South Rowan boys basketball coach John Davis didn’t really know what Salisbury was going to throw at his club Thursday afternoon in Catawba College’s Goodman Gymnasium.
Unfortunately for Salisbury coach Drew Mathews, he did know what was going to be thrown at him.
A whole lot of Mo Torrence. A whole lot of Doug Daugherty.
And a whole lot of those two were way too much for Salisbury’s inexperienced lineup in the Raiders’ 76-45 rout.
The contest meant little, considering it was a consolation game in the Sam Moir Christmas Classic. But South did bounce back from a devastating loss to East Rowan a night earlier.
“Itold the guys, we’re not playing the Christmas Tournament any longer,” said Davis. “It’s just another game now. The worst-case scenario is that we’re one game under .500 and the best-case scenario is we’re just like we were when we came in here.”
There were nothing but “bests” for South (7-6) from the midway point of the second quarter. After feeling out Mathews’ new lineup (due to some academic problems), the Raiders finally figured it out: Get the ball inside to Torrence. Get the ball outside to Daugherty.
Salisbury was actually leading 25-22 with two minutes left before halftime. And then, in rapid succession, Torrence took a feed from Scott Beck for a layup. Daugherty took a feed from Beck for a layup. Then, it was Daugherty for a layup. Then, it was Torrence for a layup.
The 8-0 run gave the Raiders a 30-25 halftime advantage. And the two senior stars had scored all 14 of South’s second quarter points.
“That’s a nice 1-2 combination,” Mathews admitted. “When you can go outside and inside, that’s tough to beat.”
Mathews hadn’t seen anything yet. South hit its stride in the third quarter, outscoring Salisbury 22-8. A 10-0 run, led by Daugherty’s two buckets, along with 3’s by Beck and Tore’ Girty blew the game wide open.
With the score 48-29 late in the third, Davis began emptying his bench.
And what happens? Gary Propst promptly hits two free throws. Tre Hornbeak steals the ball and banks in a shot on a pretty move.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Daugherty and Torrence sat with 21 and 16 points as Davis gave them a chance to cheer on the subs, who played like starters.
In an impressive 24-point final period, everybody seemed to get in on the act. Hornbeak was throwing his big body around, scoring eight. Burly Joel Patterson was throwing everyone else out of the way, scoring seven.
Marquette Diggs was slashing his way for four points. Jerrell Mack, in his first season of organized ball, was pounding his way inside, going for rebounds and blocks. Zach Willett blocked a shot and sank a layup.
“Itold the guys, we’re like a four-headed monster,” Davis said. “We have four seniors averaging the majority of our points and when the juniors throw in 9, 10, 11 points, it helps us out. We had talked about giving these guys some more playing time. They’re our future. Today, everybody contributed.”
Mathews was thoroughly impressed as his 2-6 team continues to grow up.
“South is a veteran ballclub,” he said. “We’re still learning about execution and getting in the right places.”
But while all of the Raiders impressed Mathews, he kept tossing out the same name: Torrence.
“He’s a man. Basically, he beat us because he got the ball and went to work.”
South’s work is now done for 2000 and that might be the only thing that didn’t please Davis as he packed up to go home.
“We’d rather be playing tonight (in the semifinals) at 7:30,” he said.
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NOTES: Daugherty, known for his outside bombing, was the layup king against Salisbury, hitting five. ... The 31-point margin was South’s largest of the season. ... Point guard Nathan Kennedy played some hard-nosed defense, so much so that once, after flying out of bounds, an appreciative Davis ran down the bench to slap five. ... Randall Jones led Salisbury with 15. Jamar Conners and Bryan Roten also had good games. ... South has won five of its last seven games.
SALISBURY (45) — Jones 15, Knauf 6, Conners 6, Greene 4, Roten 4, Stevenson 4, Mears 2, Boyd 2, Geter 2, Miller, Campbell, Davis, Bost.
SALISBURY (76)— Daugherty 21, Torrence 16, Hornbeak 10, Patterson 7, Girty 6, Beck 5, Diggs 4, Kennedy 2, Propst 2, Willett 2, Childers 1, Mack, Biles.
Salisbury 14 11 8 12 — 45
South Rowan 16 14 22 24 — 76
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