By Ronnie Gallagher

Salisbury Post

After his team’s 71-48 win over West Davidson on Tuesday night, Salisbury coach Jason Causby sounded more like a philosopher than a coach.

Despite being in first place in the CCC, he hasn’t been happy with the on-again, off-again production of his starters.

“We’ve talked for a week about how this is life,” Causby said. “If you can’t play a sport hard that you supposedly love, how can you go out in life? You have to play whole-heartedly.”

There will be plenty to play hard for on Friday at Ledford. The Panthers, who were tied with the Hornets for first going into Tuesday, lost to Lexington, leaving the Hornets (13-8, 8-2) in sole possession of the top spot.

Ledford wasn’t on Causby’s mind at the start of Tuesday’s game. After a few minutes, the Hornets trailed 10-4 to a team they had routed 97-45 in the first meeting.

Causby was obviously tired of talking to his starters.

So he benched them.

Just like that, Zac Rose, Ibn Ali and Terrell Allison led the “red team” on a 13-2 run that gave Salisbury a five-point lead after one quarter.

“Our problem is we fade in and out,” Causby said. “If you’re out there as a team and one or two aren’t doing the job, all five look bad. That’s why we went with the wholesale substitutions.

“Those guys are hungry. They want minutes.”

Rose, a 6-foot-5 post man, even hit a 3-pointer during that span, and Allison slashed in for a pretty layup. The Hornets were off and running, leading by 11 at halftime.

Satisfied? Causby certainly wasn’t, and he challenged his team once again at halftime.

In the third quarter, the starters emerged. After West’s Zak King scored to pull the Green Dragons to within 33-24, Salisbury went on a 15-0 spurt.

Doug Campbell, who finished with 21 points, led the surge with two

3-pointers.

The game was officially put out of reach when West’s Jon Jarvis missed a wide-open layup that resulted in a long 3-pointer by Campbell. By the time the quarter was over, Joe Allen had scored twice inside and Thaddeus Williams had raced in for two layups. When Jacob Phifer scored on a putback, it was 50-29 going into the fourth.

The Green Dragons (4-15, 2-7) have the youngest team in the league, with only one senior and three sophomore starters, so coach Russ Snyder was nonetheless pleased.

“After the first game with Salisbury, we could’ve come in here intimidated and scared,” he said “I thought we played pretty well.”

Causby said he expects his team to play well at Ledford on Friday.

“It’s going to mean something,” he said.

West Davidson (48) — Hudson 14, King 11, Hoag 7, Stephen 6, Jarvis 5, Michael 3, Meadley 2.

Salisbury (71) — Campbell 21, Allen 10, Rose 7, Abel 6, White 5, Williams 4, Ali 4, Allison 3, Duke 3, Almond 2, Phifer 2, Witte 2, Gibbs 2, Handy.

W. Davidson 12 10 7 19 — 48

Salisbury 17 16 17 21 — 71

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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com.