LEXINGTON— A couple of years ago, the Salisbury boys basketball team was struggling through a dismal season when coach Drew Mathews gave his guys a tongue-lashing to remember after a loss at High Point Central. The Hornets responded by making the playoffs.
He must have bottled up that formula. A couple of weeks ago, he did the same thing — with resounding results.
After Tuesday night’s impressive 65-52 win at Central Davidson, the Hornets are on the same course. Their second-straight win broke a third-place tie with the Spartans in the battle for four playoff spots from the Central Carolina Conference.
“This is sweet,” said senior Andre Bruce, who has played through some tough times. “I like this. We’re coming together and everybody is playing team ball and getting involved.”
And the playoffs are right there for Mathews’ team. Salisbury improved to 5-4 in the league, 7-11 overall. Central fell to 4-5 and 9-9.
The complete team effort saw Brian Roten score seven of his nine points in a crucial third period when Salisbury took control. Sharmari Spears led the way with 13 but three other Hornets — Bruce, his fellow senior guard Chris Geter and lanky sub Greg Edward each had 10. Matt Butler had eight.
And the all-around scoring shocked Central coach Brian Hege, whose Spartans took care of Salisbury the first time the two teams hooked up.
“They shot the ball a lot better than last time, which surprised me,” the former Ledford and Appalachian State star said. “(Roten) shot it very well in the third, and that disrupted our defensive focus of the game.”
The Hornets outplayed Central in the first half, leading 32-26, but when the third quarter began, they put some distance between themselves and the Spartans.
Roten began a quick 6-2 run with a long 3-pointer. Butler scored underneath and Roten came back with a baseline jumper for Salisbury’s first double-digit lead.
“We played at our level and our pace,” Mathews said. “One thing we’ve put emphasis on is our 2 and 3 men making shots to open it up inside for Matt and Sharmari.”
The lead was 43-35 when Salisbury went on a scoring binge. Over the last three minutes, the Hornets outscored Central 11-2 to take a 54-37 lead.
Bruce bombed in a three, followed by Roten’s rebound bucket.
“This was his coming out party,” Mathews said of Roten.
Butler, Edward and Spears also hit layups in the stretch.
“The third quarter — that’s the best we’ve played all year,” Mathews said of his team’s 54-39 advantage going into the fourth quarter. “Then I said, ‘Let’s bury them,’ and in the fourth quarter, we executed as poorly as we have all year.”
Salisbury tried to make it exciting by scoring just one field goal in the final eight minutes. Meanwhile, Hege’s team woke up and began chipping away.
The Spartans cut the lead to
54-44 before Geter scored on a drive. Then, it was 56-50 with 1:15 remaining.
Central’s final gasp came at 57-52 when it missed a couple of shots that Hege says usually go in.
“We were down 10 and they went four possessions without scoring. If we hit some shots, the momentum changes.”
But it didn’t change, thanks to some clutch free-throw shooting by Bruce, Geter, Spears and Butler, who combined to hit Salisbury’s last eight.
Bruce said he and Geter were ready for the pressure.
“Coach Mathews told us we’ve got to have the ball in our hands,” he said, “because we’re seniors and he expects us to knock down the shots.”
Bruce also likes the fact that Spears is not counted on to score 25 a night.
“He’s still our man,” said Bruce of the freshman, who averages 17 points per game. “Everybody else is just pitching in now.”
And it might be enough to keep a playoff berth reserved for the Hornets.
“Every game is a playoff game now,” reminded Mathews. “Anybody, on any given night, can beat somebody else. We can’t slack up and let somebody else back in the race.”
Mathews told his kids that very thing after Tuesday’s win.
And if the Hornets are smart, they’ll listen to their coach.
After all, Mathews has history on his side.
SALISBURY (65) — Spears 13, Edward 10, Bruce 10, Geter 10, Roten 9, Butler 8, Doleman 3, Campbell 2, Greene.
C. DAVIDSON (52) — Lanier 18, Wilson 17, Rivas 7, Beasley 6, Baldwin 4..
Salisbury 16 16 22 11 — 65
C. Davidson 17 9 13 13 — 52
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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