ELLENBORO — There’s a registered psychic just down Highway 74 from East Rutherford High School.
She, or he, as the case may be, didn’t need to employ crystal balls or tarot cards to predict that A.L. Brown’s Wonders, No. 5 seed from the South Piedmont Conference, would have their hands full with East Rutherford, co-regular season champ and No. 2 seed from the Southwestern, when they met in the first round of the state 3A playoffs.
The Wonders, as expected, struggled, losing 70-61 to the Cavaliers (20-8), who are coached by animated Brad “The Bull” Levine, who is Mike Gurley with lots of mousse.
Coach Shelwyn Klutz’s Wonders finished their season 12-13, with two wins over defending state 3A champ Central Cabarrus and the championship of the Statesville Record and Landmark Christmas Tournament leading the highlight tape.
East Rutherford advances to sectional competition at Pfeiffer. The Cavs will take on High Point Andrews on Wednesday. If Levine survives that one, he could be staring at West Rowan, which annihilated East Rutherford 81-49 in a sectional meeting two years ago.
Levine still has the Logan boys (Brad and Dontay) from that team that was flogged by the Falcons. They’re his starting guards and his best players.
Klutz knew all about the Logans. That’s why the Wonders played a triangle-and-two defense with the guards matched up man-to-man with the Logans and the other three guys hanging out in the paint. The plan was logical, but didn’t work. The Logans still combined for 37 points.
The real killer, though, was East center Brent Barnette, who piled up 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
“Barnette was the difference,” sighed Klutz. “We knew the Logans would get their points, but we didn’t expect anyone else to go off on us.”
But, by any measure, Barnette, an ordinary-looking 6-4 guy who hit the offensive board hard, went off. Levine said Barnette averages 12 points and 11 rebounds, so his huge game wasn’t completely off the wall.
Levine also revealed that his Cavs were 9-0 in league play before losing three of their last four games by a grand total of four points. Barnette did not play in two of those games, which may explain why the Cavs had some trouble.
“Honestly, we shouldn’t have even been in the position of having to play a first-round game,” said Levine. “A couple of buzzer-beaters got us.”
And that’s no bull.
Last night’s game summed up the Wonders season. It was a taffy pull and a tug-of-war with East streaking, then the Wonders fighting back. East never could build a safe lead, while the frustrated Wonders never could get over the hump.
“We had plenty of opportunities to put them away,” said Levine. “We just didn’t finish them off — kept letting them close it up tighter than it needed to be.”
East started the game on a 10-0 tear.
“We didn’t hit the floor ready to play,” said Klutz. “We were sluggish. Why, I don’t know.”
Then it was the Wonders’ turn to dominate. With Lucius Miller recording three quick hoops inside, the Wonders charged ahead 19-18 for their only lead of the night. But then the Wonders sagged, while the Cavs surged. East finished the first half on a 15-4 run for a 10-point lead.
Naturally, the Wonders came back. Clawing uphill all the way, they finally caught up at 50-all with 2:57 left in the game. No tea leaves were needed to forecast that whoever had the next spurt would win the game.
That burst belonged to the Cavs who claimed a 55-50 lead on five free throws by the Logans, while the Wonders were turning the ball over. The nail was hammered home by Barnette, who converted a three-point play inside with 1:44 remaining.
The Wonders wasted eight 3-pointers, four of them by Aundrae Allison, who finished his All-SPC year in style with 23 points, 15 in the fourth quarter when he lifted his teammates on his shoulders.
“I hadn’t seen Kannapolis, but everyone told me that No. 22 (Allison) was a player — that he could score from about anywhere,” said Levine. “They were right. What surprised me was Miller’s play inside (six points, 10 rebounds). He’s a great athlete.”
But the Wonders, despite all their great athletes, had to bus 80-plus miles back home bearing the weight of a loss that could have been a great victory with a bit more patience.
“It was a tough night,” sighed Klutz. “Still, compared to where we were last year, we had a good season. Our future’s bright.”
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NOTES:Jason Brown closed his outstanding Wonder career with 10 points. ... The team’s only other senior, Michael Blakeney, hit for seven points, including five to key a run in the second half. ... The Wonders shot 35 percent, even with Allison making 9 of 17. ... East’s unusual gym doubles as the school auditorium. There was a stage not far behind one goal.
A.L. BROWN (61) — Brown 10, Allison 23, Barrier 1, Miller 6, Thomas 1, Blakeney 7, Abercrombie 3, Blackmon 3, Robinson 2, Reeves 4, Collins 1.
EASTRUTHERFORD (70) — Barnette 24, B.Logan 21, D.Logan 16, Stroud 4, Watkins 3, Boyce 2, Petty, Phillips, Robinson.
A.L. Brown 10 13 13 25 — 61
E. Ruth. 16 17 10 27 — 70
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