In previous years, you had the sense that the supremely talented point guard played for the crowd and the stats and the glory. Now that he’s a senior, you have the sense that Byrd plays for his teammates and his coach and his school. You get the sense that, at last, Byrd gets it.

Oh, the devilish glint in his eye and the mischievous grin is still there. The flair is still there, the ability to bring a packed house to its feet with a Globetrotter-esque shot or pass or dribble is still there. But now there’s a control and a maturity and a sense of urgency that was never there before.

“Yeah, I’ve grown up,” smiles Byrd. “I’m handling the stress better.”

Wednesday night. North Rowan’s boys (7-0) gave West Rowan (7-3) a 70-55 beating, and it was Byrd who orchestrated every moment of it. He played the music and West danced to his tempo.

“We beat West (60-56) last week,” said Byrd, “but people didn’t see the real North. So we had something to prove tonight. We wanted to come in and work hard and play good defense.”

When Byrd speaks of defense and hard work rather than his mind-blowing crossover or that ungodly twisting layup he made, you know times have changed.

Remember two years ago when the Cavaliers were wildly talented, but also wild and crazy? Remember how if you had Cavs coach Kelly Everhart on your Christmas list, you probably bought him Prozac?

Then there was last season, when the Cavs ran the table in the 2A Central Carolina Conference, but flamed out in a sectional final. As juniors, the Cavs talked early and often about Chapel Hill, but didn’t get any closer than Asheboro.

“Chapel Hill is still the goal,” said Byrd. “But now it’s one game at a time. We’re focusing on each game, each practice.”

That’s not just saying what he’s supposed to say. Byrd and the other four seniors who start for North were one focused, together bunch last night.

“If they play with that focus, that’s a state championship team,” said West coach Mike Gurley.

You know the names of the North players by now as well as you know the days of the week. They’ve been around forever. Besides Byrd, there’s 6-5 Bryan McCullough, one of best players in the state. Then there’s defensive whiz Chris Phillips. Marcus Reddick, who makes tough shots look easy, and Marcus Lawing, a thinking man trapped in an enforcer’s body.

In other words, North has veterans — seasoned young men — and they handed West’s young kids a hard hoops lesson.

“I am tickled to death with my team,” said Everhart. “When you have guards who can handle like Dre and Chris, you put the ball in their hands and not many people will beat you. We’ve got so many kids who have been in the trenches and played in big games, so it isn’t new to them. Right now, I’m in heaven, I really am.”

Gurley, on the other hand, was somewhere in the other direction. West has lost just 13 times on his four-year watch. Sometimes, after those rare losses he is angry. Sometimes he is sarcastic. This time, maybe for the first time, he was subdued— fully aware that for one night at least, North’s experience made it not just a bit better, but a lot better than his guys.

“All props to North Rowan,” said Gurley. “Byrd was a leader and McCullough was fantastic. Our guys have just got to get better. North has a bunch of winners and we’ve got to find out if we’ve got it inside us to be winners. We’ve got to figure out how to play a complete game.”

North jumped out 5-0 in front of an SRO crowd, but then West, with Gurley screaming, “Inside, go inside” on every possession, went on an impressive 18-4 burst to take an 18-9 lead.

Playing in West’s gym, a less mature team might have fallen apart. Instead, the Cavs fell in behind McCullough and he brought them back. His jumper stopped West’s run. Then he made a layup. Then he beat Falcon star Donte Minter for a three-point play on the baseline. Then he made two of the nine straight foul shots he converted. Just like that, 18-all.

West still led 28-26 at half. But then came the third quarter and one of the worst eight minutes in Falcon history. In the third, North body-slammed West 26-9. The Falcons got just one point beyond the eight scored by Minter.

The turning point came at 6:02 in the third and the score tied at 32. Lawing and West’s Jason Williams went to the floor after a loose ball and there was a brief altercation. Emotions spilled over. West never seemed to recover its composure. North did — quickly.

“We play with emotion; we’re an emotional team,” said Byrd. “But we stayed under control.”

Soon after that incident, Minter and Falcon soph Junior Hairston picked up technicals. Minter’s was iffy; Hairston’s was not. Then Jason Williams missed a dunk.

Meanwhile, Byrd and McCullough hammered in free throw after free throw and North’s lead began to grow. Then reserve Omar Witherspoon got a big hoop after a melee on the boards. When McCullough scored on an offensive rebound to close the quarter, North led by a stunning 52-37. It had outscored the Falcons 20-5 after tempers flared.

“Our poise was the key,” said Everhart.

“You could tell that West is real young,” said McCullough, pointing at his noggin. “You gotta think. You just can’t do stuff like they did.”

With the lead, Everhart sat down Byrd, who scored 19, and McCullough, who had 20, midway through the fourth quarter. He was resting them in case West had enough left for one last run.

That run never came. Then Byrd sprinted back on the floor, after a solid relief stint by Eric Davis, and exploded for several quick steals and layups to put the game on ice. Tim Mauldin was whistled for an intentional foul on one of those layups. It was not a dirty play, but Byrd crashed down hard and the call was made.

Maybe the most telling moment in the game came after Byrd launched a fourth-quarter airball. The West crowd got on him. The next time down, he fired another 3. This one swished. Last year, he would have pointed at the crowd for the next two minutes.

This time, he said nothing — just started playing defense. Yep, Byrd has grown up — and so have his talented teammates.

NORTH ROWAN (70) — McCullough 20, Byrd 19, Lawing 13, Reddick 6, Witherspoon 5, Phillips 3, Hosch 2, Davis 2, House, Bates, Peoples.

WEST ROWAN (55)— Minter 17, Mauldin 6, Hairston 6, Gaither 5, J. Williams 4, Everhart 4, Pritchard 4, P. Williams 4, Barringer 3, Diggs 2, Goodnight, Trosper, Johnson.

North Rowan 9 17 26 18 — 70

West Rowan 16 12 9 18 — 55