KANNAPOLIS — If you see a sale on raincoats somewhere, please call A.L. Brown boys basketball coach Shelwyn Klutz. Lately, his Wonders are having trouble weathering the storm.
Wednesday night, A.L. Brown lost 81-75 to visiting Statesville, allowing a key 3A North Piedmont Conference game to slip away. It was only the Wonders’ third loss, but all have followed the same disturbing pattern. Each time, the Wonders (10-3, 2-2) have watched fourth-quarter leads wash out to sea.
The tall, experienced, sweet-shooting Wonders haven’t played West Rowan yet, so they probably should be 4-0 in the NPC. Instead, they are treading water and in jeopardy of missing out on a state playoff berth that once looked as sure as tomorrow’s sunrise.
The loss of superb guard Aundrae Allison has hurt. Without the feared “Touché” to control the ball and draw defenses, the weight of the world has fallen on smallish guards Brandon Thomas and Timmy Allison. Both are brilliant shooters and both continue to score big, but they’ve yet to prove they can finish the deal when foes turn up the defensive heat and challenge their ballhandling skills.
It happened again last night. Thomas and Allison banged home eight 3-pointers and 45 points, but tenacious Statesville (7-8, 3-1) erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to steal the game.
“We knew Kannapolis would shoot well — and they did,” said Statesville coach Richard Tinucci. “But my guys didn’t give up. They pulled it out. And all road wins are very big.”
Out of the gate, the Wonders jumped all over the Hounds. When Thomas (12-for-18, 29 points) snaked in an off-balance jumper with three minutes left in the half, the Wonders were cruising 37-23.
But then, Statesville seize control of the glass and roared within 40-39 at the break.
“We came out with a lot of intensity, but when our big guys got in foul trouble our confidence dropped off,” explained Timmy Allison.
The Wonders did encounter crazy foul problems, but Klutz blamed the five guys who weren’t boxing out, not the three guys blowing whistles.
“We couldn’t get a rebound,” said Klutz. “Then we were fouling them on their second and third shots. We had no matchup for No. 23 (big, quick Arnold Graham) and No. 40 (Adib El-Amin) was playing volleyball with it.”
The Wonders stayed ahead throughout the second half, but when winning time arrived, the foul woes caught up. Justin Robinson and Lucious Miller fouled out. John Graham, who had four fouls, was sidelined by an ugly cut.
That left Josh Barrier, hamstrung by four fouls of his own, and reserve Elijah Powell as the only available post men to stem a Statesville avalanche. The Hounds took advantage, hammering away at the foul line, where they had 46 attempts compared to the Wonders’ 18.
Statesville took its first lead of the half at 67-66, but Thomas retaliated with five spectacular points for a 71-70 Wonder edge with 1:35 left.
But, after that, missed Wonder free throws and turnovers took their toll. El-Amin’s third-effort stickback with 1:04 remaining gave the Hounds the lead at 72-71. And they kept it.
“We got outplayed badly down the stretch,” said Klutz. “So many unforced turnovers. It was a carbon copy of the last two weeks.”
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NOTES:It’s not easy to lose when you shoot 48 percent and hit nine 3s, but turnovers (21-13) and rebounding (48-37) did the Wonders in. ... Graham led Statesville with 25, despite missing 11 foul shots.
STATESVILLE (81) — A.Graham 25, Simpson 14, Brawley 12, Savoy 10, El-Amin 10, Johnson 8, Nesbitt 2, Neal.
A.L. BROWN (75) — Thomas 29, Allison 16, J.Graham 7, Ardrey 7, Patterson 5, Barrier 4, Miller 4, Powell 2, Abercrombie 1, Reeves, Robinson, Collins.
Statesville 11 28 12 30 — 81
A.L. Brown 24 16 16 19 — 75
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