The first order of business for Salisbury High School today is to buy some light bulbs.
With the game on the line Friday night against West Stokes, Andre Bruce had the ball looking for a 3-pointer than would tie the game with the 13-4 Wildcats.
But according to coach Drew Mathews, Bruce saw some of the bulbs burned out on the scoreboard, thought there was less time than there really was and hoisted up a deep, off-balanced jumper .
“It still almost went in,” Mathews said.
Chris Geter grabbed the rebound and scored in the lane but it wasn’t enough as West Stokes escaped Hornet Haven with a pulsating 66-65 Central Carolina Conference victory.
“Escaped” was the key word for West Stokes coach Dan Sullivan, whose Wildcats played tentative in the fourth quarter and losing most of the 13-point lead they held after three periods.
“They’re good,” Spainhour gushed afterward. “In the fourth quarter, they played with reckless abandon while we played not to lose. We looked like nobody wanted the ball, like we were afraid.”
Salisbury proved several things to Mathews, who was one proud head coach.
“We are so close to being a dominating team,” Mathews said. “I was pleased with our effort. We’ve just got to finish. And that’s our next step.”
Salisbury (4-4, 6-11) is now tied with Central Davidson for third but Mathews feels Friday’s performance.
When Chad Burcheete hit his ninth straight free throw, West Stokes was up 60-51 with 2:21 left and things appeared over. But Mathews kept coaching and his team kept responding. A drive by Geter and a rainbow three by Sharmari Spears made it 60-56.
Bruce’s long three made it 61-59. Spears’ turnaround jumper made it 63-61. Spears and Puff Gallimore traded free throws and when Jared Bottoms made a foul shot with 10.9 seconds remaining, West Stokes had a 66-63 lead.
Bottoms missed the second and Spears corralled the rebound. Bruce found the ball in his hands. His only mistake was glancing up at the scoreboard and thinking there was little time left.
Spainhour was holding his breath.
“You saw in the fourth quarter that they could shoot.,” he said.”They just kept coming at us.”
Spears spent a lot of time on the bench in foul trouble but others stepped up. Mathews pointed to Julian Greene, who hit three big jumpers in the fourth. He lauded the play of Greg Edward, who scored five points “and a lot of things you don’t notice.”And of course, he praised Geter, his coach on the floor.
Meanwhile, Spainhour’s team looked nothing like the team that beat Salisbury 83-48 a week earlier.
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