His brilliance on the court led the South Rowan boys basketball team to a pulsating 99-90 victory over Northwest Cabarrus.

Only one thing remained for Damien Argrett.

An apology.

“He said, ‘Coach, I’m sorry for getting a technical,’” Raider head coach John Davis said with a laugh.

Apology accepted, although probably not needed. Minor details like a technical foul will long be forgotten when placed alongside Argrett’s 40 points and 22 rebounds Friday night.

The soft-spoken 6-foot-6 senior center broke Larry Lentz’s South scoring mark of 37 points, against Davie County in 1988, and Richard Gaston’s rebounding record of 20 boards in a game during the 1997-98 season. After scoring 12 points in the first half, he exploded in the third quarter with 14 points and 10 rebounds, then connected on all six field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter and both free throws before fouling out with 1:36 remaining.

And that technical? Argrett’s only miscue came with 3:40 left in the game when he got tangled with Ryan Leister fighting for a rebound. In an intensely physical game, his technical wasn’t the first one called, and besides, his basket seconds earlier gave South a 20-point lead.

“I’m always getting stupid fouls and they were holding me a lot and I didn’t let my anger get the best of me,” Argrett said. “I apologized to the team that I let it get the best of me for one minute.”

Apology accepted, again. And probably unnecessary.

Again

Argrett and the Raiders (6-11) entered the game with a little revenge on their minds. When South played on the Trojans’ home court a week ago, Northwest (11-6) smoked South 86-69.

This nonconference game would not be taken lightly. Argrett and fellow seniors Drew King and Jon Faggart told their teammates to knock off the easy-going attitude in the locker room and come out ready to battle.

“We went to their place and they embarrassed us,” Argrett said. “Me and Drew got the team together and told them we were going to win this game.”

The Raiders jumped to an early first-quarter lead behind the smooth shooting of Doug Daugherty. His 3-pointer and an Argrett putback gave South a 17-10 lead.

Then Northwest’s defensive pressure had South stymied. The Raiders turned the ball over 14 times in the second quarter, and back-to-back fastbreak layups from Lamont McKnight and Matt Hubbard pulled the Trojans within a point. Hubbard’s 3-pointer minutes later gave his team a 30-28 edge that swelled to five points.

Five South free throws brought the Raiders even, then ahead by two with only five seconds remaining before Tore’ Girty stole the ball near midcourt. He dribbled near the 3-point arc, leaned across it and drilled a 3 at the buzzer to put South up 41-36.

Armed now with a lead and a new game plan, South prepared to take charge.

“In the second half we just wanted to push the ball back down the court,” Davis said. “The way Northwest’s defense is, if you can handle the pressure you get easy baskets at the other end.”

Especially if you’re Argrett.

He hit two free throws, Girty drained another 3 and Argrett got a layup that left Northwest reeling and in need of a timeout. During the break, Trojans’ head coach Greg McKenzie received a technical, and Argrett made those two freebies for a 53-42 advantage.

One of Argrett’s 10 third-quarter rebounds led to a putback, guards Drew King and Nathan Kennedy found him off the press for two easy layups and Argrett finished the quarter with two post layups while surrounded with Trojans.

“He’s tough,” McKenzie said. “We knew we had to find a way to stop him and we just didn’t have an answer.”

South led 71-50 entering the fourth quarter and an already physical game that featured 25 first-half fouls grew worse. Emotions flared in the stands as the Trojans clawed their way back into the game and South fought back to prevent a late rally. The final eight minutes saw 37 free-throw attempts and the referees talked constantly with the players in hopes of calming matters.

“We’ve got some scrappy guys and I think they can handle themselves,” Davis said. “We’ve got some hosses that can throw their weight around. We want to have a physical ball game.”

The slender Argrett packed quite a punch in the final quarter. His free throws with 5:20 left, for points 35 and 36, gave South an 81-58 lead. The historic basket, on another layup in the paint, made it 86-66 with 3:50 remaining, and Argrett got his 40th point off a long feed from King at the two-minute mark.

With Argrett off the court after fouling out, Northwest scored 13 of its 40 fourth-quarter points in the final minute to make the score closer. The Trojans never threatened to spoil Argrett’s record-setting night, though, and it’s just as well.

That really would have called for an apology.

NORTHWEST CABARRUS (90) — Smith, McKnight 17, Burgess 2, Hubbard 23, Ferguson 7, Reel 15, Raburn 10, Lindsey 11, Leister 1, Carmichael 4.

SOUTH ROWAN (99) — King 5, Childers 5, Daugherty 13, Beck 14, Kennedy 3, Torrence 5, Girty 14, Faggert, Cook, Miller, Argrett 40.

NW Cabarrus 12 24 14 40 — 90