Curry Scores 34 in Loss, Other Guards Shine

A member of the Arkansas coaching staff was on hand in Georgia on Friday night to watch junior point guard Sharaud Curry of Wheeler HS. But after the 5-foot-10 point guard and his Wildcat team lost to South Cobb HS 78-74, the SEC staff member may have gone home with notes on some other young guards.

Curry scored a game high 34 points (13-21 FG) but struggled in the fourth quarter, shooting 1-6 in the last five minutes of the game thanks to a stifling South Cobb defense. At any rate, Curry played a tremendous game for the defending state champs. His leadership and scoring will keep Wheeler’s third state title dreams alive.

Wildcat head coach Doug Lipsomb wouldn’t elaborate on the other schools looking at Curry but only said other high majors are evaluating his junior guard at the time.

For South Cobb, sophomore Wesley Matthews scored a team high 28 points (10-14 FG, 8-12 FT) and pulled down seven rebounds in the winning effort. The 6-foot-3 small forward is leading his region in scoring, just over 20 per contest, yet his reputation isn’t very big amongst his peers. But the win over the No. 3 team in the state put any doubters to rest. Matthews said he just wanted to get the game behind him.

“Today was just a long day. I had two tests today, I played on an empty stomach and I’m getting over a cold,” Matthews said. “So tonight, I just wanted to score and hurry back on defense. I didn’t know the rim was going to look as big as it did.”

Matthews played beyond his young years both on the court and in the locker room. He is a smart player that seems to be in the right place at the right time. South Cobb head coach Lewis Morris said Matthews did whatever they needed him to do.

“If we needed a score, he’d score. If we needed a rebound, he’d get a rebound. He did everything,” Morris said. “Not bad for a sophomore. He can become a pretty big time player if he keeps that up.”

Helping Matthews was, junior DeAndre Adams added 14 points and a game high nine assists. The 5-foot-10 lightning bolt is prone to the no-look pass and uses his blazing speed to collapse the defense and finding the open man.

Adams played sporadically with the Smyrna Stars over the summer time and has garnered some small college interest. But with performances against top tier in-state teams, he could see that list grow over the next two years.

“I don’t care where they come from, I just want to play. It doesn’t matter who they are, I’ll listen to what they have to say. Like I said, I just want to play,” Adams said.