SPENCER — Two basketball teams with state championship ambitions clashed here Thursday night, and it was a big night for the unbeaten Cavaliers.
Host North Rowan held off West Rowan’s Falcons 60-56 before one of the largest crowds in history at the North gym. The victory gave North a 5-0 record, while the Falcons dropped to 6-2.
On a night when West’s 6-foot-7 center, Donte Minter, would surpass 1,000 points for his career, it was North’s defense that stole the show. The Cavaliers’ zone press helped cause many of West’s 27 turnovers.
Minter, despite foul trouble, scored a game-high 22 points, giving him 1,018 for his career, but North had a balanced attack led by 6-5 center Bryan McCullough with 16. Point guard Dre Byrd and forward Marcus Lawing added 13 and 10, respectively, for the winners.
Coach Kelly Everhart of North didn’t go with the fullcourt pressure immediately, because he was concerned about his team having to play three games in three nights. However, late in the first quarter, he made his decision.
“Our kids get motivated whenever we press. I decided, ‘What the heck, we need to try to do what we could do to win this one.’ The kids really got after it. We didn’t press from the very beginning because I wanted to kind of evaluate where we were before I determined if I thought we had enough legs to do that,” said Everhart.
The Cavaliers showed their defensive talent in the halfcourt game, too. In the final minute, Minter drove into the lane and put up a floater in front of the rim that would have tied the score, but McCullough blocked the shot and came up with the rebound. Byrd made two free throws with 10 seconds left to put North up by four.
“Bryan McCullough made a great play,” said coach Mike Gurley of West. “I give Bryan all the credit in the world for that. It was the only time all night that Donte didn’t get hacked inside.”
Everhart said, “The first game down at Kannapolis, Bryan got a block right at the end of the game to stop a 3-pointer. This block tonight was awfully big. Bryan has a knack for getting to the ball.”
“It was a great defensive play,” said Minter. “He stopped me from doing what I had to do. That’s how it goes. We’ll get another shot at them Wednesday.”
The big rivals meet in another nonconference contest at West on Wednesday in the final pre-Christmas contest for both teams.
It was a rare victory for the Cavaliers, even though North knocked off West and former superstar Scooter Sherrill in the Sam Moir Christmas Classic last year. The Cavaliers snapped a 22-game losing streak to West in regular-season contests, stretching back to December of 1988.
“North Rowan is a quality basketball team,” said Gurley. “If they don’t win the state (2A) championship, it will be a rough year for them. They’ve got so much talent that they don’t have enough balls to go around. They’ve got great basketball players, and they’ve got a quality basketball team.”
Everhart, now 2-2 against West teams, countered, “Mike likes to put pressure on people. I could just as easily stand here and say he should win the 3A championship. He’s got a talented bunch, and they’re awfully big. People are going to have trouble matching up against him all year long. There are not too many kids in the state that are going to match up with Donte inside. We were fortunate tonight to get him in some foul trouble early on. His is obviously their team leader, because you saw a great big difference when he came back in the game in the fourth quarter over what they did in the third quarter.”
Minter picked up two first-quarter fouls, then got his third with 28 seconds left in the first half. He started the second half, but lasted only 13 seconds after a double foul was called on him and North’s Marcus Lawing.
West, down 32-31 at halftime, went ahead briefly on a basket by reserve Jason Williams, but the Falcons were soon down seven at 43-36 without their big man. It was 47-41 at the end of the quarter.
When Minter returned with 6:30 to play, his team trailed only 49-45. He scored nine points in the next six minutes and pulled the Falcons within 58-56 by making two free throws with 25 seconds to play.
With North reserve Graham Hosch trying to make the inbounds pass, West’s quick Horatio Everhart caused the ball to bounce out of bounds off a North player. West quickly turned the ball back over to the Cavaliers, but Everhart came up with another steal to keep the Falcons alive.
That’s when West Rowan got the ball to Minter for his shot in the lane.
“We came in and had four sophomores on the floor. Weren’t they supposed to beat us really bad?” said Gurley. “The last time I looked, we were in the game with 10 seconds to go. What that tells me is, we’ve got a good basketball team. ... The bottom line is, we played hard.”
Byrd, who had two big steals in the fourth quarter, was elated with the victory in the big rivalry that has been dominated by the Falcons over more than a decade.
“If you can hold your own against West, you can pretty much hold your own against anybody.It’s like a measuring stick right there,” said the quick point guard.
Byrd said when West had a chance to tie in the final seconds, he was thinking about what the Cavaliers would do next.
“I figured, if we go to overtime, we could pull it out. We knew if they scored again, we’d have the ball with a couple of seconds left, and we felt we would have scored and pulled the game out,” Byrd added.
Everhart said he was glad his team had had to play in such a tension-filled contest this early in the season.
“It was a great atmosphere. The gym was packed. It was two very good basketball teams going head to head. We’re both going to benefit from it, win or lose. It’s going to make you better down the line. We haven’t had any games with that kind of pressure all year,” he said.
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NOTES: Co-athletics director Ron Corriher of North said several hundred fans had to be turned away because the gym was filled to capacity late in the girls game, which opened the doubleheader. ... North was 19-for-51 (37.3 percent) on field goals and 18-for-30 at the foul line, where the Cavs had a 10-point advantage. West went 23-for-52 (44.2 percent) on field goals and 8-for-14 at the foul line. ... North had 19 turnovers, but had as much trouble holding onto the ball in the final quarter as did the Falcons. Each team had nine fourth-period turnovers. ... Reserve Jason Williams grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Falcons to a 36-23 advantage on the boards. McCullough paced North with seven rebounds. ... Both teams will be in action tonight with North visiting county rival South Rowan in non-conference play and West hosting Concord in the South Piedmont Conference.
WEST ROWAN (56) — Minter 22, Barringer 11, P.Williams 9, J.Williams 6, Gaither 4, Hairston 4, Mauldin, Everhart, Goodnight, Diggs.
NORTH ROWAN (60)— McCullough 16, Byrd 13, Lawing 10, Reddick 9, Hosch 4, Witherspoon 4, Phillips 3, Bates 1, Davis.
West Rowan 16 15 10 15 — 56
North Rowan 14 18 15 13 — 50
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