SALISBURY — Despite temperatures that dipped into the 30’s on Friday, Salisbury coach Jason Causby was shedding layers during a fiery timeout not three minutes into action against West Davidson.
The second-year coach marched to halfcourt and the sport coat came flying off along with any sluggishness Salisbury may have at the start of the game.
Although it wouldn’t be until the fourth quarter when the Hornets put it together, they figured it out to win consecutive games for the first time all year in a 58-48 win Friday.
“We came out flat,” Causby said. “I was livid because we were passing it back and forth and very content with it. We can’t afford that in our situation.”
For the Hornets to make noise in the CCC, they’ll have to have a spirited comeback such as the one against West. They outscored their guest 25-9 in the final quarter.
After trailing for much of the way, Salisbury (6-14, 2-4) hit back-to-back 3’s to start the fourth quarter to tie the score and gained the lead for keeps on a Tyler Petty putback.
Buster Hillie and Jon Mark Petty led the effort with 12 points each.
“I like it when coach yells at us,” Jon Mark Petty said. “It gets us going.”
West didn’t need a jump start as it hit six three-pointers in the first half. That success rate was absent in the second half with just two 3’s.
“It came down to at the end of the game, we got dead cold,” West coach Derrick Stokes said. “We couldn’t hit layups or anything and Salisbury got hot. Both teams played very hard.”
Six of the Dragons’ first seven field goals were from behind the arc as they built a 21-14 lead. A three-point play from David Monk pushed it to double digits and WD led 28-19 at halftime after a buzzer-beater from Zach Queen.
“In the locker room we decided to go man-to-man,” Jon Mark Petty said. “We got up in there and didn’t let them get easy shots.”
Monk hit a layup in transistion for West to take a 39-33 edge into the final quarter when Salisbury began its rally.
Jon Mark Petty and Corban Usry nailed treys on consecutive possessions to tie it at 39 and force a WD timeout. Tyler Petty’s putback made it 43-41 Hornets with 5:12 left. A pair of freebies from Hillie capped a 12-2 run.
“I felt like this has been building over the last two weeks,” Causby said. “I kept telling them it’s going to happen sooner or later.”
Keion Adams’ only three points of the night were huge. After making the first of two free throws, the senior grabbed his own miss and laid it back in to make it 50-45.
Queen and Tyler Grooms hit four 3’s each for West (6-13, 1-5).
Hillie was 7 of 8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter as the Hornets pulled away.
“We’re starting to enjoy it now,” Causby said. “Winning and success does that.”

WEST DAVIDSON (48) — Queen 16, Grooms 16, Monk 9, Teague 4, Taylor 2, Beck 1, Smith, Kahn, Gobble.
SALISBURY (58) — Hillie 12, J. Petty 12, T. Petty 10, Troutman 8, Alexander 6, Usry 5, Adams 3, Fazia 2. Brown.

W. Davidson 15 13 11 9 — 48

Salisbury 8 11 14 25 — 58