Hickory High head coach Shawn Johnson knew a win wasn't guaranteed Tuesday night against Alexander Central.
His players must have thought otherwise, as Hickory stormed to a 57-38 victory over the Cougars in the first semifinal game of the Catawba Valley Classic.
"We played a very tough team in Alexander Central, and we're excited to be in the finals," Johnson said.
Tyler Poole paced the second-seeded Red Tornadoes (8-1) with a game-high 20 points in the win over the third-seeded Cougars.
Hickory took an early 8-0 advantage and built a 31-18 halftime lead due in part to its success from the 3-point line.
Poole converted on four of the Red Tornadoes' five 3-pointers in the first half.
"Tyler's a very good shooter, but he can do much more than that, and he did with his hustle," Johnson said. "That's an important part of a game like that one."
Thomas Fortner's nine points led the way for Alexander Central (8-3), which never led but threatened early in the fourth quarter.
The Cougars closed the deficit to nine points with seven minutes and 30 seconds to play, but they could not get closer as Hickory used its size advantage to grab key rebounds and control the clock.
Johnson believed the tough battles in the paint set up the physical nature of the game, but the many tie-ups between players had more to do with both teams' mindsets than the score.
"When you play a team as mentally tough and resilient as Alexander Central, (physical plays) will happen," Johnson said. "We try to get a good jump in the first and last three minutes of each quarter, and I believe that made a difference for us."
Jerry Schenck added 11 points for Hickory, while Brennan James posted seven for the Cougars.
Hickory will face St. Stephens for the championship tonight at 8:30 p.m. at Catawba Valley Community College.
ST. STEPHENS 47
NEWTON-CONOVER 45
Fresh off of a 75-point win on Monday, the Indians needed every second to knock off Newton-Conover in a semifinal Tuesday night at Hickory High.
Aaron Grier played the role of hero for the top-seeded Indians when he sank a layup with eight seconds remaining.
St. Stephens (10-1) overcame a six-point deficit with 4:45 left to cement its place in the championship game.
"We battled hard, and we had several different guys step up, with (Grier) being the main one," St. Stephens head coach Gary Bowne said.
Fifth-seeded Newton-Conover (3-7) used an 11-point night from Dorian Shuford to keep pace with the Indians and build a 41-35 lead before St. Stephens made their comeback.
"We were too quick on offense, we tried to hurry shots for most of the game," Bowne said. "That really hurt us but we finally settled down and we're honored and happy to play for the title."
Hunter Davis' eight points and Jordan Gibbs' seven kept the Red Devils in contention.
Bowne said that Newton-Conover's refusal to back down and St. Stephens' eventual close win will help the Indians in the season's later stages.
"We needed a game like this to help us down the road, because we'll play more that will come down to the last minute," Bowne said.
St. Stephens' final possession was designed for any of the five players to shoot as soon as they got an open look, and Grier's baseline drive to the basket resulted in the easy layup.
"It's a big confidence booster for him to make a play like that, he played solid and helped us do what we needed to do to win," Bowne said.
David Ramsey paced St. Stephens with nine points.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement