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SPENCER— Mark Flynn found no weaknesses in the North Rowan boys basketball team Wednesday night.
That’s OK, though. No one else has, either.
Bryan McCullough scored a season-high 26 points in three quarters of action as the Cavaliers rolled to a 71-49 nonconference win over East. For the second straight game, North (4-0) shot 50-percent from the field. Against the Mustangs, the high-octane offense added a mere 10 turnovers.
“The scoring discrepancy is pretty big, but we’re not going out of here with our heads down,”Flynn said. “This is a great team. I see no weaknesses out there. You want to win them all, but this was a good game that will get us ready for the conference.”
The Mustangs (2-5) hit four quick shots for a 9-6 lead before North ended the first quarter on an 18-4 run. McCullough scored three low-post buckets and added a 3-pointer, Chris Phillips started the run with a trey and Marcus Reddick ended the quarter with another after Dre Byrd penetrated, drew the defense and kicked out for the buzzer-beater.
“Their size hurt us, but they hurt us from everywhere,”Flynn said. “They’re a hard team to stop.”
North head coach Kelly Everhart watched the quarter unfold and sat back with a sigh of relief. The Cavs’ biggest game of the season comes tonight against ultra-rival West Rowan, which could have spelled trouble Wednesday against East.
“I was very concerned that we’d come out flat, looking ahead,”Everhart said. “I was emphasizing before the game how important it was to take them one day at a time.”
McCullough wasn’t going to let an under-sized Mustang squad walk away with an upset. After East cut the lead to 10 in the second quarter on consecutive baskets by TaylorWeber, Lawing found McCullough open underneath for a two-handed slam. Another score in the post closed the half with North leading 45-31.
“I was just sneaking inside, scoring off rebounds and waiting for my shot to come from 3,”said McCullough, who scored 10 points in the second quarter on 5-for-6 shooting from the floor.
His first score of the second half came from long range — and preceded two more post moves that stretched the lead to 22 points, the highest it got all night. His 26 points stood one shy of his career best, which came last season in North’s upset of West in the Rowan County Christmas Tournament.
This season, McCullough is averaging 23 points a game.
“Bryan’s been steady night in and night out,”Everhart said. “So far he hasn’t had an off night shooting the ball. If he stays consistent, we’re going to be tough to beat.”
East refused to be intimidated by McCullough’s brilliance, and the North center noticed. The Mustangs did a great rebounding job all night withWeber and reserve Matt Belk often holding their own inside.
“They don’t have any big guys, but they played hard inside,”McCullough said. “They did a great job on the offensive boards.”
Weber finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Belk came off the bench with four points in the third quarter and added seven boards in limited duty.
“We got great play from the power forward position,”Flynn said. “Taylor Weber — and Matt sparked us a little bit off the bench.”
Justin Miller scored 18 points to lead East, which shot 21-for-57 (37 percent) from the floor and committed 19 turnovers thanks to the up-tempo North defense.
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NOTES: Byrd didn’t start thanks to a hip-pointer that’s still bothering him from football season. TheCavs also were without backups Omar Witherspoon, who hit his head in practice Tuesday and was out with a headache, and Graham Hosch, who went home from school early in the day. … North did show one weakness — a 7-for-18 showing from the free-throw line.
EAST (49) — Miller 18, Weber 14, Cornelius 5, Belk 4, Ledbetter 2, Talbert 2, Whitley 2, Butler 2, Misenheimer.
NORTH (71)— McCullough 26, Lawing 10, Reddick 9, Phillips 8, House 6, Byrd 5, Davis 5, Peoples 2, Bates.
East Rowan 13 18 10 8 — 49
North Rowan 24 21 13 13 — 71
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