FORMER PISGAH STATE CHAMPS IN BENEFIT GAME SATURDAY
CANTON— A former North Carolina High School Athletic Association state championship team and a runner-up squad will combine forces for a charity basketball game to benefit their community.
Every starter from Pisgah High School’s outstanding 2005 NCHSAA 2-A men’s championship team along with players from the 2008 state runners-up will reunite to take on the Crossfire Ministries team on Saturday at Pisgah. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and proceeds will benefit the Canton Community Kitchen.
According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, starters from the 2005 team coming back to play include Tony Blake, Brandon Luther, Elliott McDowell, Jake Robinson and Jonathan Whitson. Robinson led the Black Bears in scoring during the championship season with about 19 points per game and several of the Black Bears went on to play collegiate athletics.
Floods had devastated Haywood County in September of 2004, just two months before the Black Bears began a perfect 29-0 season, and the team became a real unifying force in the area.
Pisgah beat 26 of its opponents by double digits and jumped out a 23-2 lead in the NCHSAA 2-A championship game against Warren County to roll to a 66-41 victory. Pisgah had a huge fan following throughout the state playoffs in its march to the title.
