Once 1-5 in the Central Carolina Conference, the Cavaliers cruised to a 49-38 victory over East Davidson to win their sixth straight game.

“I really had confidence. I knew it would take a while to get it together,”said North’s James House, one of four seniors honored Friday. “A lot of people laughed at me, but hey, it’s all come together now.”

House got the last laugh Friday night, leading North with 13 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. His big first half (nine points) helped the Cavs take a comfortable lead they never relinquished.

East Davidson (4-18 overall, 4-10 CCC) missed its first 10 shots and scored just two points in the first quarter. North (11-13, 8-6)led 11-2 after one and ended the opening half on a 10-0 run. House capped it with a fast-break layup and a tip-in just shy of the buzzer.

For the half, East’s 12 points came on 2-for-16 shooting (13 percent) with 14 turnovers.

“Our defensive intensity in the first half was really good,”Cavaliers head coach Kelly Everhart said. “The first minute or two of the second half was pretty good. Then we started to relax a little bit.”

The North lead grew as high as 21 points in the early going before the Eagles took flight. While the Cavs suffered through a five-minute scoreless stretch, Ben Snyder bombed in a pair of 3-pointers and Daniel Branson added another to spark an 11-0 run.

House hit Jamar Connor for a nice cutting layup before the end of the quarter to give North a 37-25 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, but momentum continued swinging East’s way. A reverse layup and a free throw from Branson put the run at 20-3.

The huge Cav lead was now just 38-34.

“We stopped playing. People thought it was going to be easy,”House said. “Coach just told us to go out and play, put these guys out.”

Slowly but surely, North did just that. Lamar Geter, who finished with 10 points, missed a 3-pointer but grabbed the rebound and fired to Tristan Rankin for a layup. Michael Pemberton followed with a free throw and putback and two more free throws pushed the lead to 45-34 and had East calling for timeout.

North wouldn’t let the Eagles closer than nine the rest of the way and held onto the No. 3 spot in the CCC —and a berth in the 2A state playoffs.

“We’re assured third, and the way the conference season started, that’s quite a feat,”Everhart said. “I’m proud of these guys for hanging in there together. Now we’re going to the state playoffs regardless of what happens in the conference tournament.”

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NOTES: Everhart started seniors House, Geter, Dominique Bates and Kevin Rutherford. … Rutherford, who stars on the soccer field and plays hoops sparingly, tallied four points on a jumper and a putback. … Bates helped the Cavs to a 40-22 advantage on the boards, finishing with just two points but eight key rebounds. … Rankin, who scored five points, added 10 boards and a couple of blocks for North.

EAST DAVIDSON (38) — Baldwin 2, Branson 6, Lambeth 6, Snyder 14, Simmons 10, Norris, Leach, Ridge.

NORTH ROWAN (49) — Geter 10, Horton 4, Pemberton 9, Rankin 5, Rutherford 4, Connor 2, Bates 2, House 13, Hawkins, Mitchell.

East Davidson 2 10 13 13 — 38

North Rowan 11 19 7 12 — 49

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