The Choice for Africun-American Ycm thechronicu SportsWeek= ~ ~ ~ april 4 , 2002 pppp^?ppp?^ ?? "**????? Reynolds' Fulp towered above the pack BY SAM DAVIS 0 THE CHRONICLE During the 2001-2002 sea son Joe Fulp towered above all others when you look at junior varsity basketball players in Forsyth County. Though others might have had more impressive statistics, there weren't many who were as consistent as Fulp was throughout the entire sea son. With Fulp leading the way, R.J. Reynolds' junior varsity team finished the season with a 16-6 overall record and 8-2 mark in the Central Piedmont 4 A Conference. Fulp averaged 16.3 points and 10 rebounds per game during the season as the Demons finished one game behind West Forsyth in the league race. Fulp's play down the stretch run was the key. More impressively, Fulp scored 204 points in the Demons' kJJ-game conference season (20.4 average) after averaging 13 points in noncon ference play. A model of consis tency against conference foes, Fulp scored 20 or more points in all but three conference battles and never scored less than 17. "Joe is a special player," said Jeff Overby. the Demons' coach. "Midway through the season, he was averaging only about 13 points, but that was because we weren't getting the ball to him enough. When we started getting the ball to him. he took his game to another level." Fulp did his best work in big games. That included a season high 26-point effort against Oak Hill Academy and 20 points in the Demons' 62-59 victory in the championship game of the David Lash/Chronicle Tourna ment." "There's just so much that I could say about Joe," Overby said. "He has improved since he first came into this program on the freshman team last year. He grew about three inches and went from being a point guard to a pivotman for us. Next year he'll probably move out on the wing, and I expect him to be a special player on the next level." Opposing coaches also had good things to say about Fulp. "When you start thinking about the player of the year in the county. I think you have to go with Joe Fulp." said Tim Fuller, West Forsyth's coach. "He meant more to his team that any player in the county. With out him I don't think Reynolds would have had the type of year they had. He was nearly unstop pable inside for his team." Joe Fulp (U50) took the Most Valuable Player award in the Lash/Chronicle JV Tournament and The Chronicle's Junior Varsity Player of the Year honors for the 2001-2002 season. O 6 2001-2002 All-City/County Junior Varsity Team f T ?orth Forsyth -2 Guard/Forward 8.2 points per game "Ray was the guy that made things happen for us. HSWjd ; great job of leading the tearry." - Eddie Thigpen Tyler Boardman West Forsyth 6-2 Point Guard 14.9 points, 5.6 assists per game "Tyler was our floor leadi and the guy who we could depend on to get things done.' - Tim Fuller L Charles Jackson West Forsytl^^1 6-3 Forw^T 12.0adlnts, 9.0 assists per game Jcnarles didn't have any fantastic games, but he does th< tdfh things inside that you need done to win basketbal mes." J -Tim Fuller Derek Griffin Glenn 5-10 Point Guard ^ 18.3 points per game J* "JJerek xeiillj helpedus, oncehe came I mmrfPffln the var ltyTT^ominTi^^verage^iior^nar^npoints if he had leen with us all season." - John Fowler A banny Harris fe.J. Reynolds *5-11 Point Quard 110.2 points, assists per gartfe m "Danny was with fafetwjJ yeawTtWd he understood what % m we needed him to do. He primarily eould have scored more * M but sacrificed to help the tearr! ' M - Jeff Overby Tlrrance Ingram Era Forsyth I"! 5-^BGuard 13.<ntoints par game j ^iitiptejylduh k way he leads on the floor. Very enthusiastic and alwayswul \ ing to help the team win." \ - Doug Lakis I Antwoine Mitchell / Carver 5-11 Guard J^fil^gointspe^ .'WvmimMnc^^nucrifor us. He was the guy who did n't have any problem stepping up when we needed him." - Greg Scales o J Elliott Kimball Mount Tabor 6-0 Guard 15.5 points per game "Elliott is a very intelligen basketball player who works hard every day he comes to pr :tice. I Can always depend on him to do what I ask." - William Gray Melvih^owdy ParklancS^ 19.3 pointsfJ^mame "He's a eood offensfctaalaver. There were several games where he scored 30 or morepolTTP^^?,,WW"PWWWBWWW^" consistent offensive player." - Dwain Aikens Bar continues to rise for local JV basketball As (he bar continues to rise in the varsity ranks of Forsyth County's high school basket ball. the trickle-down effects upon the junior varsity programs are becoming more signifi cant. varsity teams troni Forsyth County have captured a state cham pionship in each of the past four seasons, with . Parkland taking the | state 3-A cfown in 1999 and Reynolds capturing 4-A titles in 2<XX). 2001 and 2002. The talent level of the athletes playing in the junior varsity level is arguably the best in the state. When you consider the impact that Chris Paul, last year's Chronicle Junior Varsity Player of the Year, had-on the varsity program at West Forsyth this season, some people have argued that JV hoops in Forsyth County might be com parable to varsity play in other areas of the state. The players who highlight this year's All-City/County Team lend credence to that argument. Joe Fulp. this year's Junior Varsity Player of the Year, has all the tools to make a splash on the varsity level next year. The only thing that could hold him back is the deep Reynolds team, which will return its entire frontcourt next season. But the 6-4 Fulp. who played on the Demons' freshman team last sea son. could step out on the wing and give RJR Sec Press Box on B2 From The Press Box ^ Sam Davis I WS/FC Hall of Fame inducts six members BY SAM DAVIS T? rmmnn p The Wiifiton-Salem/Forsyth County High School Hall of Fame will add six faces to its roll next month. The Winston-Salem Sports men Club, which sponsors the annual induction, announced its class of 2002 on Wednesday during a press luncheon at Benton Conven tion Center. The list of nominees consists of five players who participated in sports at high schools that are no longer parts of the local high school system. Willie F. Ashford Jr. played at football and baseball at Atkins High School. Charles Bailey played football and basket ball at Paisley and Reynolds. William A. Bennett played football, basketball and baseball at Kemersville High. Charles Denning played basketball, football and baseball at West Forsyth. Ernest "CoCo" Gary played football and basketball at Anderson High. Chris Plemmons played baseball at West Forsyth. Ashford, who graduated from Atkins in 1958. was an All-State selection in football in 1957. He was a starter in the Negro Shrine Bowl and earned All-City honors in 1957 and 1958. As a pitcher in baseball. Ashford compiled a 17-4 record on the mound and earned Str Hall of Fame on B2 v WW WB Gary * ?m, ' ~m*m Ashford FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS CALL (336) 722-8624 ? MASTERCARD, VISA AND AMERICAN EXPRESS ACCEPTED ?

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view