A return trip was always the goal. Now, it is a reality. Greensboro Day School (NC) is officially headed back to DICK'S Sporting Goods High School Nationals in New York City for the second time in three seasons.

This time, however, the No. 17 Bengals are looking to make some noise.

Greensboro Day, the No. 7 seed in the national tournament after posting a 33-3 mark this season, does not have an easy path, though. The Bengals face No. 2 seed IMG Academy (FL) in the opening round March 30 at Christ The King High School. It will be a test perhaps unlike any other all season.

What's it going to take to get North Carolina's first win in the tournament? Legendary Greensboro Day head coach Freddy Johnson has an idea.

FLOHOOPS: Coach Johnson, what was going through your mind when you got the announcement that you were invited to DICK'S Nationals once again?
JOHNSON: I was so excited for our group, our players to get the opportunity. For seven of them to go back up there and for the other guys to have the first chance to go, it's such a first-class event. You hope you get one chance in a lifetime to do something like this, and I think having two chances in a lifetime to do it is really remarkable.

What does it say about this team in particular to get back to this spot?
I think this year's team, with our four seniors, leadership was the key. They led us all year and especially Jordan Perkins, our point guard. He kind of took it on his shoulders to make sure that we were ready to play in the big games, and he really did a good job of making sure we were prepared. The unsung hero, Solomon Smith, he stepped up.

Heading into this year, Greensboro Day had some high hopes and expectations to get to this, but did you have doubt that this would be possible at any point?
We scheduled our schedule this year with this goal in mind. We played a national schedule, and being able to play in Springfield (Spalding Hoophall Classic) and Chick-fil-A and going down and playing at Norcross (Peachtree Corners Invitational) in Atlanta, we felt like it put us in the position to be a contender for this and we were very fortunate to be chosen to go. I think that the team, their ultimate goal was to win the state championship, but this is just like icing on the cake to be able to have a chance to play in something like this.

What does this mean for a program like Greensboro Day School to have this opportunity once again?
We are a K-12 school and it's a great opportunity to represent Greensboro Day, but you're really representing the state of North Carolina in this thing. We are really representing all of the private schools, and we need to play well in this. North Carolina has never won a game in the thing yet, so it's really important for us to get a win.

What's it going to take to beat IMG Academy in the opening round?
From watching them on tape, I think the big thing it's going to take is our guards of (Will) Dillard, (John) Newman, and Perkins have to have exceptional games for us to win. I think [IMG] is really good and put a lot of pressure on the ball and they are big. And so we are going to have to do all of the little things well.

It's kind of like when we played Wheeler and Nuemann-Goretti. Those two teams, they are a combination like those two teams. They both had great point guards. So, we are going to have to slow them down, but we're also going to have to handle their pressure and don't let them put us in such a hurry. We have to make good decisions with he basketball.

Is IMG Academy point guard Trevon Duval the No. 1 priority to slow down or who does take the top priority?
Well, they have a little bit of everything. There's no doubt he's very, very important, and I think that slowing him down is going to be huge for us. He's an exceptional guard. I think we're going to have to do a good job there, but their big kid (Emmitt Williams), he blocks a lot shots. We're going to have to do a good job engaging him and making somebody else score. You cannot score right on him.

What's the experience going to be like for your team? What do you look to get out of this?
Some of the kids have never seen New York. I think that's going to be an experience for them. I think the basketball, being around good basketball teams, makes you better. I think it makes our culture better, and I think it shows them what they need to do to step up and play at the next level. 

You have a lot of great teams up there. The last time we played, we played Montverde Academy (FL). Of course, Ben Simmons is a pretty good player, but they had seven other Division I players so it wasn't just him. I think it shows you what you got to do because you might be the best player at our school or the best player in the city, but when you go on the national scene, you've got to step it up.

Are you ready to win?
Yes, we want to go up there and win. We thought we could give Montverde a game and we did for most of the first half and they just wore us out in the second half. When they put Simmons on our point guard, I think that kind of wore him down. In the second half, he struggled, and that made us struggle. 

The thing we are going to do different this year is hopefully be in better conditioned and we will be more game conditioned because last time I thought we weren't game conditioned. We're not used to having a month off from the time you play, and this year I think we've handled it a little better.