Sean Stevens could have gone home after Friday night’s heartbreaking loss to South Rowan and easily enjoyed some much-needed rest.
The 5-foot-8 bundle of energy had just ran baseline-to-baseline for 42 excruciating minutes, working feverishly to get open so he could fire away with his astonishingly accurate jump shot.
Stevens couldn’t wait to get back on the Goodman Gym court, though, for Saturday afternoon’s third-place game.
Stevens, along with sharp-shooting teammate Nemanja Kreckovic, torched North Rowan to lead the War Eagles to a 92-52 victory.
Kreckovic had 32 points, and Stevens scored 25 roughly 20 hours after pouring in 35 against South Rowan.
“I wasn’t tired at all,” Stevens said. “I was actually excited. After you lose, you’re real excited to play the next game.”
Davie coach Jim Young was anxious to see how his team would come out of the gates after its hopes of playing in the championship game were dashed.
The War Eagles responded by outscoring the Cavaliers 15-2 in the first 3:30 of the game.
Stevens, who missed his first four 3-point attempts, made four in a row near the end of the quarter to give Davie a 26-9 lead after one period of play.
Stevens hit 7-for-15 from 3-point range, and the Eagles made 12 of 31 as a whole.
“I guess I was a little too open at the beginning,” Stevens said.“They started getting in my face, and I had to start hitting some to let them know I wasn’t going to have a bad night.”
Said North coach Kelly Everhart, “Once they get on a roll, they can throw it in from the parking lot.”
Kreckovic, who scored seven points in the opening quarter, exploded for 14 in the second, when he made five of his seven field-goal attempts.
Kreckovic also had 12 rebounds, while teammate Dan Sullivan pulled down 13 rebounds and had 11 points.
The War Eagles came into Saturday’s contest with a two-game losing streak. Kreckovic and Sullivan had both struggled somewhat in those games.
Sullivan scored 16 points against South but fouled out in overtime.
“(Dan) really cleans the boards, and that’s important because we’re small,”Young said.“Dan has really been a master of it.”
The Cavaliers, who were led by James House and Lamar Geter, didn’t lay down for the War Eagles.
House finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Geter scored 18.
The two seniors combined for 20 or North’s 20 points after halftime.
“Those two seniors, obviously, I’m expecting a lot out of,”Everhart said. “James is struggling a little bit, not so much with the basketball game, but because things are so much more difficult than they were a year ago.”
The War Eagles didn’t make matters any easier for North on Saturday.
Davie didn’t advance to play West Rowan like it had hoped, but the War Eagles still had a point to prove.
“The loss last night was a fluke,”Stevens said “We played horrible on defense, and we got what we deserved.
“We had to go rebound tonight, and I think we showed everyone we are a legitimate team.”
Said Young, “I wanted to see if we’d roll over or if we’d come back with some fire in our belly.”
NORTH ROWAN (52) — Geter 18, House 15, Mitchell 7, Rankin 7, Pemberton 2, Rutherford 2, Connor 1, Bates, Hawkins, Horton.
DAVIE COUNTY (92) — Kreckovic 32, Stevens 25, Sullivan 11, Stein 6, Phelps 4, Moser 4, Hogue 2, Nelson 2, Vestal 1, Garner, Hunter, Wallace, Law, Guberinic.
North Rowan 9 13 9 21 — 52
Davie County 26 20 22 24 — 92
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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com
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