North Stanly and Salisbury may be a couple of Central Carolina Conference boys basketball lightweights — at least to the casual observer.
But anyone ringside for Tuesday night’s edge-of-your-seat epic watched a prizefight that just may change a few opinions.
“This is going to change my team,” Salisbury coach Drew Mathews said after the host Hornets landed the final punch in a 91-90 victory. “It’s a confidence builder. We’re all gonna feel good about ourselves tomorrow.”
Especially freshman Jamar Conners. The 6-3 forward hit the winning shot — a little three-foot layup from inside the lane — with five seconds to play. When teammate Boo Blount intercepted North Stanly’s ensuing inbounds pass at midcourt, the Hornets (3-11) had their first conference win in five decisions.
“We came down here losing at halftime and knew this was a game we had to win,” Blount said after going off for a career-high 33 points — 25 of them in the second half. “We were willing to do anything to win.”
Salisbury trailed by nine points at the intermission and held the short end of a 60-49 count midway through the third quarter.
“It all goes back to halftime,” teammate Randall Jones said after a 21-point performance. “Coach wrote on the board in big, bold letters, ‘THINK.’ When the time came, everyone followed that to the letter.”
Staggered, shaken but not close to going down, Salisbury began carving out its comeback. Blount’s 3-pointer from the right side sliced the deficit to 64-56 with 2:41 left in the period. Another trey, this one by junior Chris Geter, cut the gap to five. Then, just as the third quarter expired, the Hornets unleashed a trio of blows capped by Blount’s rainbow 3-pointer to pull within 67-66 with a quarter to play.
“They caught on fire,” losing coach Leo Brunelli said after the last-place Comets fell to 0-5 in the league and 2-13 overall. “That’s all there is to it. We thought we could stop Jones and we did a nice job on him. But Blount, he came out of nowhere. He shot the lights out.”
Blount scored 11 fourth-quarter points and gave Salisbury its first lead, 89-88, when he sank a home run ball from the top of the key with 1:05 remaining. Earnest Mangum’s left-side jumper with 40 seconds left put North Stanly back on top, setting the stage for Conners’ game-winner.
The decisive play began with Blount dribbling on the right wing some 20 feet from the basket. With the clock melting away, he looked over at Mathews for instructions.
“My assistant coach wanted me to call time out,” said Mathews. “But with Boo Blount in the game and the ball in his hands, Boo knew I was gonna win or lose with him. He looked at me and winked and that told me, ‘Coach, I’m gonna win this game.’ I looked back and said, ‘Go do it.’ That was the play. Go make something happen.”
Blount set the wheels in motion by feeding a pass to Geter near the right baseline. Reacting quickly, Geter slipped the ball to Conners, who advanced down the lane and hit an open layup — setting off a wild display from the small, but vocal crowd.
“(Blount) is a senior and a veteran and he’s been there for me,” said Mathews. “He made the right decision. He’s that kind of kid. He wants the ball in his hands and he wants to make that play.”
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NOTES: North Stanly’s Mangum was the game’s high-scorer with 39 points. ... This was the second this season that Salisbury has scored at least 90 points in a game. The Hornets lost 97-95 to Concord in OT in November.
NORTHSTANLY (90) — Mangum 39, Tr.Gordon 24, Harris 9, Drye 6, Harwood 5, Solomon 4, McRae 3, Ty.Gordon, Bailey.
SALISBURY (91) — Blount 33, Jones 21, Geter 10, Roten 7, Conners 6, Knauf 6, Campbell 6, Bost 2, Davis, Fields.
North Stanly 21 26 20 23 — 90
Salisbury 12 26 28 25 — 91
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