Oct 21, 2010
Riverside Head Coach Tim Ross shouts out instructions during the NCHSAA 4-A East Regional semifinals on Friday, March 5. (photo by Will Okun)
Riverside is another team that fell victim to transfers during the off season.
The Pirates lost their best player in T.J. Warren to Word of God, leaving the team without it's go-to guy.
Riverside will have it's hands full with Portsmouth (Va.) I.C. Norcom in the first round of the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational.
Norcom, the defending 3-A state champions in Virginia, features one of the nation's top prospects in Dorian Finney-Smith.
Scout.com ranks Finney-Smith as the No. 28 player in the Class of 2011. He averaged 19.7 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks per game last season.
Finney-Smith is attracting some major Division-I interest too. He is considering Florida, Old Dominion and Virginia Tech, among others.
Norcom isn't a one-man band though.
Finney-Smith is joined by shooting guard DeCarlos Anderson, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound senior, as well as 6-foot-1, 170-point shooting guard Jay Canty.
Canty has an offer from Norfolk State.
Head coach Leon Goolsby will lead the Greyhounds into the Holiday Invitational for the first time ever this December.
The Pirates will have to play well to beat them too.
After losing Warren, head coach Tim Ross will have to rely on some youthful players to fill a lot of scoring responsibilities. Riverside lost several seniors to graduation off a team that finished as the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A Eastern Regional runner-up.
Riverside attended the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational last season and finished in sixth place in the tournament. The best finish in the event for Riverside was in 2006 when the Pirates finished fourth.
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