CONCORD — Tall-ball proved superior to small-ball on Tuesday night, as a pair of old rivals ushered in a new season with a slugfest worthy of the playoffs.
Height meant might, as West Rowan’s talented trees beat Central Cabarrus’ feisty collection of smurfs 90-76 in the Vikings’ jammed-to-the-rafters house. The game was much closer than the final score, but it didn’t go down to the final horn, either. That’s a rarity in what has become one of the state’s classic series.
“This one came down to the rebounding situation,” said Central coach Scott Brewer, who appropriately enough gives away nearly a foot to West coachMike Gurley. “I can’t fault my guys. What are you going to do? We’ve got 5-8s trying to box out 6-8s.”
Brewer counted three West stickbacks on free throws, and there were probably more.
There were also at least five times when Central, which has no player taller than 6-foot-4, had three guys in position to stop 6-8 West star Donte Minter, and he simply floated above them like a hot-air balloon.
And there must have been 10 occasions when a long arm belonging to Minter or 6-7 elastic man Junior Hairston came out of outer space to erase a Viking layup.
It’s was almost unfair that West also got balanced scoring, putting five in double figures, something it did only twice all last season. Minter scored 26. Hairston had 20 and 6-7 Phillip Williams tallied 10 before fouling out. Guards Horatio Everhart (16) and T.J. Gaither (10) also had strong games.
West needed that variety-pack, because Central’s 6-2 star Nathan Cranford drilled in 33, surpassing the 1,000-point mark for his career. Cranford, who like Minter has committed to Appalachian State, will graduate as Central’s all-time top gun.
“We threw the kitchen sink at him,” said Gurley. “Junior, Phillip, Horatio, Darren (Ramsey). Cranford’s got a 1,000 points and probably 727 have come against us.”
It seemed that way at times, but West actually won nine of 10 meetings with Central during Cranford’s four years. Of course, the one West didn’t win will be discussed longest. Central won the 2000 West Regional final in Scooter Sherrill’s last game, then grabbed the 3A state crown.
“There’s history when West plays Central,” said Hairston. “To play them in our first game, that’s no cakewalk.”
West dominated the boards and shot extremely well in the first half (57 percent), getting two 3-point rainbows from Hairston and one each from Minter and Everhart. Still, the Falcons led just 50-45 at the break because Cranford had already put in 20.
“Cranford’s not the fastest guy in the world,” said an admiring Hairston. “But he can shoot. And he goes 100 percent all the time.”
West needed and got a dominant third-quarter stretch by Minter, who took over at both ends after Hairston and Williams ran into foul woes. The Falcons guards started getting the ball to their horse, and his sweet spins and banks seemed to pour energy into West’s defense.
“We were just trudging along, but somewhere in that third quarter, we dialed in defensively,” said Gurley. “Then our guys got the ball to Donte like I’d been begging them to. And Donte read the defense. If he didn’t have a shot he got it back out. He was very Olajuwonish.”
Only Gurley would dare employ the term “Olajuwonish,” but you know what he’s getting at.
West seemed to have things in hand in the fourth quarter, until a sudden spurt by Central cut the lead to 72-70. But Avery answered with a confident jumper at the 4:20 mark, igniting eight straight Falcon points.
With West ahead 82-74 at the 1:28 mark, Everhart swiped the ball from Cranford on a baseline drive. Then, after a timeout, West sealed matters with great execution on a set inbounds play — a home-run heave from Hairston to a speeding Gaither.
“West’s big guys are quicker than I thought and they shot it well,” said Brewer. “But I’d still rather play West than someone that can’t play. This was fun. It was end-of-they-year atmosphere on tip-off night.”
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NOTES:Gurley praised his guards and said he’s got three more good ones that didn’t get in. ... Gurley also had praise for assistant coach Robert Hairston and for Cranford, whom he called one of the classiest guys he’s coached against. ... Cranford, who suffered a collapsed lung last season, is 100 percent. “West is a good team with good guys,” he said. “I just wish we’d had a game or two to prepare.” ... West got a technical because Blake Scearce’s name wasn’t in the scorebook.
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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