WINSTON-SALEM – Give ’em credit, the Raiders of South Rowan didn’t back away from R.J. Reynolds in their Central Piedmont 4A Conference showdown Tuesday night.
The Raiders came out scrapping against the defending state champions, taking their only lead at 5-4 when Marquette Diggs knocked home a running one-hander with 5:14 remaining in the first quarter.
Even early in the second period, South trailed by a mere 19-15 against a team that returned nine of 11 players from last year’s championship squad and is considered by many to be the best in the state.
Unfortunately for South, from the middle of the second quarter on, Reynolds dominated, going on to post an 87-48 win over the out-manned Raiders.
Don’t speak of moral victories to South coach John Davis.
“We’re not satisfied,” he said. “Whenever we step on the court, we expect to win. If we didn’t, there’d be no point putting on our jerseys.”
That said, few high school basketball fans gave the Raiders (8-9, 0-3 in Central Piedmont play) much of a chance against a Reynolds team that starts a front line whose shortest player stands 6-foot-8.
The Demons ran a pressing, full-court defense that forced 23 Raider turnovers. Before the night was through, Reynolds had accumulated 14 blocked shots.
Still, Davis wasn’t about to make excuses.
“You can’t turn the ball over against a team like this,” he said. “You’ve got to make them work for every point they get. They just out-hustled us tonight. To get to the next level, we’ve got to be able to play and compete against teams like this.”
The last time the Raiders had a fighting chance came with 6:40 to play in the second quarter when Doug Daugherty dished off to Marcus Rucker for a basket, pulling South to within 19-15. But from there, Reynolds blitzed the Raiders behind a pair of 3-point baskets by Mitchell Baldwin and a single 3-point hoop by Whit Holcomb-Faye.
By halftime, Reynolds’ lead had swelled to 43-21.
“We tried to practice against their full-court press, but you just can’t practice against that kind of intensity,” said South’s Tore Girty, a senior who finished with 11 points despite playing with four fouls much of the second half. “We expected it to be hectic, but our offense totally shut down for stretches out there tonight. They’re a great team.”
Reynolds improves to 15-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
Demon coach Howard West said he was impressed with the Raiders despite the lopsided outcome.
“They didn’t try to slow it down against us,” he said. “They took the game right to us. They certainly weren’t afraid. They didn’t back down.”
West noted that only 10 of his players dressed for the game (one was sick with the flu) and that virtually everyone on the squad is capable of playing at a similar skill level.
“We rotate like we do and there’s not a letup,” he said. “It’s not like we have a bunch of bench warmers just waiting to get in the game.”
West said his team has grown accustomed to other squads taking their best crack at the Demons.
“We’re the big game, regardless of who we’re playing,” he said. “We’ve got the bull’s-eye painted on our back. We’ve gotten used to it.”
Rucker led South with 12 points and was followed by Girty’s 11. No other Raider scored in double figures.
Meanwhile, Reynolds had five players who scored in double digits – Mitchell Baldwin with 16, Derrelle Mitchell with 15, Holcomb-Faye and Jason McDougald with 13 apiece, and Keith Foster with 10.
SOUTH ROWAN (48) — Diggs 6, Rucker 12, Daugherty 6, Torrence 7, Girty 11, Hornbeck 2, Patterson 4.
R.J. REYNOLDS (87) — Senter 2, Mitchell 15, Baldwin 16, Holcomb-Faye 13, Petree 4, Reid 6, Russell 7, McDougald 13, Foster 10, Green 1.
South Rowan 11 10 13 14 — 48
R.J. Reynolds 17 26 20 23 — 87
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