By Nick Bowton

Salisbury Post

LANDIS — Salisbury opened its season without two starters and without four of its top 10 players for various reasons. The Hornets did so, no less, against a South Rowan team that likes to run just as much as they do.

Salisbury did, however, have three of its best players available in Joe Allen, Doug Campbell and Brandon Abel. Those three led the way as the Hornets ran with Raiders for four quarters and outscored them by enough in one to win 93-84 on the road Wednesday night.

In a miss-a-basket-if-you-blink game, Allen and Abel scored career highs of 29 and 18 points, respectively. Campbell added 20, two off his career high, and their effort over came the career-high 33 points of South’s Wesley Honeycutt.

“I’d much rather be on the entertaining winning end than entertaining and losing,” Salisbury coach Jason Causby said. “We wanna score 90 points a game, obviously. I think anybody would.

“But we definitely don’t want to give up 84.”

The Hornets were able to do so and still win because of their effort in the third quarter.

In the first half, the teams countered an average start with a flurry of baskets that foreshadowed what was to come. Honeycutt answered an Abel dunk with a 3-pointer. Campbell drove for a basket at the other end. Another 3 for Honeycutt.

That stretch lasted little more than 30 seconds, and Campbell added back-to-back 3s shortly thereafter before South closed the quarter on an 8-2 run.

After Allen scored all nine of his first-half points in the second quarter, the Hornets took a 34-32 lead into halftime. Salisbury and South

(1-3) opened the second half at opposite extremes.

The Hornets came out energetic, Zac Rose blocked three shots on South’s first two possessions, and the Salisbury scored six quick points for a 40-32 lead.

“We came out in la-la land,” South coach John Davis said. “We come out feeling warm and cozy about ourselves and go through the motions during second-half warmups, half jogging through layups and flipping one up, and then we go out there in the second half and the first five minutes we play like that.”

While Honeycutt did his best to keep South from falling too far behind — he scored the Raiders’ first 11 points of the quarter — Salisbury built its lead to

60-49 going into the fourth quarter.

The Raiders got no closer than four the rest of the way, as both teams scored

30-plus points in the fourth. The Hornets iced the game from the free-throw line by making 14 of 16 in the final 1:43.

While Allen, Campbell and Abel combined for 67 points, Causby praised the play of his entire team. Terrell Allison made his first varsity start and shared ballhandling duties with Campbell. Jay Duke provided backcourt depth and hit a 3 late in the third quarter.

Still, there was no doubting who led Salisbury in its opener.

“I knew that those three were gonna have to be ones that had to play the bulk of the minutes because we were so shorthanded on the bench,” Causby said. “If I gotta go to war with three players, those are three to take.”

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NOTES: Ibn Ali (toe injury), Jesse Gibbs (juvenile arthritis) and Jacob Phifer and Nick White (discipline) missed the game.

SALISBURY (93) — Allen 29, Campbell 20, Abel 18, Allison 9, Rose 8, Handy 5, Duke 3, Gray 1, Hamilton, Witte, Hailey.

south rowan (84) — Honeycutt 33, Davis 12, Wolford 11, Doby 8, Charles 6, Shaver 6, Morgan 4, Bettis 2, Morrison 2, Hagerty, Caldwell.

Salisbury 17 17 26 33 — 93

S. Rowan 20 12 17 35 — 84

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Contact Nick Bowton at 704-797-4256 or nbowton@salisburypost.com.