Can you be all-tournament without being named to the all-tournament team?
Bryan McCullough was Friday night as North Rowan’s 71-66 win over arch-rival West Rowan gave the Cavaliers the championship of the Sam Moir Christmas Classic.
At least, he was to his coach Kelly Everhart. And to West coach Mike Gurley. And even to teammate Marcus Lawing, who walked out with the Most Valuable Player award.
McCullough, a 6-foot-5 forward, is usually the main man for the Cavaliers. He is the leading scorer. He is the most heavily recruited. But as he proved against the Falcons, he doesn’t have to be the main man on this unbelievably talented team.
Think about it. McCullough scored just 19 points in two tournament contests, including 11 last night. That’s one point less than his average per game. But he doesn’t have to score a lot for the Cavaliers to win. And he knows it.
“I just try to do the dirty work and get the W,” he said. “On our team, anybody can step up on any given night. And that’s how I like it.”
And that’s why coaches like Everhart and Gurley appreciate the McCulloughs of the world. In this day and age, they are becoming few and far between.
“I was very proud of Bryan,” said Everhart, toting the championship trophy out of Catawba College’s Goodman Gym. “He could’ve come down here (to the locker room) and very easily have been mad, saying, ‘I should’ve been on that team.’ But he was giving the others high-fives. From a coaching standpoint, it makes me feel real good.”
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It also makes guys like Lawing and Marcus Reddick feel pretty good too. They did make all-tournament with Lawing capturing the MVPaward.
“I was surprised, to tell you the truth,” Lawing said of his award.“I thought they only go by points. Sometimes, I think they should look at defense.”
McCullough may not have scored much against West — he was just 3-for-10 from the field — but he didn’t go unappreciated by the MVP.
“Bryan still helped us out,”said Lawing, a 6-2 inside player. “He had a lot of assists, plenty of blocks and he rebounded. When he isn’t scoring, everybody else has to pick up the slack.”
Reddick, who could just as easily have been the MVP after a 15-point night, agreed.
“Anybody can lead this team,” he said. “and if somebody tries to stop just one person, you’re going to be in a world of trouble.”
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Balance among county powers was something McCullough wanted to talk about afterward.
“The balance of power has shifted, I guess,” he said. “It’s our time to shine.”
Balance is all Everhart could talk about too. He was picking up uniforms as assistant David Berrier ripped off the scoring totals.
“It was amazing how balanced it was,” Everhart said. “Marcus had 15 while everybody else had like 9 or 10.”
The balance showed immediately. McCullough actually hit the game’s first basket. Then Graham Hosch scored. Then Lawing. Then Chris Phillips to Reddick for a 3-point play. When Reddick bombed in a three, it was 20-11. When North’s newest addition, Junior Farmer, a 6-6, 280-pound behemoth, scored, North led 26-19 and led from two to 12 points the remainder.
It seemed North always had an answer for a West rally. When Tim Mauldin and Junior Hairston sliced a 12-point lead to seven, Reddick drilled a three.
When West cut it to 51-47 going into the fourth quarter, McCullough’s all-around game kicked in. He fed Phillips for a 3-point play. He assisted Lawing and gave North a 62-54 lead on a bucket. He then hit three free throws in the waning seconds to help seal the victory that gave the Cavaliers a 3-0 series lead in 2000.
“I just wanted to win this championship because we’ve never won anything in our lives,” McCullough said. “I didn’t want to see somebody from West at McDonald’s and them talking about us winning the first two but they won the last one.”
“It’s a relief,” smiled Reddick. “I’ve played on varsity for three years and we’ve only beaten them once, last year in the Christmas Tournament.”
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When asked about North’s balance and how it won without its star being all-tournament, Gurley responded, “It’s part of being on a great team. You gotta share that hardware.
“It’s unfortunate that Bryan didn’t make all-tournament because he’s the guy I’m most concerned about when we play North Rowan. He’s got a good body, he can go inside and outside and I think he keeps a real level head on the playing floor. I see him laughing a lot and that’s because he’s confident in himself.
“Making all-tournament — I would be surprised if that was a major concern of his” continued Gurley. “He’s a team player and he makes that team go.”
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Make no mistake about it. This 9-0 team can go a long way now that the talk of nothing but West Rowan, West Rowan, West Rowan is out of the way.
“We’ve gotten rid of them now and we’re ready for the conference,” said Lawing. “I think we’ve got a good chance of going undefeated in the conference.”
Reddick said North Rowan will savor these three wins. And he says Everhart better as well.
“Coach knows he’s going to have it tough next year,” Reddick said. “Something like nine seniors are leaving. West, as young as they are, have championships to come.”
Don’t remind Everhart.
“Lord have mercy, I don’t want to play them next year,” he laughed.
McCullough didn’t want to talk about next year. He was basking in the glory of beating West Rowan for a third straight time, this one in front of 3,500 raucous fans.
“We got the sweep,” he said. “I’m happy.”
We all should be happy to watch players like Bryan McCullough. Whether he got to take home some hardware or not, he definitely walked out with an all-tournament attitude.
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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports editor of the Post.
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