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GREENSBORO - Don't make plans early on Friday night.

With victories Wednesday, Grimsley and Page advanced to Friday's Metro 4-A tournament final at Page's Mac Morris Gymnasium. The last three times they've met there, they've gone into overtime.

"If we have to go late," Whirlies head coach Darren Corbett said, "we will."

The Pirates advanced with a resounding 84-68 victory over Northwest Guilford, which has already secured a playoff spot in head coach Manny Bloom's first season.

Grimsley needed a late push to hold off pesky High Point Central 63-57.

The Whirlies now get their fourth shot at Page, the only team to beat them since Jan. 9.

The Pirates beat Grimsley 71-54 at the Pizza Hut Invitational, 55-50 on Jan. 16 at Grimsley and 76-62 at home Feb. 6.

Coaches talk about it being difficult to beat a team three times in one season, but Page head coach Robert Kent remembers playing Thomasville five times one year while he was at Ledford.

"Playing for the championship, that all goes out the window," he said.

In Wednesday's semifinal, Grimsley outscored the Bison 20-8 in the second quarter and built a 12-point advantage in the third,

but that lead shrunk to four after Dez Kennedy's layup with 5 minutes remaining capped an 8-0 Central run and made it 54-50.

The Bison, the only team to beat Page in conference play, extended their press all the way out and made getting the ball up the court like running through wet sand.

The Whirlies broke through to score seven straight, and they never let Central get closer than four again.

Corbett said playing with a lead has been a work in progress for his team, which features seven sophomores.

The Whirlies led Smith by 25 last week and won by 12.

"We've been so erratic. We build just enough cushion to win," Corbett said. "This is new for them. They've just got to make sure to take better care of the ball down the stretch."

Derek Grant had 17 points and Kennedy 10 for Central.

The Vikings put a scare into Page when they met Friday, racing to a 20-point first-quarter lead before the Pirates' Julius Brooks took control with a 27-point, 20-rebound performance.

Bloom worried about a repeat of that performance, but it wound up more like these two teams' first meeting, when they played even for a quarter before

Page pulled away in the second.

It was tied at 13 after one Friday before Page went on a 13-0 run. Brooks had four points at halftime, but the Pirates still took a 10-point lead into the locker room by disrupting the Vikings on the perimeter.

Northwest junior Kyle Vebber, who hit eight 3-pointers and had 30 points Friday, scored 11 Wednesday.

"We pressured, sped them up a little bit and they missed some shots,"

Kent said. "You can't let them get any good looks. They're really, really good shooters."

"Once we got a hand up, it was over," said Finney, who wound up with a game-high 22 points.

The Vikings scratched back to within 46-45 in the third, but Mitchell Oates turned a steal into a layup and followed it with a 3-pointer, and Finney made back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch the lead back to 10.

Oates finished with 21.

"Can't wait (for Grimsley)," Finney said. "They always come to play."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com

High Point Central - Akeem Langham 7, David Ledbetter 7, Derek Grant 17, Kyle Currie 5, Archie Lynch 2, Xavier Nieves 3, Lucas Lockhart 3, Shea Bethea 3, Dez Kennedy 10. Grimsley - Lashawn Brown 2, Isley Cade 5, Carter Gourley 12, Krechaun Williams 9, Lee Sweeney 10, Keith Manley 17, Michael O'Rourke 2.

Northwest Guilford - Hunter Clary 11, Tyler Hartman 5, Andy Fox 9, Devin Murphy 13, Jarquise Lucas 7, Matt Pawlowski 3, Lucas Reed 1, Kyle Vebber 11, Adam Coble 8. Page - AJ Finney 22, Mitchell Oates 21, Jordan Weethee 13, Colin Daly 9, Julius Brooks 9, Delmone Harrison 5, Jonathan Spain 4, Jackson Kent 1.