GREENSBORO — In theory, North Rowan’s Bryan McCullough and Marcus Reddick were part of the second unit at Tuesday’s East-West All-Star Game.
But they made sure their team finished first.
McCullough scored 13 points and Reddick added six as their West team ripped the East 104-93.
“No way Bryan and I were gonna take two straight losses,” said a smiling Reddick, referring to North’s season-ending setback to Lexington in the Western Regional finals. “We were gonna have fun win or lose, but it’s always more fun to win.”
West coach Brent Steelman had never coached an all-star team, but figured out after an hour or so of practice that team chemistry — not how tall guys were or how fast they could run — would determine winners and losers when the bright lights came on at the Greensboro Coliseum. So the first thing Steelman decided when he divided his 10-man squad into two five-man units was to keep Reddick and McCullough together and to pair up his two R.J. Reynolds studs — Mitchell Baldwin and Derrele Mitchell.
From that starting point, whether by coincidence or design, Steelman came up with “big school” and “little school” squads. Steelman’s first unit was four players from 4A high schools, plus one from 3A Eden Morehead. His second group consisted of players from 2A and rural 3A schools. Joining McCullough and Reddick were 6-foot-6 Northwood widebody David Stephens, who creamed Salisbury in the 2000 state playoffs, wide-open point guard Brad “The Smurf” Logan of East Rutherford, who reminded everyone of former North waterbug Dre Byrd on his way to MVPhonors, and underrated 6-6 forward Adam Hefner of North Iredell, who played AAU ball with Reddick and McCullough.
To put it nicely, Steelman’s so-called second unit clicked and kicked some East butt. It was the difference in a West waltz to the winner’s circle.
“Yeah, our two fives were even,” said McCullough. “The East didn’t have that. Their first unit was so much stronger than their second. We had a big advantage against their second group.”
In fact, McCullough cheerfully reports that he and his fellow 2s wore out the West first team in scrimmages.
“Our unit had great chemistry,” he said. “In practice, we beat the first team every time.”
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Steelman, who coaches at Elkin, a 1A mountain school, had never seen either of the North stars play in person, but went out on a limb by picking them for his squad anyway. There are a lot of guys in the western half of the state who can play, so when you select two from one 2A team it raises a few eyebrows. Steelman has no regrets.
“Some of my coaching friends had seen McCullough and Reddick,” he said. “They told me they were players and I’d have to say they were right.”
The West was down 15-8 midway through the first quarter when Steelman inserted his second unit for the first time.
It took McCullough all of 10 seconds to score on a spinning drive. That move fueled a West comeback.
As the first quarter closed, McCullough followed up a missed Logan layup to finally put the West ahead 23-21. Then Reddick scooped up a loose ball and knocked down a jumper at the buzzer for 25-21.
The West wouldn’t trail again.
McCullough, who shot an efficient 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from the line, was the only guy on the floor who didn’t take a bad shot. If not for his bright red uniform, you’d never have known he was part of an all-star affair that was primarily run-and-gun-and-have-some-fun. McCullough always chose the solid over the spectacular. Logan threw him a lob once, but rather than trying for a difficult dunk, Big Mac gently kissed the ball off the glass for two sure points.
If McCullough looked serious, it’s because he was.
“Coach said I had to be the glue for my unit,” he said. “He said I had to keep things stable and couldn’t get out of control. And it would have been easy for us to lose control the way Logan was pushing the ball up.”
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McCullough produced two exciting plays in the second quarter, although neither resulted in a basket.
First, he swooped in and connected on a fluid runner as he sailed down the lane. That was his most impressive shot of the night, but it was waved off by an offensive foul call. “I thought I pulled up and the defender just fell down,” he shrugged.
In the closing seconds of the first half, McCullough swiped the ball cleanly from Florida State signee Anthony Richardson as the lanky 6-7 thoroughbred tried to dribble the ball upcourt. There was no big finish, though, as Richardson caught up and swatted away McCullough’s layup.
Still, it was a play that left McCullough walking on sunshine.
“That steal had to be my highlight of the night,” he said. “Richardson’s a McDonald’s All-American and all that, but I gave him something he didn’t want to see.”
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Reddick contributed to the highlight reel in the second half. Twice, he got loose for breakaways and on both occasions, rose high to ram home dunks. All night, a tough crowd had booed anyone who dared to lay a ball in, but no one had to worry about Reddick using the glass.
“I had to dunk,” laughed Reddick, “because my jumper wasn’t falling. It was great to get two in one game, because I only had one dunk my whole high school career — against East Rowan in the Christmas Tournament.”
Fittingly, it was McCullough who finished the scoring for his team, swishing a pair of free throws.
“This game is going to be a great stepping stone for me from high school to my college career,” McCullough said.
Steelman agrees that both North youngsters have bright futures.
“They tell me McCullough and Reddick are going to UNCAsheville.” he said. “I’d have to say Coach (Eddie) Biedenbach’s got himself quite a pair. They’re good kids with great attitudes and they’re obviously from a great program.
“It’s not hard to see how their high school team went 27-1.”
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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