lu^ay. ]
Pag* 2A-KINaS MOUNTAIN HERALD-ThuMay. January 8. 1981
■rcf-. -y,:
M
GAME HERO — Kings Mountain's Carl Smith
(15) shoots a 10-ioot jump shot ior the winning
points in the Mountaineers' 69-67
Southwestern 3-A Conierence victory over
Photo by Gary Stewart
defending state champion R-S Central Hilltop-
pers Tuesday night at the KMHS gym. The loss
snapped a 43-game winning streak ior the
visiting R-S five.
Jayvees Defeat R-S,
Run Record To 9-0
Kings Mountain High’s
jayvee basketballers ran their
unbeaten record to 9-0 Tuesday
afternoon at home with a 63-53
victory over previously
unbeaten R-S Central.
The Little Mounties, making
their flrst start since the holiday
break, broke to a 30-20 halftime
advantage and maintained a
comfortable lead the rest of the
way.
Three players scored in double
figures for Coach Danny
McDowell’s club. Frank Parker
led all scorers with 21 ftoints,
Avery Greir added 15 and David
Hager 12. Grier had 15 rebounds
and David Peeler dished out nine
assists.
“The guys really got
themselves geared up for R-S,”
said McDowell. “We had a good
transition game. The guards real
ly pushed the ball up court.”
A big key in the victory was
KM’s man-to-man defense in the
first half, which McDowell term
ed “our best man to man defense
of the year.” R-S didn’t shoot a
foul shot during the first half.
Kings Mountain scored six
unanswered pioints at the start of
the second half to break the
game open. The Mounties were
IHJP
1
up by 45-31 going into the
fourth quarter.
“Peeler, who was starting for
the first time, played a solid floor
game with nine assists, and the
wing people, Parker and John
Barnett, played their best defen
sive game together this season.
Parker had a fine shooting night
as well,” said McDowell.
“David Hager had a good
game scoring from inside,” he
went on, “and Grier did a super
job off the board. He Just
dominated the boards.
“1 was real pleased with the
team's play,” he went on. ‘This
wxs the biggest win so far this
year. 1 am very proud of these
young men.”
The Little Mountaineers
travel to South Point Friday for
a 4:30 game.
THE BOXSCORE
KM (63) — Parker 21, Grier
15, Hager 12, Barnett 8, Brown
4, Odems 3.
RS (53) — Patterson 18,
Wilkerson 6, Camper 6,
Carpenter 5, Hamilton 5, Davis
3, Logan 4, Gray 4.
69-67 SWC Thriller
Mountaineers Snap
R~S Winning Streak
By GARY STEWART
Co-Editor
Coach John Blalock prayed
for it.
Point guard Carl Smith never
doubted it.
Visiting R-S Central fans pro
bably never exjiected it.
But it happened.
Kings Mountain’s Moun
taineers, like a bunch of little
Davids in a land of Goliaths,
broke a 67-67 tie on Smith’s last-
second basket to defeat the
Hilltoppers 69-67 Tuesday night
at the KMHS gym and end the
longest winning streak in North
Carolina prep basketball.
For R-S Central, the defen
ding state 3-A champions, the
defeat ended a 43-game winning
streak and was only its fifth loss
in 72 outings in three years
under Coach Stacy Lail.
For the Mountaineers, who
have faltered the last 10 years
after once being the king of
Southwestern 3-A Conference
basketball, the victory returned
them to the throne.
The Mountaineers, now 7-0
in SWC and 10-1 overall, today
are alone at the top of the
10- team circuit. R-S Central,
whose last defeat came to Shelby
in the district tournament two
years ago, fell to second place
with a 6-1 conference record and
11- 1 overall figure.
The game, witnessed by a
standing-room-only crowd of
over 1300, was championship-
calibre from the ojiening tipoff.
Neither team was able to break
the game open, even though the
Hilltoppers ran up a seven-point
advantage in the third jieriod
and the Mounties went up by as
many as sbt in the fourth period.
Kings Mountain scored the
first four points of the second
half following a 33-33 halftime
tie to go up by 37-33, but R-S
scored 10 unanswered points to
assume the lead.
The Mounties didn’t lead
again until the 5:50 mark of the
fourth period when reserve Paul
Ingram hit a bucket to make the
score 57-55. Demetrius Goode
hit a driving layup from the
baseline to widen the gap to
59-55 and Smith hit two foul
shots with 5J)8 left to make it
61-55.
Kings Mountain ofierated
from the four-corners offense the
entire four period and it looked
like the keep-away ballhandling
of Smith and Ingram had the
Hilltoppers too confused to
mount a comeback.
But they struck quickly
following two straight KMHS
turnovers and following a tap-in
'U'
9PORT;
by 6-6 center Chris Michaels at
the 3:11 mark, were back within
two at 63-61.
The KM lead stayed at two to
four points until the final
minute. With 49 seconds left, the
Hilltoppers’ Troy Harris stole
the b^l from Smith at halfcourt
and dished off an assist to Rimp-
son Duffy, who scored a layup
to tie it at 67-all.
Coach' Blalock then mapped
his final strategy.
“We called timeout,” he said,
“and I told them to hold the ball
and call time again with 20
seconds left.” That, they did.
‘Then,” added the veteran
mentor, “I told them to hold the
ball down to the seven-second
mark, and for Smith to drive the
lane and try to pick up a foul. If
he didn’t get the foul, 1 wanted
him to either shoot the ball, or
fiass it off to Gerald Byers or
Terrence Blalock for the final
shot.”
Smith carried the plan out to
perfection. With seven seconds
left, he drove the lane. When he
didn’t draw the foul, he stopped
10 feet shy of the goal and flop
ped in a jumper as the final
seconds ticked off the clock.
“I had been scared to death all
day long,” said Coach Blalock,
“but Smith said all along we
were going to beat them. He
never doubted it one second.”
Smith was the big gun all
night long for the Mounties, and
it was fitting that he should sink
the winning basket. His 21
points were high for both teams.
Byers added 16 and Blalock and
Goode 11 each for the Moun
ties. Chris Michaels led the
Hilltoppers with 17.
“We had been praying for this
victory sicne November,” said
Blalock. “I prayed that we’d
both be undefeated when we
met, and that the gym would be
packed.
“I’m just as proud as I can be
for the kids,” he went on. ‘They
are the ones that made it hap
pen. It’s been on their minds
since November and they’ve
worked hard in practice every
day.
“1 consider this the biggest win
since I’ve been here,” he con
tinued. ‘The fans were behind us
and the players really came out
to play. We didn’t rebound as
well as we wanted to. We would
really be tough if we could re
bound better.”
Even though the tall and
talented Michaels led the R-S at
tack with 17, he was defensed
well by Blalock and Ingram, and
eventually fouled out with 1:23
to play. Blalock held the All-
Conference star to just sbt points
in the first half.
“That was a big key to us,”
said Blalock. “We wanted to
make him throw the ball long,
and Terrence and Paul did a
good job on him. But everybody
did a super job.”
***
Kings Mountain’s girls weren’t
as fortunate in the opener and
lost their seventh game in II
outings, 5748.
The Lady Hilltoppers led from
the outset and placed three
players in double figures. Vera
Young led the way with 18,
Christine Logan added 17 and
Lori Lynch 14. Sheryl Goode
scored 17 and Diane Williams 13
for Kings Mountain.
The big difference came at the
foul line, where R-S hit 17 of 30
attempts and Kings Mountain
managed only 8 of 20.
“That’s the best girls team I’ve
seen all year,” said KM Coach
David Brinkley after the game.
‘The foul shooting was the dif
ference.”
The Mountainettes did mount
a mild comeback in the fourth
quarter after trailing by 44-33
after three periods. They manag
ed to trim the margin to eight.
The two KMHS teams travel
to South Point Friday for a
SWC twinbill and close out first
round play at home Tuesday
night against Crest.
GIRLS GAME
RS (57) — Burnett 2, Logan
17, Young 18, Lynch 14, Siegel
2, Logan 2, Rogers 2.
KM (48) — Goode 17,
Williams 13, Hamrick 4, Bolton
6, Curry 6, Stowe 2.
BOYS GAME
RS (67) — Harris 6, Cash 10,
Miller 4, Davis 2, Duffy 11,
Smith 15, Michaels 17, Logan 2.
KM (69) — Byers 16, Smith
21, Goode 11, Blalock 11, In
gram 4, Roseboro 2, Brown 2,
Hager 2.
•Mf
*1^
12
Photo by Gory Stowort
leads IVS - Avory Grior (54) goM up for two point* in tho
King* Mountoin-R-S Control junior vc^ty boskotball gamo
Tuoidoy aitomoon at tho KMHS gynou Tho Littlo Mountainoort
won 63-53 to run thoir Maaon's rocord to 9-0.
KtngsAl^njQttnlHl^ld
PUBLISHED EACH
TUESDAY
AND THURSDAY
GARLAND ATKINS
Publishor
GARY STEWART
Co-Editor
LIB STEWART
Co-Editor
MEMBER OF NORTH
CAROLINA PRESS
ASSOCIATION
The Herald is published
by Herald Publishing
House. P.O. Box 752. Kings
Mountain. N.C. 28066.
Business ond editorial of
fices are locoted at Canter
bury Rood-East King Street.
Phone 739-7496. Second
class postage paid at Kings
Mountain. N.C. Single copy
20 cents. Subscription rates:
$12.48 yearly in-stote. $6.24
six months. $13.52 yearly
out of stote. $6.76 six mon
ths. Student rates for nine
months. $8.50. USPS 931-040.
mt
CALLING THE SHOTS — Kings Mountain High
assistant coach Danny Ray McDowell, atan-
ding. yells instructions to the Mountoineers os
head coach lohn Blalock, kneeling, wotcbes
Photo by Gary Stewort
the oction in Tuesdoy's game with R-S Central
ot the KMHS gym. Unlock called the 69-67 win
the biggest of hit
o 1
%