SPENCER — Here it is, 16 games into the boys basketball season and North Rowan is still trying to figure out how and when to throw a knockout punch.
The slumping Cavaliers swung-and-missed on a golden opportunity Friday night when they squandered a nine-point third-quarter lead and lost, 60-57, to visiting Central Davidson.
“Right now there’s nobody on our team who can step up and throw that knockout punch,” coach Kelly Everhart lamented after North (4-12 overall) dropped to 1-5 in the Central Carolina Conference. “This game was huge. We needed it. But now we’re so deep in the hole that we just about have to win the rest of our games.”
If North fails to reach the 2A state playoffs — and that’s growing more likely with each loss — it can recall this as one that got away.
“It won’t be easy now,” said Tristan Rankin, the smooth-shooting forward who misfired from three-point range in the closing seconds. “Not at all.”
No it won’t. North certainly had Central (8-7, 3-3 CCC) backpedaling in the third period, when power forward James House (13 first-half points) played like a man among boys and teammate Dominique Bates knocked down a rainbow 3-pointer that gave the hosts a 36-27 lead.
“It kinda looked like everything was going wrong for us,” said CD coach Brian Hege. “But we gutted it out and executed at the end of the game.”
Within moments, Bates and backcourt mate Lamar Geter were benched with foul trouble and the Spartans went to work. They rallied within 37-36 when three-point specialist Michael Baldwin nailed the first of his three second-half treys late in the third period. Then with 5:19 remaining they grabbed a 49-46 lead on Baldwin’s final long-distance connection, a bomb from the left corner.
“We just failed to put a hand in his face,” said House. “That’s no way to play defense.”
Central’s Nick Wilson exploited that defense for 11 fourth-quarter points, mostly on free throws after penetrating the lane. “There’s always supposed to be help from the weak side,” said House. “We were just late getting over there.”
Wilson, who totaled 24 points before fouling out, converted his final two free throws — and gave CD a 59-55 lead — with 38 seconds left. “He’s been our fourth-quarter man the last four games,” said Hege. “He put us on his back and carried us.”
North scrambled to recover, pulling within two points on a pair of Geter free throws with 31 seconds remaining. Consecutive turnovers — Rankin lost a pass out of bounds with 18 seconds left and Geter was called for a carry with eight to go — nearly finished the Cavs. But remarkably, House stole an inbounds pass and alertly called timeout with five seconds on the clock, setting the stage for Rankin’s desperation 3-ball from the right side.
“I should have taken my time,” he said. “I should have pump-faked at least once because (Central’s Chad Beasley) was running real hard at me.”
Rankin’s shot sailed over the rim and was grabbed along the left baseline by teammate Marcus Mitchell, who dribbled back beyond the three-point arc and fired a last-second shot off the side of the backboard.
“You can see how close we are,” said Everhart. “We’re haven’t gotten over the hump yet.”
CENTRAL DAVIDSON (60) — Wilson 24, Baldwin 14, Lanier 9, Beasley 7, Rivas 5, Eckert 1.
NORTH ROWAN (57) — House 17, Rankin 12, Mitchell 9, Geter 8, Bates 5, Connor 2, Rutherford 2, Pemberton 1, Horton 1, Hawkins.
Central Davidson 14 11 11 24 — 60
North Rowan 16 13 10 18 — 57
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