The state high school basketball playoffs are just around the corner and despite only having a 5-11 record on the season, Vance Co. High School Athletic Director Joe Sharrow thinks the Vipers have a good shot at getting in. Sharrow was a guest on today’s SportsTalk with Trey Snide.
Sharrow knows that it will take a few more wins and those wins have to start with tonight’s game against Northern Lakes Conference rival Durham School of the Arts who are 3-17 on the season. While 5-11 against 3-17 might not look like much Sharrow says records are misleading, “The Northern Lakes Conference is a Murderer’s Row,” Sharrow said. Case in point, Vance County beat Southern Durham in what Sharrow calls the best win in school history to only lose to them in a second game a few days later.
Sharrow acknowleges the Vipers got off to a slow start but he says key injuries played a role and now that the Vipers are healthy he expects the team to be strong going into the final weeks of the season.
There won’t be much time to rest after tonight’s game as the Vipers will welcome J.F. Webb to Henderson tomorrow night for senior night. J.F. Webb won the previous matchup in Oxford on a last second shot 57-54. Sharrow says if the Vipers can win tonight and tomorrow they will likely make the state playoffs. If they drop one of these two games it will take a run in the conference tournament to get in.
The conference tournament will take place Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of next week.
