But Klutz couldn’t live with how and when Hubbard got his points.

“He got’em all in a spurt,” said Klutz. “All at once. And that’s what we couldn’t afford to let him do.”

Hubbard, a 5-9 senior, stroked three 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half — a burst that turned a nip-and-tuck South Piedmont Conference slugfest into an 82-70 Trojan breeze.

Kannapolis (4-8, 2-5) surprisingly led at halftime 33-32. But in a blink, the Wonders were down — and out — at 58-43, shortly after play resumed. Hubbard nailed one 3 from 23 feet out on the wing, quickly got another off a Lamont McKnight steal and then drilled a 25-footer in transition after his own defensive deflection.

Hubbard is a shooter. Sometimes the shots go down, sometimes they don’t. But there’s never any question that coach Greg McKenzie’ gives him the green light.

“You feel it sometimes,” said Hubbard. “Sooner or later you get it going. You find a rhythm and you know the shots are going in.”

“He’s got a responsibility to shoot the ball for us,” explained McKenzie. “I want him to shoot it and his teammates want him to shoot it. We’ve got confidence in him.”

Early on, though, it was the Wonders, who played with surprising confidence. Bomber Jason Brown came out on fire on his way to 29 points. And Dereese Henry, who would score 18, gave his team a competent inside game. The Wonders turned the ball over 15 times against Northwest’s swarming pressure in the first half, but still clawed their way to that narrow halftime lead.

“Honestly, Kannapolis surprised us,” said Hubbard, who had just two points at the half. “We came out and expected to run all over them, but they played hard. And they always seem to play well against us.”

“I told our guys at halftime that they can’t expect to blow a team out in the first half,” said McKenzie. “I told them that Kannapolis was going to hang in there and to win we had to play hard for 32 minutes.”

The Trojans (8-4, 4-3) responded, getting after it like maniacs in those first few minutes of the second half.

“They jumped us and we made four turnovers on our first four possessions,” said Klutz. “Then Hubbard got going.”

It also hurt the Wonders badly that Brown picked up his fourth foul when the Wonders were down only 46-41. Brown had to sit down and by the time he returned a couple of minutes later, his teammates were on the ropes.

The Trojans, who have lost only to powerhouses Harding, West Rowan, Central Cabarrus and Davie County, were unstoppable in the third quarter, making half their shots from the field, creating 10 turnovers and rolling up a staggering 32 points.

“Kannapolis didn’t quit,” said McKenzie. “Shelwyn really has them playing together. But I thought they got tired in the second half.”

Undersized, but deep, Northwest took advantage of Wonder fatigue for a flurry of second-half putbacks. Mike Raburn, Rogets Ferguson and Paul Reel, Northwest’s blue-collar paint patrol, combined for 37 hard-working points and 19 tenacious rebounds.

“Those guys aren’t big, but they outhustled us,” said Klutz. “Northwest is scrappy. That’s what makes them a good team.”

The Trojans, who always look better on the court than they do on paper, built a lead of as many as 26 points at 80-54 before Kannapolis fought back with a late 16-2 run to make the final score respectable.

But Klutz knew that in reality his team wasn’t in the game after Hubbard’s devastating third-quarter barrage.

“There’s no way we can play that team in the 80s and hope to win,” Klutz said. “We just don’t have the scorers to do that.”

KANNAPOLIS (70) — Allison 11, Brown 29, Barrier 2, Miller 4, McCrae 2, Clowney, Gibson, Henry 18, Collins 2, Blakeney, Porter 2, Everidge.

NW CABARRUS (82) — Hoist 2, Friend, Reel 11. Hubbard 17, McKnight 11, Carmichael, Leister 4, Ferguson 9, Raburn 17, Burgess 2, Lindsey 3, Roseboro 6, Lyerly.

Kannapolis 14 19 15 22 — 70