WALLBURG— The rest of the season for the North Rowan boys basketball team is do-or-die.
So says coach Kelly Everhart after his Cavs lost a golden opportunity for a Central Carolina Conference victory at Ledford Tuesday night.
After jumping out to a 9-0 lead at a breakneck pace at the very start against a struggling Panther team, the Cavaliers (4-11, 1-4) strangely became a lumbering group that struggled right along with Ledford the rest of the way.
And when the Cavaliers couldn’t score on their final possession, Ledford had pulled out an ugly 43-39 win.
“Ugly?” asked Ledford coach Rick Larrick. “Is there any such thing as an ugly win?”
Not to his team, which entered with a 2-10 overall mark and was winless in the league in four outings.
How frustrating has it been for Ledford?
“Our philosophy is shoot before you turn it over,” Larrick joked.
This loss was no joking matter to Everhart. His team showed little chemistry, especially at the end when both teams were trying for a big play that wouldn’t materialize.
After exchanging baskets for much of the fourth quarter, Ledford led by six, 41-35, with three minutes left, but Larrick had no intention of stalling.
“We don’t have a stall,” he said. “I’d have three or four heart attacks if he had run a stall.”
Larrick clutched his heart anyway as his team began making mistakes. After baskets by James House and Tristan Rankin, North found itself with the ball, down 41-39 with a minute left.
But after dribbling off 40 seconds and making no headway toward the basket, Everhart called a timeout.
“We didn’t do a good job managing the clock down the stretch,” he said. “We needed to get in a situation where we got a good shot.”
So with 20.4 seconds remaining, Everhart called for one of his guards to drive and dish. Instead, Lamar Geter drove and tossed up a soft runner in the lane.
“Lamar had a pretty good shot,” Everhart shrugged. “It just didn’t go down.”
The ball was tapped several times, the last time sending it beyond the arc, where Ledford took it in for a game-sealing layup by Brandon Stephens at the buzzer.
“Ledford did a good job controlling the tempo and not letting our defense create our offense,” Everhart said. “It’s our fault because we put ourselves in that situation.”
North seemed to be making the big plays to decide the game early on.
House, the inside force in this game, powered home two rebounds. Marcus Mitchell and Rankin each scored on follow shots and it appeared North was simply too strong and athletic for Larrick’s team, leading 11-4 after one.
But at halftime, Ledford had found its confidence behind point guard Ty Johnson and had stunned North with a 19-16 lead, outscoring the Cavs 15-5 in the second quarter.
“I don’t know if we let our guard down and thought it was going to be easy or what,” Everhart said. “We’ve had problems in the third quarter but tonight, it was the second.”
Was this North’s most disappointing loss?
“I think your last one is the most disappointing,” Everhart said.“So, yes.
“We’ve put ourselves in a tough situation now,” he added. “We’re almost in a must-win situation from here on out if we want to make the playoffs.”
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NOTES: House scored 14 but it should’ve been more. “I felt like House kept getting his man pinned but we didn’t want to give him the ball,” Everhart said. ... Rankin scored 11. ... North hosts Central Davidson Friday.
NORTH ROWAN (39) — House 14, Rankin 11, Geter 7, Mitchell 2, Pemberton 2, Rutherford 2, Connor 1.
LEDFORD (43) — Johnson 17, Stephens 10, Motsinger 6, Disher 4, Reeves 4, Tally 2.
N. Rowan 11 5 11 12 — 39
Ledford 4 15 12 12 — 43
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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