The only undefeated boys basketball team in the state isn’t sweating the tall task of staying that way.
After relaxing Tuesday with a first-round bye, West Rowan begins its playoff push tonight at 7 on its home court. Up first for the 25-0 top-ranked team in the state is Asheboro.
“I’m pretty sure Asheboro doesn’t care if we won our conference tournament. I don’t even think they care what we did in the regular season,”Falcons head coach Mike Gurley said. “To me it’s going to be a basketball game. They’re coming in to beat us, and we’re going to try to do our best to beat them.”
The only twist on that story is that no one’s been able to beat West all year —or come very close.
For many teams, opening the postseason with a perfect record and the big bullseye that comes with it would be a harrowing ordeal. Not so for the Falcons.
“I avoid it quite easily,”Gurley said. “It doesn’t extend my contract, it doesn’t get me a raise, it doesn’t get you a good seat at the NCAA Tournament. The bottom line is, I’ve been hired to coach at a certain supplement based on my years of experience and these guys have chosen to play here, so just go out and play.”
As far as West’s players are concerned, they’re more than happy to hold onto that No. 1 spot through the state championship game in Chapel Hill.
“It feels good to be No. 1,”said senior point guard Horatio Everhart. “We can handle it. We deserve to be No. 1 if we’re going to go practice hard as we can, do the right plays, shoot when we’re supposed to.”
Besides, when West takes the court, the only numbers that come into play are on the scoreboard.
“A lot of teams would make it put a lot of pressure on them, but we don’t do that,”senior center Donte Minter said.“We come out and act like we’re the underdog every game. It’s easy, people love to hate us.”
The rest of the state is certainly going to hate getting to know Minter. His 22.9 points per game average paces West and caught the attention of Asheboro head coach Martin Smith.
“Most of the clubs we play are not as athletic or as big as West Rowan,”said Martin, whose team finished second in the Tri-County Conference and stands 23-4. “It’s hard to prepare for their type of game. With the size we’re facing, I’m not sure we should expect to do much on the inside.”
The Blue Comets rotate a trio of players inside with Byron Warner, J.D.Spinks and Doug Picket getting the tough assignment tonight. Each played a key role in Tuesday’s 58-48 comeback victory against Weddington in which Asheboro managed just 19 first-half points.
Limiting teams to halves like that is nothing new for West — except the Falcons don’t let teams back in their games.
“From what I understand, West is in a class by themselves,”Martin said. “You play solidly and hope good things happen. Obviously it’s an uphill battle, and playing at West makes it a little more so.”
A West win tonight would push the Falcons into the third round, another step closer to the state crown, another notch closer to that perfect record.
“It was never a goal, and people talk about a loss will be good or whatever …”Gurley said. “We just try to go into the next game. You start worrying about what you’ve done, looking back, and somebody’s gonna kick you in the backside.”
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