FARMVILLE — Larry Williford is confident that his Farmville Central boys were ready for the postseason, which could be unsettling news for opponents in the NCHSAA Class 2A basketball playoffs.
This sentiment came in the aftermath of his Jaguars rolling over Washington 90-59 on Feb. 23 in the Jaguar Den for another Eastern Plains 2A Conference tournament title.
“We’re ready,” Williford said of the Jags, who hosted Ayden-Grifton in the first round on Tuesday night. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”
The Jaguars’ 18th consecutive victory helped them earn their 11th consecutive conference crown. Farmville Central is also the reigning NCHSAA Class 2A state champion and has won it all four out of the last five seasons. The 2A playoff continued Friday night with Round 2. The third round is set for Monday.
“This is a new group,” Williford said when asked how he keeps his team motivated to win year in and year out. “And — I tell it all the time and it’s just the brutal honest truth — the program is now judged on, ‘What do you do in February and March?’ And we put ourselves in a good position. Our first goal was to win the conference and get the No. 1 seed so we’ve got that.”
Farmville Central (25-1) scored the game’s first 10 points in 2:28 en route to a 29-7 lead after one period.
The Jaguars crashed the boards — JD Daniels had four rebounds in the opening quarter, one of six Farmville Central players to record a rebound in that span — and, while they weren’t shooting well from beyond the arc, they wiped the glass on offense to take advantage of second and sometimes third chances.
The Jaguars’ lead grew to 35 by late in the third period before Williford emptied his bench.
The success of the program is a reason that, among other honors being bestowed on former coaching greats at the school, it was announced prior to the game that the floor in the gym will be named for Williford.
“I know I sound like a broken record when I say this: I’ve been blessed,” he said. “I’ve had great players who have bought into the system of what we’ve tried to do from Day One. This just didn’t start this year. This started 25 years ago. There are players out there that I coached then who I coached just as hard as I coached these guys.”
Williford also made a point to talk about his longtime assistant coach, who will have a landmark on campus in his name.
“I’ve had the same assistant coach the whole time in Coach (Donald) Reid,” he said. “I didn’t want to be honored if he wasn’t honored. I’m glad that road when you pull into Farmville Central is going to say Donald Reid Way. He’s a graduate from here. He played here. He’s devoted his life here, worked here until he had to medically retire.”
Hampton Evans finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for Farmville Central.
“He’s a double-double guy,” Williford said. “If he doesn’t have a double-double, he’s flirting with a double-double. He plays extremely hard. That’s an old-fashioned, work-your-butt-off box score.”
Four other Jaguars scored in double figures as Tyler Whitehurst had 13 points, and Chris Rhodes also had 13 points, four rebounds a pair of assists. JD Daniels tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and a pair of assists. MJ Williams contributed 10 points. Alex Moye stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Chaise Smith paced Washington (19-8) with 14 points, while Javon Williams and Jerai Davenport chipped in 12 each.
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