Midseason report: Top basketball teams and players in United 8 basketball
Holiday tournaments are in the rear-view, and nonconference play has mostly wrapped up. As Fayetteville teams ramp up for the conference portion of the season, we evaluate the best teams and point out the top players in the United 8
Here are the top girls and boys United 8 teams based on nonconference play, along with the top performers amongst the conference so far this season.
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Girls
Cape Fear (8-0, 1-0 United 8)
Coming off of winning the Brenda Jernigan bracket of the Cumberland County Holiday Classic, the undefeated Colts are rolling heading into conference play. Led by coach Brian Graham and Elon commit Jayda Angel, who leads the conference in scoring at 33 points per game, look for the Colts to be the team to beat in the United 8 due to their stellar 3-point shooting from Kayia Starling, and scrappy defense from Teralyn Harris.
Jack Britt (7-2, 1-0 United 8)
The Buccaneers have two loses this season to two highly-skilled teams in E.E. Smith and Richmond that resulted in blowouts. However, Jack Britt is one of the more talented teams in the conference, defeating Douglas Byrd for their sole United 8 win so far. Zahara Gerald leads the team with 16 points per game, and junior Dezariyah Clark's facilitating is propelling the Buccaneers to a phenomenal and one of the top teams in not only the league, but the city.
United 8 girls' top midseason performers:
Jayda Angel, Cape Fear: 33 ppg, eight rebounds, four assists, six steals per game
Zahara Gerald, Jack Britt: 16 ppg, five rebounds, three steals per game
Shania McLucas, Douglas Byrd: 14 points per game
Niyah Locklear, Purnell Swett: 14 ppg, seven rebounds, one block per game
Mid-season United 8 girls' Most Outstanding Player: Jayda Angel, Cape Fear
Boys
Seventy-First (7-1, 1-0 United 8)
After winning the Bernie Poole bracket in the Cumberland County Classic, the Falcons are back clicking on all ends entering their second contest in league play. With the midseason addition of football star DeAndre Nance, the Falcons now have their primary ball-handler and the team is complete. Led with elite scoring by Mylon Campbell, averaging a team-high 18 points, and number of stretch-bigs that can shoot the ball and defend at least three positions, Seventy-First will look to take the conference by storm and make a deep playoff push this winter.
South View (5-4, 0-1 United 8)
South View has had a rollercoaster season in its nine contests so far. The Tigers began the year 3-0, dropping the next three. But the Wendell Wise-led Tigers are in good hands. Despite losing in their sole league game versus Seventy-First, by a point, South View is looking to get a push from its bench to accompany the one-two punch from Chase Evans, who is fourth in the conference in scoring (15 points), and Darin Word's productive 11 points a game.
United 8 boys' top midseason performers:
Collin Sampson, Purnell Swett - 19 points per game
Dimetrious Jones, Lumberton - 19 ppg, seven rebounds, two assists per game
Mylon Campbell, Seventy-First - 18 ppg, five rebounds per game
Chase Evans, South View - 15 ppg, five rebounds per game
Mid-season United 8 boys' Most Outstanding Player: Collin Sampson, Purnell Swett
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: nc high school basketball top teams, performers United 8 Conference
