Statesville boys 74, South Rowan 60

By Mike London

mlondon@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — South Rowan's home game with Statesville last season produced a 107-105 overtime win by the Raiders.

There was no repeat of that excitement Monday in an NPC makeup game that won't make anyone's list of instant classics.

South was listless in the first half and unable to stop the young Greyhounds in the second. Statesville pulled away for a 74-60 victory in a game that probably settled third and fourth place.

Statesville (9-11, 6-4) bounced back nicely from an upset loss to West Iredell on Saturday and finished off a season sweep of South.

"Statesville's young, but they're good," South senior John Davis said.

Davis scored 22 points before dislocating two fingers on his shooting hand with a little over a minute left and the game still in doubt. He reached for a pass thrown by Brad Akers as a Greyhound slapped at the ball. Davis walked off the floor grimacing in pain and shaking a mangled right hand. He was wearing a splint after the game, but he was optimistic about finishing the season.

South (9-12, 5-5) got 16 points from Mark McDaniel, 14 points from Blake Houston and 10 rebounds from B.J. Grant. It started poorly, finished poorly and didn't hit a single 3-pointer.

The tone was set right away. South came out in a half-empty, quiet gym and fired 3-point attempts on each of its first four possessions. The result was a goose egg — 0-for-4.

Coach John Davis called an early timeout to remind his team to look inside, but the first quarter stayed ugly. Statesville shot 5-for-18 in that period and still led 10-8.

"Last year, we scored more points than NBA teams score, and this time it's just ugly basketball early, not even 20 points between us," Coach Davis said. "It's like we went out there in a dream, just going through the motions. I don't think we were very focused at all. We didn't wake up and start playing until we were in real trouble."

South got plenty of solid 2s from Houston and McDaniel in the second quarter, but the Greyhounds also warmed up.

They shot 10-for-16 in the period and seized a 33-26 halftime lead.

Statesville was rolling 43-30 early in the third quarter when Davis shouldered the load for a South comeback. He had a pretty amazing quarter, going 11-for-12 at the foul line. He's missed some free throws lately, but he fixed things by moving over to his right and shooting them from an angle.

"I wasn't making them straight-on," he explained. "But I knew I could make them from the side."

When Davis came up with a steal and driving layup with 6:47 left to play, South trailed 50-47 and it appeared the Hounds might wilt.

They didn't.

"The young guys are growing up some," said Statesville coach Sonny Schofield, who got 19 points from D.J. Edwards, 17 from Nick Schofield and 16 from Saliff Mott. "When the fouls started piling up on us in the third quarter, we lost our rhythm a little bit, but this was one of our best games. Not many mental lapses. Better communication on defense."When Davis scored inside with 2:15 remaining, South trailed 62-58, but Nick Schofield answered with a flying layup and Edwards knocked down two big free throws.

From that point, the Greyhounds owned the game. They rebounded South misses and finished racehorse fastbreaks when the board-crashing Raiders failed to get back.

"We got them a little frustrated at the end," Coach Schofield said. "We finished with a flurry and put it away. Now we're a solid third."

STATESVILLE (74) — Edwards 19, Schofield 17, Mott 16, Gaither 11, Whitaker 7, Gill 2, Lowry 2, Willis.

SOUTH ROWAN (60) — Davis 22, McDaniel 16, Houston 14, Akers 6, Grant 2, Glaspy, Gaddy, Dessasore, Boulware, Sharpe.

Statesville 10 23 15 26 — 74

South Rowan 8 18 16 18 — 60