Central shoots down East in SPC tourney

BY STEVE HANF
SALISBURY POST

Running at the shooters didn’t work, and neither did leaving them wide open.

East Rowan’s boys basketball team ended the season Monday night with a 68-52 loss in the first round of the 3ASouth Piedmont Conference Tournament. Central, the No. 2 seed with a 19-5 overall mark, ensured East’s quick exit by shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half and draining 9-of-19 3-pointers for the game.

“They have quite a few shooters and they were hot,”East head coach Mark Flynn said. “With that many shooters out there it’s hard to match up with all of them.”

East (4-20) trailed 36-20 after two frustrating quarters of play. The Vikings’ full-court pressure forced six turnovers in the first quarter and eight different Central shooters scored for a 19-12 lead. Jeremiah Buck then opened the second period with back-to-back 3-pointers to open a 25-16 advantage.

“We played pretty good defense, but we should’ve gotten out faster on their 3-point shooters,”East’s Justin Miller said.

The Mustang offense then all but disappeared, hitting a single field goal over the last 6:40 of the half. Central finished the quarter with an 11-4 run.

“They present matchup problems with their size,”Flynn said. “We threw a couple of different zones at them, and when we played man they went inside. When a team’s hot like that it’s hard to stop.”

The Vikings wrapped up the half hitting 14-of-28 shots, while East was 8-for-24.

“We can shoot it if we get the looks,”Vikings coach Scott Brewer said. “We knew he’d play a little zone and we felt like, in our house, we’d shoot the ball pretty decently.”

Central’s David Hardy drained a 3-pointer and hit two free throws as part of a 9-0 run to open the second half and essentially end the game. Miller scored five straight points to give East a glimmer of hope, but Mickey Mickens, Buck and Jake Roberts all drained 3s and the fourth quarter saw Central up 54-34.

“It seemed like every time we’d score they hit the same bucket,”Miller said. “We couldn’t try to outscore them. We had to keep them to as low as we could.”

Miller’s hot hand in the second half couldn’t save the Mustangs. The junior guard hit his last six shots and finished with a career-high 26 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Despite a four-win season, he’s already looking forward to next year.

“I’m pretty proud of our season. We could’ve won a little more than we did,”Miller said. “I think I’ll take a break and hit the gym later to get ready for next year.”

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NOTES: Rough shooting from the reserves dropped Central’s percentage for the game from 50 to 43. … The Vikings meet Northwest in Thursday’s semifinal, and Brewer said his team is eager to win that game and earn a rematch with top seed West Rowan, which has an overtime win and 11-point victory over the Vikings. “We want to win this SPCTournament,”the Central coach said.

EASTROWAN (52) — Ledbetter, Martinez, Sides, Cornelius 9, Miller 26, Weber 5, Misenheimer 4, Hollifield 1, Shepherd 3, Rusher 4.

CENTRALCABARRUS (68) — Wright 3, Buck 11, Bagnasco 6, Roberts 3, Shear 1, Mickens 8, Stafford 2, Thomas 4, Hardy 14, Knorr 6, Naumann 7, Russell, Cranford 3.

East Rowan 12 8 14 18 — 52

C. Cabarrus 19 17 18 14 — 68