The Sam Moir Christmas Classic notebook ...
This year, North Rowan is ready to present its rendition of Bryan’s song.
Bryan McCullough takes the annual title as marquee player in the Christmas Tournament. The 6-foot-5 senior has hit for 20 or more points six times. He is gaining popularity with college recruiters every time he steps onto the court. And his undefeated 7-0 Cavaliers are the No. 1 seed.
And McCullough says he is feeling no pressure.
“Now, it’s about having fun out there,” McCullough said.
Last year, the Cavs lost to Davie County in the finals but McCullough is not looking ahead.
“We know we haven’t won anything yet,” he said. “We’ll just try to come out and win them all.”
That quest begins tonight when the Cavs meet East Rowan at 8 p.m.
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$$$$$: Tournament director and Catawba College athletic director Dennis Davidson stood out in the crowded lobby Wednesday night beaming over the large number of fans and dreaming of a holiday gift like last season.
Davidson said the 1999 Moir tournament was the most well-attended and most lucrative.
The six schools that participated each received over $2,300, the most ever. There was a capacity crowd of 3,500 for North’s boys semifinal win over West and another 3,000 or so showed for the finals.
“Definitely, Scooter Sherrill influenced last year,” Davidson said of the former West All-American and current N.C. State freshman. “People from other schools wanted to see him play.
“Sometimes, people come to see West or Salisbury play twice and they’re out of here. But with Scooter in the house and the rivalry he had going with North, everybody wanted to see him — and (Davie star) Duane Phillips go against each other. They didn’t meet but the fans hung around anyway.”
Davidson was smiling as soon as the first game was played. A larger-than-expected crowd showed for the South vs. Davie girls game.
“It will be interesting to see how it goes this year since there’s no Scooter and North has already beaten West twice,” said Davidson.
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MORE MISSINGPERSONS: Salisbury’s girls aren’t as desperately short-handed as the Hornet boys, but they’re roster is also in a state of flux.
“It’s a new team every day,” said coach Jennifer Shoaf, trying to maintain a smile.
Freshman starter Ashton Hanrahan, who scored 21 points in back-to-back early games, is now living in Durham. Courtney Penny, who was on the opening day roster, has moved.
Promising inside player Chiffonia Doby is out for another week or so with a medical problem.
Veteran rebounder Crystal Taylor is no longer with the team, nor is Victoria Sanchez, who was on the opening day roster.
Shoaf has moved up several jayvees (sophomores Patricia Wilson, Ticora Jones and Maria Mendez) and freshman Taizia Abel to take up the slack.
Unfortunately, Abel, wasn’t available for Wednesday’s 60-49 loss to East Rowan.
Is there any good news for Shoaf? Yes. Anita Edwards and Jamie Seay are back from ankle injuries.
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COMINGBACK: East’s Lora Williams didn’t score on Wednesday. She had scored in 41 straight games in which she had seen action.
The reason is a thumb injury, which coach Randy Bingham estimates is about 80 percent right now.
“She played four games with it at about 50 percent,” said Bingham.
Williams had a number of rebounds, steals and assists, so she’s still helping the Mustangs, but it’s hard for her to shoot. She missed five free throw tries in a row.
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SHE’SARICHGIRL: Opponents of East Rowan are probably wondering when the Mustangs will field a team without a Rich girl on it.
Senior Emily Rich was East’s leading scorer Wednesday. She follows sister Lindsey, who played on Gina Talbert title teams a few years ago.
And for those who think the Rich girls are done after this season? Randy Bingham will give you that big smile.
Because he has Maggie Rich, who’s only a freshman.
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NOTHINGTOLOSE:The win by the East boys over South gave the Mustangs the first two-game winning streak since Mark Flynn became coach. East had not won twice in a row since it beat Central Cabarrus in back-to-back games, late in the 1995-96 season.
The amazing thing about the Mustangs is that they sound serious about making it three straight against mighty North Rowan tonight.
“If we play like we did against South, we can play with anyone in this tournament,” said senior forward Taylor Weber.
“We’ll be playing a great (North) team,” Flynn said. “But when we go hard for 32 minutes, we can cause problems. And we have absolutely nothing to lose.”
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NEWCOMERS: South girls coach James Greene brought two young players up to the varsity for the tournament — sophomore Nicole Parker and freshman Ellen Russell. They saw a lot of action in the Raiders’ 62-44 loss to Davie County on Wednesday.
“I think I’ve brought them up for good,” said Greene. “They are going to be our future. They just play so hard. I wouldn’t bring them up if we weren’t going to use them.”
Parker, who played with the varsity as a freshman until January, had two points, three steals, three assists, five rebounds and a blocked shot.
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DON’TFORGET: The girls championship game is set for 5:45 p.m. Friday night. The boys game will follow.
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Mike London and Ed Dupree contributed to the notebook.
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