Analyzing Southeast Raleigh heading into the NCHSAA 4A Playoffs
Southeast Raleigh carried over the consistency of a stellar regular season into the CAP 7 4A Tournament, where they encountered only a handful of issues before defeating Cardinal Gibbons 55-26 on Feb. 19 to secure the conference championship. Now 23-1,…
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Continue ReadingSoutheast Raleigh carried over the consistency of a stellar regular season into the CAP 7 4A Tournament, where they encountered only a handful of issues before defeating Cardinal Gibbons 55-26 on Feb. 19 to secure the conference championship.
Now 23-1, head coach Nicole Meyers has her team riding a wave of momentum as they prepare to face off against the winner of the Leesville Road-Hoggard matchup on Feb. 27.
After coming up short of an NCHSAA 4A Championship against West Forsyth last season, Southeast Raleigh appears poised to make another deep postseason run through a combination of efficient offense, defense and senior leadership.
Here are several factors that have contributed to Southeast Raleigh’s overall success during the 2019-20 season.
Nicole Meyers
During the 2010s, Meyers helped build one of the strongest high school basketball programs in the Raleigh-Durham area, as Southeast Raleigh did not conclude a single season with under 20 wins during that timespan.
An NCHSAA 4A Championship eluded Southeast Raleigh on several occasions the past decade, with notable losses including a 58-39 defeat to Millbrook during the Final Four in 2013 after winning their first 30 games, as well as a 36-34 defeat to Northwest Guilford in the NCHSAA 4A title game in 2017 despite enjoying a win streak of 32 games entering the contest.
Meyers will look to change Southeast Raleigh’s fortunes this year with a stacked roster that includes senior Anya Poole and junior Mikayla Harris.
Efficiency on offense
Southeast Raleigh’s worst offensive performance of the season was also their only loss of the year, as they were held to only 34 points in their matchup with St. Frances Academy on Dec. 28.
That game proved to be an outlier on an otherwise flawless regular season for Southeast Raleigh, who scored 60 points or more in 13 of their 23 wins during the year due to consistent performances from players like Anya Poole, Bobbi Smith and Jamia Hazell.
Southeast Raleigh would be held under 60 points in their last four games, but Poole’s senior leadership helped her team stay in front of teams like Cardinal Gibbons, Leesville Road and Sanderson so they could enter the NCHSAA 4A Playoffs on a positive note.
Dominant defense
Anya Poole‘s superior 6-2″ height has provided an edge for Southeast Raleigh on defense while their opponents often struggled to find open lanes to the basket.
Of Southeast Raleigh’s 23 victories, 22 were obtained by ten points or more, with Southeast Raleigh’s efficient defense holding the other team to single digits in six of those games.
With Southeast Raleigh’s offense slowing down slightly at the end of the year, Meyers will likely turn to Poole and others to shut down any opposing offensive attack to bring an NCHSAA 4A title back to Raleigh.