TYRO — Unbeaten North Rowan knew the third quarter was coming, and the Cavaliers knew the 2A Central Carolina Conference Tournament title was theirs.
Coach Kelly Everhart’s top-seeded Cavaliers blitzed Lexington at the start of the second half and went on to an impressive 83-60 basketball victory at the West Davidson gym on Friday night.
“We’ve been a third-quarter team all year long, it seems like,” said Everhart after his team scored the first 12 points of the quarter to cap off a 15-0 run that started late in the first half.
“The last thing I said before we came out was, ‘Gentlemen, you’ve been a third-quarter team all year long. Let’s go out, let’s take it to them right here at the beginning and let’s take control of it.’ They responded beautifully,” said Everhart.
Lexington trailed only 32-28 late in the first half, then 35-28 at halftime. It was 47-28 after seven points by Marcus Reddick, two by Graham Hosch on a steal and slam dunk and a 3-pointer by Bryan McCullough. North went on to outscore Lexington 26-16 in the quarter.
“I feel like we’re a third-quarter team,” said the 6-foot-6 McCullough, who scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half. Teammate Reddick, who had a game-high 22 points, had 13 points in the second half.
“When we get in the locker room at halftime and take their best punch, we come out with more aggression. I think, in the first half, we kind of halfstep a little bit. We don’t play to our full potential. We get a feel for what they’ve got and take over in the third quarter,” said McCullough.
The 24-0 Cavaliers, the first team in school history to go unbeaten in the regular season, had defeated third-seeded Lexington by only 72-71 early in the season, then 74-55 in a second meeting.
“We knew that we had some kind of psychological edge over them. ... Something had to be going on in their head like, ‘What are we going to do against this team?’ So we just came out and just took the upper hand on them and tried to get them from the get-go,” said McCullough.
It took a while for the Cavaliers to take charge. Steven Shaw led the way as the Yellow Jackets (14-11) jumped out front 14-7 before Everhart called a timeout at the 4:49 mark.
“Lexington is very athletic. I kept emphasizing (before the game), ‘Guys, we’ve got to box this group out, because they jump so well and they’re so quick.’ After that first four minutes, whenever I called the timeout, I didn’t feel like we were doing a very good job of boxing out. I didn’t say anything different in the huddle than I said in the locker room. I said, ‘Guys, we’ve got to box out. We’ve got to move our feet on defense.’ It was like instantly the lights came on and we started reacting and playing where I think we’re capable of playing,” said Everhart.
North rallied for a 26-16 lead early in the second quarter and stayed on top the rest of the way. However, it took the usual third quarter to wrap it up.
Coach Don Corry of Lexington said, “When we played them at home that game that was one point, we had a lot of intensity throughout the ball game. I thought we took good shot selection. We didn’t quit. Tonight, I didn’t feel like we were attacking on offense. We just let them set up and we passed right into it. ... The only way you’re going to beat them is to beat them down the floor with the ball so you can get into your offense. You let them beat you with the press like we did tonight, you’re in for a long night.”
North’s pressure defense helped cause 20 Lexington turnovers, while the Cavaliers lost the ball four times.
The Cavaliers shot only 44 percent (37-for-84) for the night, but Lexington couldn’t stop North’s season-long scoring leaders. Reddick went 9-for-14 with two 3-pointers, McCullough was 9-for-13 with a 3-pointer and Marcus Lawing was 7-for-10 for 15 points.
“When Reddick gets on with those 3s, he can rain them in,” said Corry. “He’s a terrific shooter. Their big guy (McCullough) did a good job inside. It’s tough when you’ve got three seniors, or four seniors, like they’ve got that can play inside and have got a lot of experience, and you’re trying to go against them with sophomores.” Corry starts soph Cory Holt (16 points, 10 rebounds) and plays soph Brian Saunders (10 points) as much as the starters. Marquis Carroll also had 10 points.
After playing North three times, Corry added, “I don’t want to take anything away from North Rowan, because they played a great ballgame and they’re a great team, and I would think probably will win the state.”
The state 2A championship, of course, is the Cavaliers’ goal. To accomplish the second state title in school history, North has to win twice next week in the sectionals at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, twice the following week in the Western Regionals, also in Hickory, then the state championship contest in Chapel Hill.
With a senior-dominated team (starters McCullough, Reddick, Lawing, Hosch and Chris Phillips and reserves Eric Davis and Omar Witherspoon), the state championship has been the goal for the powerful North team all season.
“They’re fantastic,” said Everhart of his seniors. “From the time they were in middle school — they had two undefeated seasons back-to-back (27-0 combined in the seventh and eighth grade) — they’ve played together and it’s just a real special group.”
NOTES: McCullough has now scored 979 points in his three-year varsity career, putting him within 21 of the 1,000 milestone. He’s eighth on the school’s all-time list. He not only scored 20 points last night, but shared the team lead with Phillips in assists with six, grabbed five rebounds and stole the ball three times. ... Lawing’s seven rebounds led the Cavaliers to a 41-31 edge on the boards. ... Husky Junior Farmer, North’s 6-7 reserve center, had one of his best games, scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds in the second half. ... Lexington was 25-for-61 (41 percent) on field goals and 9-for-14 at the foul line. ... North was only 5-for-14 on free throws. ... The Cavaliers, as the top seed from the CCC, drew a first-round bye in West Sectional No. 4 in the state playoffs. North doesn’t play again until 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory against the winner of Monday’s Ledford-at-Lincolnton contest. Ledford, the CCC’s No. 3 seed, fell to the Cavaliers 67-53 in the semifinals on Wednesday.
LEXINGTON (60) — Carroll 10, Hogan 5, Holt 16, Shaw 8, Ellison 3, Saunders 10, NcNeair 2, McCown, Cobbs 4, White 2, Hardman, Poole.
NORTH ROWAN (83) — McCullough 20, Hosch 5, Lawing 15, Reddick 22, Phillips 3, Davis 2, Witherspoon 6, House 2, Farmer 8, Bates, Peoples.
Lexington 16 12 16 16 — 60
N. Rowan 24 11 26 22 — 83
Today's News
