Hoggard girls basketball falls in 4a East final to Rolesville
Vikings end the season 30-2
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WWAY) – If you asked the Hoggard Vikings girls basketball team before the season, they never would have told you they’d go as far as they did in 2024.
They won 30 games, with their only other loss happening December 29th against Northern Guilford. Thursday, the team fell to Rolesville, 47-34 in the NCHSAA Final Four.
“I am so proud,” said Viking Head Coach Boubacar Aw after his teams’ 47-34 defeat to the Rolesville Lady rams in the East Final at Wake Forest. The new Final Four format brought the Hoggard team to Winston-Salem for the semifinals. “This is a once in a lifetime experience.”
Many thought the team would not be on this stage. There are only four seniors on this year’s team, and two start.
“I have to be very honest… After losing seven seniors (from last year), I would have never thought we would have gotten this far. I knew we had a very young group For them to just say ‘we would do anything you would ask us to do’, as a coach you can’t ask for anything else.”
Rolesville’s Caitlyn Jones is the 13th leading scorer in North Carolina, averaging 23.3 points a game. Coach Aw emphasized the game plan was to contain her driving ability, but once other Rolesville players began to hit permitter shots, it caused the Vikings to enter scramble mode, ultimately allowing Jones to drive the lane.
“Caitlyn Jones, she is #1, unless you are a fool.” said Coach Aw. “We wanted to keep them in a half court. I thought we did a good job in the first half. I think she was scoreless. But people started hitting shots which busted our plan. We didn’t expect that. It just seems today it was their day. I went through a lot of their film, I’ve never seen them shoot this well in a game. It wasn’t coming from just one person.”
What also didn’t help the Vikings were seven third quarter turnovers as they were mounting a comeback form being down seven points at halftime. Back-to-back baskets by YaYa Graham almost cut the Vikings’ deficit to single digits, before ultimately losing the quarter 17-14.
The Vikings season ends with a 30-2 record, Mideastern regular and conference tournament title, and as East Regional runner-up.
