NC high school basketball: Holly Springs among teams coming to life at the right time

High school basketball for 2022 has started at a snail’s pace. After the Christmas break, exams, COVID, and inclement weather limited games across the state. With exams behind us, hopefully COVID will be on the downslide and mother nature will cooperate with the balance of the high school season.

Now, let’s take a look at some of this week’s storylines for North Carolina hoops.

Future is bright at Holly Springs

Holly Springs High School, coached by L.J. Hepp, is currently 5-2 in the Southwest Wake 4A conference, and 14-3 overall. All three losses came on the road to Fuquay Varina (51-50), Middle Creek (68-60) and Apex Friendship (76-74). Currently, they sit in third place in the Southwest Wake 4A behind Apex Friendship (7-1) and Panther Creek (5-1). That being said, coach Hepp has plenty to be excited about. They are on a nine-game winning streak and has secured conference road wins against Green Level (67-29), Apex (78-72) and Panther Creek (82-59). Next up is an important home game Tuesday against first-place Apex Friendship.

The top four scorers for Holly Springs are all underclassmen. Leading the way is 6-foot-7 junior Collin Kuhl who is averaging a double-double in points (16.3 PPG) and rebounds (11.1 RPG). Kuhl has good length and athleticism, is ultra-active, and plays with incredibly high motor. Coach Hepp stated, “Kuhl’s high rebounding average reflects how hard he plays and how he competes. He is very skilled offensively, can score over either hand in the post and can push the ball up the court after a defensive rebound.”

Junior Micah Jones, at 5-foot-10, is averaging 12.4 PPG and 5.7 APG. Jones has excellent speed and quickness and is an extremely talented and skilled ball handler that is difficult to keep out of the lane. According to coach Hepp, “Jones creates a ton of offense for teammates in transition and in the half court. He’s a gifted finisher, able to finish with either hand over taller defenders. Jones is also shooting 58% from the floor, 48% from the 3-point line and 78% from the free throw line.”

Houston Wills, a 6-foot, 3-inch junior, is another junior having an outstanding season. He is averaging 11.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.2 SPG and 2.1 APG, in other words, just does a little bit of everything on the court. Coach Hepp stated, “ Wills has a high release on his shot, it is high, quick and smooth. He has already broken the single-season school record for steals in a season, after just 17 games. In addition, he has become an excellent off-the-ball defender, not to mention he rebounds well for his size/position.”

Six-foot-five sophomore Ryan Crotty is averaging 10.2 PPG and 5.4 RPG. Coach Hepp stated, “Crotty is shooting 41.5% from the 3-point line. He has a high release and works incredibly hard on perfecting his shot. He’s a grinder and our hardest worker. Crotty is our second leading rebounder and leads us in free throw shooting percentage at 89%. While he is very tough and competitive both on the court and in the classroom, where he is a AP student with top-tier GPA.”

At 6-foot-1, senior Jordan Kearney was All-Conference last year, but has battled injuries this season. He’s starting to get healthy and is currently averaging 9.6 PPG. According to coach Hepp, “Kearney is an extremely bouncy vertical jumper, great at attacking the rim off the drive, and able to make highlight-reel dunks of passes and offensive rebounds. He has been a great senior leader.”

New Hanover on the Move

New Hanover High School, coached by Kirk Angel, is currently 7-0 in conference play and 13-0 overall. In addition, New Hanover sits at No. 10 in our News & Observer statewide poll, and is steamrolling over the competition, averaging 64.3 PPG while only giving up 38.2 PPG, an impressive winning margin of 26.1 PPG.

Leading the way for New Hanover is 6-6 senior Mikhail Pocknett, who is averaging almost a double-double” at 14.3 PPG and 8.5 RPG, along with 6-foot-4 senior James Jones, who is averaging 11.1 PPG.

In addition, 5-10 freshmen Rodmik Allen is making a name for himself across the state as one of the premier point guards in the North Carolina 2025 class. Allen is averaging 7.2 PPG, 3.3 APG, 3.3 RPG and 2.4 SPG.

New Hanover currently is in sole possession of first place in the NCHSAA 3A/4A conference. Hoggard is in second place, but New Hanover handled Hoggard easily, 64-43 at Hoggard last week.

Greenfield is cream of the crop in NCISAA 1A

Year in and year out, coach Rob Salter has Greenfield playing as one of the premier teams in NCISAA 1A, and this year is no exception. First of all, Greenfield has a reputation of playing outside their comfort zone and playing one of the more competitive schedules in the state.

Greenfield is currently ranked No. 15th in our News & Observer Top 20 statewide poll with an 18-5 record. All losses came to ranked teams in the state: Trinity Christian (No. 14), Farmville Central (No. 7), North Mecklenburg (No. 5) , along with previously ranked Wayne Country Day and one of the top non-association teams in the country, Moravian Prep. Greenfield is led by 6-3 senior Aaron Murphy and 6-5 junior Hampton Evans. Murphy has signed with Queens University and may just be one of the most productive players in the state.

Battle for NCHSAA South Meck 4A

Ardrey Kell (12-3) is on the road at Myers Park (9-5) for a marquee matchup for first place in the South Meck 4A. Both teams come into the contest with a 4-1 record. Ardrey Kell lost at home to Harding and Myers Park lost at Adrey Kell by the score of 53-47.

Adrey Kell is led by 6-4 Army commit Evan Smith and 6-6 junior Brock Rose. Smith is averaging 15.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 3.6 APG while Rose is averaging 14.9 PPG. Rose was unable to play in Ardrey Kell’s home loss to Harding recently. Meanwhile, Myers Park is led by 6-8 junior Elijah Strong and 6-5 sophomore Sir Mohammed.

Strong is averaging almost a double double at 17.1 PPG and 8.6 RPG while Mohammed is averaging 14.9 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 4.4 APG.