If Salisbury goes on to regroup and grab one of the four Central Carolina Conference playoff berths, the Hornets will probably point to Friday night’s game.

Drew Mathews team, now at 6-13, 2-5, is at a crossroads.

“We need to win four or five more games,” Mathews said. “A 6-6 record will get you in.”

After nine minutes against Central (10-7, 5-2), it appeared Salisbury had taken a giant step in the right direction. Behind Ken Drye, who was unstoppable in the first quarter with 14 points, the Hornets were up 29-10.

They were outscored 61-27 the rest of the way.

It was more than Mathews could handle. He gave his team a tongue-lashing for 20 minutes after the game.

“It’s time to change — how much losing can you take,” Mathews wondered aloud.

Losing was not on his mind during the first few minutes. The Hornets were on fire.

Rashad Stevenson scored the first bucket of the game for Central and then Salisbury went on a 14-2 run. Drye had 10 of the points, using jumpers and feeds from Boo Blount to get his points. Blount had four assists in the quarter and Salisbury led 20-10 after one.

“Our offense was our defense,” Mathews said. “Ken Drye couldn’t have played any better.”

When Markeice Daugherty scored the first two baskets of the second quarter, Central coach Matt Ridge, who had called two timeouts trying to stop Salisbury in the first quarter, looked stunned.

When Drye scored off Blount’s fifth assist for the final two points of the half, Salisbury still had a comfortable 13-point advantage 36-23.

“We were clicking,” Mathews said. “I wish we could do that for four quarters because it’s beautiful basketball.”

Ridge’s club battled back in the third quarter and suddenly, it was Mathews who looked stunned. It took just four minutes for Central to tie the game at 41. Willie Baker started the rally with two threes. Pint-sized Cedric James hit a three and Coulter Warlick added a basket and free throw.

Salisbury bounced back with a Drye drive and a tough bank shot by Randall Jones for a 45-41 lead. But Baker ended the quarter like he started it, banging home two three-pointers and Central led 48-45 going into the final eight minutes.

Before the Hornets could blink, Central’s lead was 58-47.

“Once again, we got satisfied (with a big lead) and stopped doing what got us there — running, playing defense and having fun,” Mathews said. “They were just playing basketball. Then they started thinking too much. They got angry and disappointed in themselves and lost confidence. By that time, High Point Central was back in the game playing their style.”

Salisbury managed just 20 points in the second half.

“We’ve been inconsistent,” Mathews said. “We play three great quarters of basketball but somewhere, we lose focus and and have a mental lapse.”

It was easy to see what Mathews was talking about when the Bison went to a stall with 5:20 left. A lackluster defensive effort allowed Central to run off 50 seconds their first possession and 48 on the second. The Hornets were forced to send the Bison to the free throw line, where they hit 10-of-18 in the final eight minutes.

“When we lose focus after one or two bad plays, our confidence drops so low that it takes a while to regroup,” Mathews said. “By that time, we’re so far in a hole, we can’t recover.”

Salisbury will have a week to regroup and forget about two straight nights of missed opportunities (North Rowan beat the Hornets in overtime the Thursday).

And Mathews hopes they remember how they played the first nine minutes of Friday night’s game.

n

NOTES: Drye finished with 23 points. It was his fifth straight game in double figures. ... Baker led three Bison in double figures with 26, 22 in the second half ... Central outscored Salisbury 25-9 in the third quarter. ... Salisbury doesn’t play again until Friday when it battles Lexington.

SALISBURY (56) — Drye 23, Daugherty 9, Pryor 7, T. Johnson 7, Speigner 4, Jones 2, Blanton 2, B. Blount 2, Leonard 1, J. Johnson, M. Blount, Knauf.

H.P. CENTRAL (71) — Baker 26, James 14, Martin 14, Bryant 5, Warlick 5, Stevenson 4, White 2.

Salisbury 20 12 9 11 — 56