HICKORY— Think about this for a minute. Your son is only 10 points from the coveted 2,000-point plateau. He is playing in the sectional basketball finals for a right to move into the Final 8 of all 3A teams. It’s going to be a special night for you.
But despite being at the gym 30 minutes before game time, you’re stuck on the outside looking in.
That was the plight of Donte Minter’s mother Saturday night at Sun Valley High School when West Rowan — that’s unbeaten West Rowan — was forced to play away from home in what amounted to a middle school gymnasium.
Seating capacity is only 750, Kluttz was told, and there was no more room for fans like Minter’s mother.
Only the watchful eye of West principal Henry Kluttz saved her and several other parents. He got them in through the back door.
Nearby, WSTP radio personality Howard Platt was trying to broadcast the game back to Rowan County. He was stuck in a hallway near the locker rooms because the gym simply wasn’t big enough to put him near the floor. It was ridiculous. His table was at a 45-degree angle and it was almost impossible to see. But he did it, earning himself the unofficial Player of the Game award for his efforts.
While Minter’s mother was lucky enough to squeeze in, hundreds of people were left out in the cold — literally.
“What’s ironic about all of this,” Kluttz said Monday morning during the Western Regional seeding meeting, “was there was a good number of Sun Valley fans who didn’t get in. I’m sure they thought, ‘Here we are in our own backyard. We can go get something to eat and go to the ballgame.’ I’m sure they haven’t seen that type of capacity from a visiting team.”
Kluttz wasn’t the only one at the regional meeting marveling over this new format that had teams playing the sectionals at home instead of a neutral site, preferably a college.
There was no tournament atmosphere. Teams that have to play on college-sized floors in the regionals and state finals were relegated to small-town bandboxes that couldn’t fit everyone in.
Which means a lack of revenue and a lack of interest. And aren’t those two things promoted by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association?
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After years of playing the sectionals in places like Catawba College, the state association decided to play at home sites this year. Most figure it is for money reasons. But Kluttz, who has served on sectional committees for over a decade, was quick to point out that colleges like Catawba, and Pfeiffer, along with A.L. Brown High School, were never overpriced. There were never any complaints, he said, from having a neutral site. Also, he was never concerned about locking the doors and stopping ticket sales.
“It should be something coaches look forward to coaching in, that spectators look forward to cheering their team on in and moms and dads look forward to seeing their kids play in,” Kluttz said. “It concerns me when you have to turn people away.”
What the NCHSAAdid by turning up its nose at neutral sites was give teams major advantages. Of the 20 sectional games in the Western 3A bracket, 18 home teams won. West is included on that list. It smashed Asheboro in the second round in the Gurley Dome.
“You can’t tell me there wouldn’t have been an upset here or there on a neutral floor,” West coach Mike Gurley said.
Kluttz smiled. “If Mike Krzyzewski played all of his games to the Final 8 in Cameron Indoor Stadium, I wonder how many times he’d make the Final 8?”
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Some didn’t deserve homecourt advantage. Kinston and West Rowan — two of the favorites to reach the 3A finals — played sectional finals on the road. A drawing before the season dictated that if two of the same seed met, the conference winner of that draw would host. That’s why West, the No. 1-ranked team in the state, had to ride a bus 70 miles to play. The South Piedmont Conference, of which Sun Valley is a member, won the draw over the North Piedmont.
“Apparently, they’ve been doing it that way in the East for years,” said Gurley. “Well, guess what? We’re the West. And I don’t know why they do it like that in the East. I talked to three or four coaches who said even though they were on the good end of it, they knew it was wrong. A couple of others, who lost, said, ‘If we had been on a neutral floor, we might have gotten ‘em.’ ”
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Of course, Gurley’s team is so good at 27-0, sites don’t matter. The Falcons have won by an average of 34 points this season.
Gurley was disappointed his kids weren’t playing at a college site but downplayed it to them. He didn’t want to worry about where his team played and lose focus on who it was playing.
“All week, I told them that we’d go to Union County or New York. We’d go to Afgahnistan and fight in one of Bin Laden’s caves if we had to. We were going to play where the state told us to play,” he said.
Gurley hopes the NCHSAAlistens to the coaches and sees the advantages of playing at the neutral site — and never, ever does this again.
“There needs to be adjustments made,” Gurley said. “We have intellectual people in high places who’ll come up with a good decision. I’m sure they’re going to listen to us.
“I mean, isn’t it a thrill to play on a college floor? We need, at least, the sectional finals a a neutral site.”
“Get a facility that can actually hold the numbers,” Kluttz insisted. “My personal opinion is, this helps some people see that it’s OKto drive a few extra miles to get a nice facility.”
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Luckily, West plays Friday night against Gastonia Ashbrook at 8:30 p.m. in Icard.
East Burke High School holds 2,800 fans, not 750. And that should be good news for Donte Minter’s mother.
“I understand there’s a reason for everything,” Gurley said. “There’s a reason my hair fell out. There’s a reason some people have more money than others.”
So there has to be a reason the NCHSAA declined on neutral sites. Right?
“Maybe there’s a good reason,” Gurley shrugged, “that I haven’t been made aware of.”
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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