Surging Salisbury sees 2nd

BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

Anything but fourth place.

The last two seasons the Hornets have finished fourth in the 2A Central Carolina Conference, a league which gets four state playoff berths. Both times, against all odds, the Hornets were bumped from the playoffs when a lower-seeded team won the conference tournament— in 1998 when Ledford pulled a surprise and again in ‘99 when Lexington came from nowhere.

Needless to say, the Hornets entered last night’s play in fourth place in the CCC.

But this time around, the hot Hornets, who have four straight wins, are seeking the security of a loftier seed. Their hopes for beating out High Point Central and Ledford and finishing as high as No.2 in the league were boosted considerably by Tuesday night’s 67-55 home win over North Stanly.

“Our goal is to get out of fourth,” said Hornet senior Terry Johnson, who has twice felt the pain of being bumped from the playoff picture. “We want to depend on ourselves, not the help of others to make the playoffs.”

“Fourth,” understated Hornets coach Drew Mathews, “has not exactly been our lucky number.”

The Hornets looked ready to take charge of their destiny in the early going, smoking to a 20-9 first quarter lead with Ken Drye scoring six quick points and the experienced Johnson and Pryor devouring the youthful Comets on the inside.

“They sliced and diced our traps early on,” said North Stanly coach RickLewis.

Mathews’ defense, on the other hand, was a smashing success. He employed a 3-2 zone, which stifled the Comets’ potent 3-point wing shooters. The Comets, in fact, had not seen a 3-2 all season and Lewis was forced to call several timeouts to get his team organized.

“Mathews did a great job of scouting us,” said Lewis. “They took away our outside game and made us try to beat them inside. We couldn’t. The inside game has been our weak spot all season.”

But Salisbury slowed to a crawl in the second quarter, allowing the Comets to creep back in the game. The Hornets’ early 13-point lead was down to 30-24 at halftime.

“We had a lapse,” said Mathews. “It always seems to happen. It’s hard to explain.”

But just when it looked like Senior Night for Pryor, Terry Johnson, Justin Johnson, Mike Blount and Byran Speigner might be in jeopardy, the Hornets turned the third quarter into showtime.

“Our best quarter of the season,” said Mathews.

It was impressive transition hoops. It was the sort of basketball people are used to seeing in Spencer and Mount Ulla.

“It was fun,” said Terry Johnson. “We came together and everyone got involved. Coach said to go hard like it was 0-0, and we really got on a roll.”

The roll was strong and long. Two Boo Blount passes inside to Pryor triggered the burst, and then everyone joined in. Suddenly no one settled for contested jumpers. All 27 points came in the lane or on the run.

The Hornets made four of their first five shots. Then they made it 11 of their first 15. They finished the quarter 13-for-19 with Stephen Blanton, Markeice Daugherty, Drye, Pryor and Terry Johnson all converting at least two field goals.

Meanwhile, the Hornets’ defense was suffocating. Pryor blocked shots; Drye made steals; and Terry Johnson and Daugherty Windexed the glass. A sweet Drye to Terry Johnson pass for a layup gave the Hornets a 57-38 lead at quarter’s end and put a smile on the face of Mathews.

“We were coming off our best game of the season (a surprise home win over Lexington on Monday),” said Lewis. “But they took it to us in the third quarter, beat us on the boards badly. They were getting as many looks as they needed.”

Still, the Comets didn’t die quietly.

“We played hard all the way,” said Lewis. “We wanted to win badly, but it just wasn’t there for us tonight.”

It looked, however, like it just might be there after all when the Hornets hit another inexplicable lull and their lead plunged to 62-49 with 3:50 left.

The Hornets were turning it over, North freshman Tick Mangum, who torched the Hornets in NewLondon, was heating up and the crowd was buzzing.

But then Blanton stuck in a huge putback at 3:13 to stop the Comets’ charge. After that, the Hornets made enough free throws to enable their five seniors to go out winners at home.

“The seniors wanted it,” said TerryJohnson.

“I wanted the seniors to get this one,” echoed Mathews, whose grin was widest when big guy Speigner, who plays sparingly, put a dot in the scorebook with 17 seconds left. “All five of our seniors have been big pluses for this program and gave us their all.

“Thad and Terry, I’m especially proud of. They’ve been dedicated, they’ve been loyal and they’ve been leaders on this team.”

Now, if the T-men can just lead their teammates out of fourth.

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NOTES: Salisbury’s zone did a bang-up job on North’s best player, point guard Junior McRae. McRae was held to four points. Football stud O.J. Owens was held to four points, as well. ... Eric McDonald, who hit three 3s, and Mangum led the Comets with 11 points each. ... Pryor scored 14 off the bench, grabbed 10 boards and blocked five shots. Terry Johnson scored 12 and had 13 boards. Drye had 14 points (all in the first and third) and five steals. ... Next for the Hornets is arch-rival North Rowan. ... North Stanly takes on East Davidson on Friday.

NORTH STANLY (55) — Owens 4, Watkins 4, Vaughn 5, McDonald 11, Solomon, Drye 3, Mangum 11, Gordon 7, McRae 4, Carter, Treadwell 4, Harris 2.

SALISBURY(67) — M.Blount, Speigner 1, J.Johnson 1, T.Johnson 12, Pryor 14, Leonard, Drye 14, Jones 4, Daugherty 5, Blanton 9, B.Blount 7.

North Stanly 9 15 14 17 — 55

Salisbury 20 10 27 10 — 67