Don’t blink: North Surry Greyhounds always on the go

Senior-laden team enters final week of regular season 21-1, 10-0 in conference play

MOUNT AIRY, NORTH CAROLINA—Don’t blink when the North Surry boys basketball team has the ball. You’re liable to miss something exciting.

That might be a drive and finish to the basket from senior Jahreece Lynch. It might be a Lynch drive and dish to senior James McCreary, who knocks down another 3-pointer.

It could be an offensive rebound and monster dunk from senior Cameron Taylor, who is also just as comfortable stepping back behind the 3-point arc and draining a long jumper.

Make no mistake--these Greyhounds, who are averaging 82 points per game this season, will find ways to score, and they will do so quickly, effectively and with precision.

Senior Jahreece Lynch, who leads the Greyhounds in scoring at 22.7 ppg, drives for a layup against Mount Tabor in the championship game of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic / Photo by Marc Pruitt

The senior-laden team enters the final week of the regular season with a 21-1 overall record, including a perfect 10-0 in the Foothills 2A Conference, having already clinched the regular season league title. North Surry’s lone loss this season was the 4A power Mount Tabor in the championship game of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic, a game which was tied with about three minutes to play.

But the Greyhounds are eager for more, and also have the understanding that they need to trust the process of the season.

After losing in the 2A West Regional Championship game last season to eventual state champion J.M. Robinson, the Greyhounds certainly seem to be firing on all cylinders this season and are poised for a deep run in the NCHSAA 2A state tournament.

Senior James McCreary, who is second in the team in scoring with 21.2 ppg, lines up a free throw / Photo by Marc Pruitt

“Our big message to them at the beginning of the year was to be the best that we can be and see what happens,” Coach Tyler Bentley said. “We want to be playing our best basketball at the end of February and into March. We’re making great strides so far.”

Don’t blink.

The North Surry community has watched this team grow up together. Most of the nine seniors have played together in some form, whether that be AAU or Middle School ball, since as early as the third grade.

Bentley, who is in his fifth season as the team’s head coach, has grown up with them. North Surry is his first head coaching job after being an assistant at his alma mater, Mount Airy, for several years under Levi Goins.

“I played in high school at Mount Airy under Kevin Spainhour,” Bentley said. “My junior year, I tore my ACL right before the season started and I got to watch the game from a different perspective that season. I think that’s when I first realized I wanted to get into coaching once I was done with college. And when this job opened up, I was definitely interested. I knew about the history and the culture of the program, and it was coming off a state championship appearance two years before I came aboard. I’m very thankful to Dr. (Paige) Badgett, our principal, and to Chris Butler, our AD, for the opportunity. A lot of what shaped me as a coach I learned from Coach Spainhour and his brother, Dan, and also Levi Goins. And also my current assistant coaches, Rocky Horton and Tanner Hiatt.”

The nine seniors on this year’s team were in eighth grade when Bentley took the job. Seven of the nine played together at Gentry Middle School.

Lynch, McCreary and Kolby Watson made the varsity team at North Surry as freshmen, Bentley’s second season as the coach. Lynch was a starter, while McCreary and Watson came off the bench.

“My first year was definitely a rebuilding year and the expectations weren’t really that high,” Bentley said. “We had six seniors with that group who helped me lay the foundation for where I wanted to take the program. We won nine games my first year. And then when the current senior class arrived as freshman in 2019, we started to build momentum for where we are today.”

Coach Tyler Bentley has the North Surry boys basketball team primed for a deep run in the NCHSAA 2A state tournament. The team consists of seniors Kolby Watson, Jahreece Lynch, Makiyon Woodbury, Isaac Johnson, Keaton Leonard, Jackson Smith,  James McCreary, Cameron Taylor, Zeke Moore; sophomore Kam McKnight and freshman Fisher Leftwich / Photo by Marc Pruitt

The 2019-20 season produced 16 wins and a loss in the first round of the state tournament.

2020-21, the COVID season, saw the Greyhounds go 6-5 and narrowly missing the state tournament as only one team from the conference qualified that year because of the pandemic.

And last season, the Greyhounds surged to a 23-5 record, a conference championship with an undefeated 12-0 record, and their run to the regional championship.

“That game was tied at halftime,” Bentley said. “We came home from that and then we had spring break, and the first day back from school, everyone reached out to us about getting back into the gym to get going for this year. I think that shows you a lot about their character and their work ethic. I think they knew what might be ahead of them because they got a little taste of it last year after coming so close to playing for a state championship. Jahreece, James, Kolby—they really took a lot of ownership and the rest of the guys have just followed their lead. This year, I think their attitude has been, ‘let’s go win and finish this thing.’”

Bentley was intentional about setting up a challenging schedule this season, like playing in the Frank Spencer tournament against bigger, more athletic teams than the Greyhounds are accustomed to seeing. There was also a scrimmage against Greensboro Dudley and games against nonconference opponents South Stokes and Bishop McGuinness.

“We knew we could have gone 0-3 in the Frank Spencer and still had a great tournament,” Bentley said. “We managed to go 2-1 and beat a really good Reynolds team and East Forsyth (the defending champions in the Central Piedmont 4-A Conference) and were right there against Mount Tabor, who I think is one of the best teams in the state. And when we scrimmaged Dudley, all those games made us tougher and made us better for what we hope to be doing in the postseason. I think the great thing about this group is that our points can come from everywhere. If one of our guys isn’t having a great night, someone else will pick him up. But when we are all clicking, that’s something special to watch.”

Bentley praised his nine seniors for their diligence throughout their careers. He knows there is still work to do this season, and he is confident that his players understand that as well.

Don’t blink.

The last four years have flown by for Bentley.

“Sometimes those wins were hard to find those first couple of years and as we’ve continued to grow with this group of nine seniors and all they have had to deal with,” Bentley said. “They have grown up together. Learned to play together. They had to deal with the COVID year together. They have taken their losses and got that experience early on. It’s been a really fun journey with them and to see it all come to fruition now is very rewarding.”