HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba Valley men's basketball team starts the road to what it hopes will be a Region X tournament championship on Saturday.
The ninth-seeded Red Hawks (10-19, 5-15 in Region X) face No. 8 Guilford Tech (12-15, 6-14 in Region X) in the opening game of the tournament on Saturday at noon at Statesman Hall on the campus of Richard Bland College in South Prince Georgia, Va.
Seventh-year Catawba Valley head men's basketball coach Bryan Garmroth believes his team is in prime position to make a run despite some early-season struggles.
"I feel that we are playing the best we have played this season," Garmroth said. "It does not show up in the win column, but the last three road games we competed very hard and had chances to win all three against very good league teams. We played three games in five days covering over 21 hours of driving time. I thought we showed the most toughness that we have showed all season to take all three games to the very end with a chance to win."`
The Red Hawks and Titans split the regular season series with Guilford Tech winning 93-83 on Jan. 10 in Greensboro, N.C. and Catawba Valley taking a 114-97 victory on Jan. 31 in Hickory, N.C.
Eric Peaks has been the driving force for the Titans in both games, scoring 28 points at home and 23 points on the road.
Catawba Valley forward Isayah Johnson scored 16 points in both games against Guilford Tech, including a 16-point, 13-rebound performance in the 17-point win on Jan. 31.
"We will have to play very well to be successful versus Guilford Tech," Garmroth said. "They are very well coached and play to their strengths. They are capable of scoring a lot of points. They are a great 3-point shooting team with any number of players who can make a lot of threes from deep. They also have good post play and create good inside out with their post and their ability to all drive the ball from the perimeter. We must play tremendously on defense the entire game. We must also be able to score because stopping them completely is a difficult challenge."
For complete updates from Saturday's game, please visit www.gocvcc.com and also follow us on Twitter (@CVCCRedHawks).
2018 Region X tournament schedule
First round (Saturday at Richard Bland College)
No. 9 Catawba Valley vs. No. 8 Guilford Tech, noon
No. 7 Fayetteville Tech vs. No. 10 Lenoir, 2 p.m.
No. 6 Wake Tech vs. No. 11 Vance-Granville, 4 p.m.
No. 4 Pitt vs. No. 5 Patrick Henry, 6 p.m.
Quarterfinals (Sunday at Richard Bland College)
No. 1 Louisburg vs. No. 8 Guilford Tech OR No. 9 Catawba Valley, noon
No. 2 Bryant & Stratton vs. No. 7 Fayetteville Tech OR No. 10 Lenoir, 2 p.m.
No. 3 Richard Bland vs. No. 6 Wake Tech OR No. 11 Vance-Granville, 4 p.m.
Semifinals (March 9 at Sandhills (N.C.) Community College)
Louisburg/GT or CVCC winner vs. PCC/PHCC winners, noon
Richard Bland/WT or VG winner vs. B&S/FT or L winner, 2 p.m.
Championship game (March 10 at Sandhills (N.C.) Community College)
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.