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Bishop McGuinness boys head coach Josh Thompson opened his postgame press conference by offering his condolences to Cherryville point guard Darius Howell's family. It wasn't until later I found out what he was referring to: Last Sunday, Howell,a junior, discovered his father, Larry, dead on the couch at the house the two of them shared. Larry Howell was known to carry a towel on his shoulder everywhere he went, and the Cherryville cheering section waved "Howell's Towels" all game as a show of support. Howell finished with 24 points and five assists in a 73-72 loss to Bishop, one of the most admirable performances you will ever see.

Howell said the towel gesture "meant a lot" and that "I tried to keep mind on the game instead of what went wrong with my father. But I'm not going to lie, I thought about it sometimes in the game, what would he say to me. I couldn't really let that get to me."

Here's a longer story from earlier in the week from the Gaston Gazette.

My heart's also out to Cherryville's Thomas Bess, who broke down after committing a costly foul and not getting a potential game-winning shot off in the final seconds of the defeat. All these kids play with such heart this time of year, and I hope the incredibly thin margin between victory and defeat doesn't let anyone lose sight of that effort.