HoopSeenNC’s Justin Byerly will spend the next four days previewing the NCHSAA state championships from all four classifications. A rundown of what to expect, a look at potential match-ups and a final thought section of how the games may transpire. 

NCHSAA 2-A STATE FINALS 

Forest Hills (29-2) vs Farmville Central (31-0)

Battle of the Guards 

As with the other two classifications already mentioned, this 2-A final is another guard heavy competition. Farmville Central relies on the three-headed monster of 2020 PG Justin Wright, 2020 guard Samage Teel and NC State commitment Terquavion Smith. All three can go for 20+ points on any given night. This game will be at Reynolds Coliseum on the NC State campus. Larry Williford on the match-ups at the guard position, “Both us and Forest Hills have multiple guards that can shoot, pass and defend. Forest Hills shoots the three-point shot probably better than anyone we have seen all year.” 

Forest Hills has been here before, winning it all last season and return the 2017 NCHSAA 2-A final MVP Jai Rorie. The 5-foot-9 guard is one of the all-time best three-point shooters in NCHSAA history. Lenoir-Rhyne commit Nas Tyson is a scoring point guard and a four-time all-conference selection as well as three-time conference Player of the Year. 

Trey Belin is another to watch for Forest Hills, the senior guard can score from all points on the floor and is a really good defender. 

The Rim Protectors 

Sophmore Leonte Moye of Farmville Central is a 6-foot-7 forward that can rebound well and can score from the block. DyQauvisWilkins is a 6-foot-6 small forward that can stretch the floor with his shooting ability. 

Forest Hills also has a sophmore big of their own in 6-foot-7 Jamylan Blakeney. The long and athletic wing is becoming a solid two-way player, can get his baskets on offense and can disrupt shot selection on defense. 

Road to Last Three Titles 

The road to the last three 2-A state titles comes through either Forest Hills or Farmville Central. Farmville won it all in 2016 and Forest Hills captured the title last year. This is a match-up everyone has been waiting to see for a long time. Two of the best coaches going head to head in Larry Williford and Matt Sides.

I spoke with Larry Williford on the fact that the last three 2-A state titles belong to both the teams competing on Saturday, “We are developing a culture here at Farmville Central, it is a community event, guys are growing up wanting to be a Farmville Central Jaguar, the middle school team comes to the games and we go and support the middle school team.”  

Final Thoughts

This match-up is going to be a dog-fight in my opinion, Forest Hills has the senior leadership and that is always a tough thing to overcome. The real difference in this game is going to come down to who is deeper if and when foul trouble comes about. That advantage goes to Farmville Central. They are just a deeper team overall. The guard play and the big men battles almost counter each other out.