Fort Mill, SC – The Winston-Salem Wolves are the ECBL Northern Conference Champions, having maintained their undefeated season
with a win over the Petersburg Cavaliers 127-100. The win not only wraps up the conference title for the Wolves, but also advances
them to the ECBL Championship on June 22.
Winston-Salem entered the ECBL playoffs as the #1 overall seed, earning a first round playoff bye, then defeated the Durham-based NC Coyotes in the second round in order to advance to the conference championship.
Petersburg entered the playoffs as the #3 conference playoff seed and advanced after defeating Rowan County in the opening round and followed up with an upset over the #2 seed, Hampton Roads.
Winston-Salem entered the conference championship without starting rookie guard Khadier Fulcher, who was sidelined by injury in the second round of the playoffs. Despite still having depth at the guard and post positions, the Wolves fell behind early, trailing Petersburg by as manay as 14 early in the first quarter. The Wolves managed to chip away at the lead throughout the period, finally getting close as guard Joshea Singleton drained a three pointer to cut the lead to 5 as time expired.
The second quarter saw back-and-forth scoring as the Wolves finally took their first lead, then pulled away in the 3rd period to lead by double digits
most of the quarter before finally securing a large lead with under 3 minutes to play, closing out the win.
Winston-Salem remains the #1 seed overall and will face the #2 seed overall PrimeTime Players, a storied team based in Fort Mill, SC, for the ECBL Championship on June 22 on the Wolves’ home court. PrimeTime is the four-time defending repeat champion of the ECBL but will have to play on the road, having suffered a single loss earlier in the year to a conference rival.
This sets up a significant battle for the ECBL Championship; the Wolves, in their first year, would be considered underdogs as PrimeTime has never lost an ECBL title. However the Wolves are the 2019 #1 seed and have home court advantage. Notable players for PrimeTime include current league MVP Chris Moore, wing PJ Heath and forward Odell Turner, but PrimeTime is a balanced team with several players who can play multiple positions.
For Winston-Salem, three players were named as ECBL All-Stars this season, including point guard Antonio Robinson, Joshea Singleton and Khadier Fulcher. However, despite missing Fulcher for the title game, the Wolves also have former South Carolina Gamecock Brandis Raley-Ross, big man Chris Woods and forward Zalinor Banks, all of whom have had multiple big scoring games this season.
PrimeTime looks to push the ball and uses spacing to free up their sharpshooting guards and are deadly in transition; Winston-Salem has strengh and size in the backcourt and throws multiple lineups on the floor with scoring coming from multiple players.
Tip time for the championship is 6pm ET at Forsyth Country Day school.
