By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
Teams in the CCC better prepare themselves. North Rowan has found yet another inside force.
Cavaliers coach Kelly Everhart is happy a third threat in long-armed Julian Hicks has joined blocks of granite Javon Hargrave and Lamonte Bell.
The 6-foot-4 Hicks played a season-high 15 minutes Monday, contributing six points and nine rebounds during a 55-51 win against Davie County in a Sam Moir Christmas Classic consolation game.
“He has the potential to do that every game,” Everhart said. “He was doing a real good job rebounding. It was good to see.”
Everhart was also pleased to finally win again in the Moir Classic.
The Cavaliers, who fell to Salisbury on Saturday, entered Monday with eight straight losses in the event They hadn’t beaten Davie in the Moir since 1990.
The third meeting between the teams this season came down to Davie’s outside shooting versus North’s rebounding.
“Our whole focus was rebounding,” Davie coach Mike Absher said. “But golly, they got second shot after second shot after second shot. They got all the loose balls. Give them credit for converting them.”
A 3-pointer from Jesse Rudisell gave North its largest lead at 28-19, but Davie came out with a vengeance in the third quarter. Charging up and down the court so North couldn’t get its big men set, James Mayfield led a rally that put Davie up 42-40 going into the fourth period.
The War Eagles still led 51-49 with three minutes left, but Hargrave tied it with a putback. C.J. Fortson scored underneath for a 53-51 lead. Hargrave then snatched the ball away from Drew Absher (13 points) as he drove, later blocked a shot and eventually hit the deciding free throws.
He finished with 15 points and matched Hicks with nine boards.
“In the post, we did really well on the boards on the offensive end,” Everhart said of the team’s 17 second chances. “I thought we battled.”
Fortson finished with 11 points and Tristan Gill added 10, including two 3s.
Mayfield scored 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
North ROWAN (55) ó Hargrave 15, Fortson 11, Gill 10, Hicks 6, Bell 6, Hipps 3, Rudisell 3, Sims 1, Overstreet, Blakeney, Feezor.
davie COUNTY (51) ó James Mayfield 16, Absher 13, Jamal Mayfield 9, Dulin 5, Harris 4, Robertson 2, Marion 1, Taylor 1, Neely, Redmon, Dillard.N. Rowan 18 10 12 15 ó 55
Davie 17 4 21 9 ó 51