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HICKORY — Undefeated North Rowan is ready for the 2A Western Regionals after cruising to another basketball championship here Saturday afternoon.
Coach Kelly Everhart’s powerful boys made it 26 in a row when they rolled past Avery County 82-53 for the West Sectional 4 title at Catawba Valley Community College.
North will return to Hickory next week in the regional semifinals at Hickory High School. It will be the first trip to the regionals for a North team since 1986, when the Cavaliers captured the state 2A title.
The regional pairings will be announced Monday.
The Cavaliers, two wins away from a trip to Chapel Hill for the state championship game, got a big production from an unexpected source when forward Graham Hosch scored a career-high 18 points and added 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Hosch, who had been in double figures only twice before Saturday, was a big factor with 10 points as North’s Central Carolina Conference champs broke it open in the second quarter against the No. 2 seed from the Western Highlands Conference.
Avery, now 18-10, had pulled within 22-16 early in the second quarter, but the Cavaliers outscored the Vikings 23-10 the rest of the half to go up by 19. That was as close as it would be the rest of the game.
Center Marcus Lawing, like Hosch, had a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards, while forward Bryan McCullough had 19 points and eight rebounds.
Everhart wasn’t surprised that Hosch, a 4.9 scorer for the season, broke loose in a big playoff game.
“He can do that night in and night out,” said the North coach. “Whenever he makes up his mind that he’s going to crash the boards, he is fantastic. He has fantastic jumping ability.”
“I had to come out and play to win,” said Hosch. “I prayed before the game, asking the Lord to help me play well, and He helped me.”
Hosch became a starter after Christmas, when point guard Dre Byrd became academically ineligible.
“I just get in the good plays at the good times. ... Dre is a lot of shoes to fill,” said Hosch, North’s football quarterback in 1999 and part of 2000 until he was injured. “I can’t fill them all the way, but you’ve got to step up and play, come out ready.”
Lawing also came out ready, missing only one of five shots in the first quarter and getting 14 of his points in the first half.
“Marcus was really excited about playing these guys,” said Everhart. “I challenged Marcus yesterday in practice and told him that I was going to put him on their big man (6-foot-9 Michael Seufer. Marcus was really pumped up and excited. I think he felt like he could use his quickness to score inside, and he’s so strong and he loves the physical game inside.”
The 6-2 Lawing said he thought it was one of his best game of the season.
“I think I played good on the rebounding side. I don’t care about offense. We’ve got enough scorers on the team, anyway,” said the senior. As for his 21 points, he added, “They came all from rebounds, most of them.”
Avery’s Seufer, who is being recruited by some small colleges for his size and potential, had only four points and four rebounds before fouling out in the final quarter.
“I like playing against bigger people, because I can stay low on them. I just play better against taller opponents,” said Lawing.
The third-year starter thinks his team is peaking at the right time.
“I think we are starting to pick it up. We’ve been playing with each for awhile and are starting to have more control for each other. We know where everybody is on the court every time, because we’ve just been together so long,” he said.
Lawing, McCullough and Marcus Reddick have been teammates every year since their undefeated seasons as seventh- and eighth-graders at North Rowan Miller. Seniors Omar Witherspoon and Eric Davis have been their teammates five of the last six years.
Avery, which had defeated Surry Central to reach the finals, was led by 6-5 junior forward Brandon Clark, who is rated an NCAA Division I prospect. Clark had 21 points, while teammate Sean Spradling had 12.
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NOTES: Hosch, Lawing and McCullough led the Cavaliers to a whopping 53-24 advantage on the boards. ... North was 30-for-78 (38.5 percent) on field goals and 17-for-26 at the foul line, while the Vikings were 19-for-49(38.8 percent) from the floor and 13-for-21 on free throws. ... North had only eight turnovers through three quarters and 14 for the game, while Avery lost the ball 21 times. ... Robert Burleson, a 6-2 senior forward, saw action for Avery. He’s the son of 7-4 Tommy Burleson, a star on N.C. State’s NCAA champions in 1974, who was in attendance.
AVERY COUNTY (53)— Spradling 12, Clark 21, Seufer 4, Odom 5, Dellinger 6, Harmon 2, Burleson, Taylor 3, Trivette.
NORTH ROWAN (82) — McCullough 19, Hosch 18, Lawing 21, Reddick 8, Phillips 6, Davis 2, Witherspoon 1, Bates 1, Farmer 2, House 4, Peoples.
Avery Co. 14 12 8 19 — 53
N. Rowan 22 23 14 23 — 82
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