East Rowan’s boys basketball team scratched a seven-year itch, knocking off South Rowan for the first time since Catawba home run hero David Trexler led the Mustangs past the Raiders in the 1993 Sam Moir Christmas Classic.
Nine straight times, Mustang teams had fallen to South prior to Wednesday night’s 78-72 first-round stunner that was so compelling it made up for an opening day that had lacked any sort of drama (rather than who is and isn’t eligible around the county these days) up to that point.
The ninth of those consecutive South victories was an 87-65 wipeout on opening night this season. That was a painful pounding that stuck in the craw of Mustang seniors Taylor Weber, Justin Miller and Adam Cornelius.
“They humiliated us that night at South,” said Weber, who scored 20 points. “South had beaten us every time we seniors had ever played them — at our place, at their place and in the Christmas tournament. It was time to pay them back. I wanted it. We all wanted it.”
They got it.
Former South coach Bob Parker commented before the contest that this was a dangerous game for the fourth-seeded Raiders (6-6). It turned out to be downright deadly. South was reduced to taking on Salisbury for pride in a 1:30 consolation game today.
Fifth-seeded East (4-5) outrebounded South thanks to inspired efforts by Weber (12 boards) and Matt Belk (nine). It also shot incredibly well. The Mustangs made 59 percent from the field and much of that was from long distance. Miller, who led East with 25 points, made five of his team’s eight 3-point goals.
The first half was a shooting gallery. Neither team is big and for a long spell they exchanged 3-point missiles on every trip down the floor. South jumped out 9-2 and led 22-16 after a first quarter in which senior forward Scott Beck scored 10 points.
The Raider lead reached nine midway through the second quarter, but that’s when the crowd started to sense that something unusual might happen. East coach Mark Flynn steadied his team with a timeout and after a Weber three-point play, the Mustangs were down just 34-31 at the half.
Then came the third quarter. And for eight magic minutes, the Mustangs played what may have been their best ball in a decade — maybe since they last won the tourney in 1975. In the third, East missed exactly one shot. And that was a Miller miss that Weber cleaned up and converted.
East was down 39-33 when it ripped off nine straight points. Weber was the catalyst, hitting a 3-pointer, feeding Miller for a layup, then taking a backdoor pass from Raymondo Brady for another layup. Suddenly, East led 42-39. When Brent Whitley connected in the lane to end the third quarter, the Mustangs had upped the lead to 59-50. East had put up 28 points in the quarter.
“East shot very well, about as well as you can shoot it,” said South coach John Davis. “But we didn’t do a lot to prevent it. I question our defensive intensity.”
Everyone knew South would make a fourth-quarter run and it did. Doug Daugherty, quiet all night, suddenly overheated. He poured in 17 of his 21 in the final quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers that came just 11 seconds apart.
Daugherty’s second 3 cut East’s edge to 75-72 with 53 seconds remaining.
But East’s seniors weren’t going to let this one get away. Cornelius, who had run the show unselfishly, made two huge free throws at the 44-second mark to push the lead back to 77-72.
Beck then missed a 3 with 25 seconds left. Daugherty rebounded, but Brady got a hand on his 3-point try.
Belk then came up with the ball after a wild scramble underneath and East was home free. Fittingly, Weber dropped in a free throw with nine seconds remaining to finish the scoring.
“We found our intensity at the very end — maybe the last three minutes,” said Davis. “But where was it for the first 29 (minutes)? This is a rivalry game. It was a rivalry back when I played at South. East remembered that it was a rivalry game, but we stunk it up.”
The flip side of the coin was Flynn, whose grin was so wide, you feared that he’d get stuck in the narrow basement corridors of Goodman Gym.
“I’m happy for the kids and I’m personally as happy as I can be,” said the young coach, who enjoyed his biggest win yet at East. “The seniors stepped up big and played like seniors. Miller knocked open shots down, Weber had a great all-round game and got every big rebound. Cornelius handled the pressure, made the free throws.”
East faces No. 1 North (7-0) in a semifinal tonight at 7:30. North won an earlier encounter 71-49.
“But we’re a different team now than we used to be,” warned Miller. “We’ve got confidence.”
EASTROWAN (78) — Miller 25, Weber 20, Cornelius 8, Butler 6, Belk 6, Brady 6, Talbert 3, Whitley 2, Misenheimer 2.
SOUTH ROWAN (72)— Daugherty 21, Beck 14, Torrence 12, Girty 10, Kennedy 6, Diggs 4, Childers 2, Hornbeak 2, Patterson 1, Propst, Willett, Biles, Mack.
East Rowan 16 15 28 19 — 78 South Rowan 22 12 16 22 — 72
Today's News