But what would have happened if the 2000 edition of the All-Rowan County boys basketball team had gone out on the floor?

“If it was a real team, I’d love to play with those guys,” said North Rowan guard Dre Byrd. “We could win a lot of games.”

He has a point. First of all, the 5-6 guard would be the one bringing the ball upcourt. He would have multiple options.

Perhaps he’d throw it to All-American Scooter Sherrill. Or he might dump it in to 6-7 Donte Minter of West Rowan or 6-6 forwards Bryan McCullough of North and Damien Argrett of South.

He could kick it out to the wings to slashers Terris Sifford of West or Thad Pryor of Salisbury. Maybe he’d let Taylor Weber fake a jumper and go to the basket.

And when it was time to let someone else bring the ball up, he’d turn things over to Salisbury’s Boo Blount, a deft passer, or South senior guard Drew King, who could easily pull up and drain a three.

It is the typical all-Rowan County team. It can do a little of everything.

This year’s club has only one 1,000-point scorer in Scooter Sherrill but he made up for it by scoring over twice that many for his career. Byrd, McCullough and Minter all have chances to reach that plateau before they leave their schools.

They come from five different schools and three different conferences but the most intense games were played at home. Remember the Sam Moir Christmas Classic when North and West’s semifinal clash drew a capacity crowd of 3,500?

“If you can’t motivate yourself to play against the best, you shouldn’t be playing basketball,” said North coach Kelly Everhart. “Some of the best games involved teams in Rowan.”

Capsules of the 2000 all-county players:

Scooter Sherrill, West Rowan. Haven’t we said everything there is about Scooter? What’s one more time?

All together now: A McDonald’s All-American. Leading all-time scorer in Rowan County. Committed to N.C. State. Played in the Hoop Summit in Indianapolis. Played in the McDonald’s game in Boston. Will play Monday in the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic in Raleigh. Averaged 25.2 points per game in 2000. Scored a school record 43 against Piedmont. He is a four-time all-Rowan County player. Hit double figures in all 29 games this season, including seven 30-plus outings.

Damien Argrett, South. He may have been the best story of the year. He grew eight inches from his junior to senior year and became a force for John Davis’ team. He averaged 15.4 points. He had 19 double-figure games with a high of 40 (to go with 23 rebounds) against Northwest Cabarrus.

Thad Pryor, Salisbury. Pryor, a senior, was a starter for Salisbury for four years. He averaged in double figures (13.8) this season and the 6-4 forward led the Hornets to the sectionals. He jumped into the top 10 in career scoring with 889 points. He scored 401 this year. He scored 28 against Davie, 25 against South and Lexington and 22 against North Stanly.

Terry Johnson, Salisbury. Johnson was one of four Hornets to average at least nine points. He didn’t score as much as was expected but the 6-3 senior did a little of everything for Salisbury. In one 3-game stretch against Ledford, North Stanly and North Rowan, he had 18, 18 and 25 points.

Drew King, South. Another senior, King came into his own this season. He started strong (18 points in the opener against East) and finished strong with a career-high 28 against Mount Tabor. He hit double-figures his last three games. He was the floor leader for John Davis’ team.

Taylor Weber, East. In a 4-20 year, Weber was a player coach Mark Flynn could count on. He averaged 9.6 points, which wasn’t the highest on the team but he gave the Mustangs a steadying influence and rebounding. He wasn’t afraid to go inside against the South Piedmont Conference trees. He had 26 points against Concord and 18 against state champion Central Cabarrus.

Terris Sifford, West. The junior had the reputation of being the top defensive stopper in the county. Mike Gurley always put the 6-3 Sifford on the toughest offensive opponent, usually with good results. But Sifford could also score. He averaged 8.5 points on a team that really didn’t need his scoring. His high game was 15 against Salisbury and had two 14-point outings. He had 12 against Asheville Erwin in the regionals.

Dre Byrd, North. Byrd was the county’s second-leading scorer from his point guard position. He poured in 17.2 per game. He hit double figures 23 of 25 games and had at least 20 in nine of those. His high was 27 against High Point Central. He was without a doubt, the quickest player in Rowan County, which helped his penetration on offense and his steals total on defense.

Bryan McCullough, North. The recipient of a lot of Byrd’s passes, McCullough showed off his athleticism almost every game. The 6-6 star could slam it with the best but also go outside and pop some threes. He hit double figures 17 times with a high of 27 in North’s gigantic 73-64 win over West. Along with Byrd, he should be one of the seniors in the state next year.

Boo Blount, Salisbury. Blount was arguably the best passer in the county. He could always find the open man and coach Drew Mathews would always say when Blount plays well, Salisbury plays well. He had 11 double-figure games, including 27 against Ledford, averaging nine points for the year.