THOMASVILLE — North Rowan’s lost boys still aren’t out of the woods, but at least they’ve finally located the trail that leads to respectability.
North, which had won just one of its previous seven, got well on Tuesday night against an East Davidson squad that is also experiencing hard times on the hardwood. The Cavs (5-12, 2-5) rolled 59-43 for a desperately needed 2A Central Carolina Conference win. It was North’s largest margin of victory this season and equalled the fewest points it’s allowed.
Success didn’t come right away. The Cavs had coach Kelly Everhart gritting his teeth during most of a see-saw first half that ended with North ahead 27-23. By the end of the second quarter, though, North’s 2-2-1 press was wreaking havoc on the much slower Golden Eagles (2-13, 2-5).
“The second quarter we started to establish ourselves,” said Everhart. “We were getting some steals and that built our confidence back up.”
The Cavs’ confidence could have slid under a snake’s belly last week. But they regained some of their lost swagger with a sweet second-half start. East opened in a zone, and North’s Dominique Bates spotted an open Tristan Rankin. Rankin promptly rain-bowed home a 3 to push the lead to seven.
“Coach said to have my feet set and my hands ready,” said Rankin. “When Dominique gave me that skip pass, I was.”
Seconds later, James House scored on a hanger in the paint to stretch the Cavs’ lead to 32-23. That brought East coach Matt Ridge to his feet screaming for a quick timeout.
Ridge changed defenses, but East never got closer than seven the rest of the way. North’s press was too good. The Cavs forced 29 turnovers, which meant there were stretches when East simply couldn’t get off a shot — good or bad.
“North’s pressure bothered us,” said Ridge. “Their best offense was their defense. And even when they missed shots, they got offensive boards, because we weren’t physical enough.”
North enjoyed nice balance. Long-armed Rankin, playing the game of his life, scored 16. Lamar Geter, who ran rings around the Eagles’ guards when they were forced to chase him, picked up 14. House tossed in 11 and Jamar Connor added nine.
“It just felt great to come together and finally get another win,” said Rankin. “This was the best we’ve played all season.”
The offensively challenged Bates was as important as anyone. He scored only one point, but came up with a whopping eight steals.
“Dominique doesn’t care if his name gets in the paper or not,” praised Everhart. “He just wants to win. He boxes his man out, he’s our best man-to-man defender, and I don’t ever worry about him not playing hard.”
Rick Lambeth hit eight straight foul shots and scored 18 to lead the Eagles, but got little support.
“North competed hard and played with confidence,” Ridge said. “Those things are more important than anything you can do with X’s and O’s.”
NORTHROWAN (59) — Rankin 16, Geter 14, House 11, Connor 9, Mitchell 6, Rutherford 2, Bates 1, Horton, Pemberton, Hawkins.
EASTDAVIDSON (43) — Lambeth 18, Simmons 9, Norris 6, Ferguson 4, Snyder 2, Ridge 2, Baldwin 1, Leach 1, Branson.
North Rowan 10 17 20 12 — 59
E.Davidson 10 13 13 7 — 43
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