA with 23.8 points per 32, a statistic that is more accurate (at least in my opinion, and many others’) than just PPG averages. He very well could earn his 1,000th point in tonight’s game. Hall follows that up at the number nine spot, just two points per 32 behind his fellow Leopard big man.

McKoy is number four in the nation with 306 field goals made, while taking the top spot in N.C. with that number. He’s 20th in the state with 25.8 points per game as well. He has 14 double-doubles this season, and for a while he averaged one per contest, but his rebounds per game have dipped to just under the threshold at 9.9 per outing. McKoy and his teammate J’Kaeshi Brunson both eclipsed 1,000 career points this season.

On the girls’ side, freshman Areona McKoy is blazing her way into record books. She is 14th in the country with 8.5 steals per game, which lands her at fourth in the state. Her 26.1 points per game is good enough for 11th in the NCHSAA, or 13th overall in the state. While the box scores might show a lot of action from her, it’s a well-rounded effort for the Lady Leopards, with a supporting cast full of players that would start at any school in the area.

Clinton’s got a stacked squad on the girls’ side, too, like I wrote about in my girls’ rankings. Phoenix Everett is 18th in the state with 6.1 steals per contest, and 11th in 2A east with 95 field goals made. She is first in the conference for her steals average and second for field goals made, marking her as one of the better players in the area.

I’ve covered a lot of these players already in my game coverage, and wrote about them even more when I did my rankings for both the boys and girls. But, I felt like this abundance of talent deserved its own column.

We’ve seen the Chris Kings, Mikayla Boykins, and Chasity Melvins of this world come through the ranks of local basketball. Their stories have been told time and time again. This is taking nothing from them, but there is yet another generation of Sampson County hardwood talent coming through, and I’m here for it.