All-Tournament: RONZ Award winner Will Beck (CD), Devin Sigmon (CD),

Luke Staten (CD), Mike Geter (SHS), Bruce Dalton (SHS) and MVP Juke Harris (SHS).

Not pictured: Kadan Williams (A.L. Brown).

 

MVP Juke Harris.

 

By David Shaw
For Salisbury Post

SALISBURY — The calendar says it’s only January, but the Salisbury boys basketball team is already in full bloom.

Visual evidence was submitted over the weekend, when the Hornets swept past East Rowan, West Rowan and top-seeded Central Davidson to win the 2023 Sam Moir Christmas Classic at Goodman Arena. Now they hope to crack their season open like Memphis speedster Ja Morant busting a runaway layup.

“I’m not surprised anymore with this team,” first-year coach Albert Perkins said late Saturday night, shortly after Salisbury took down the previously unblemished Spartans and earned its first tourney title since 2010. “They were a team before I even got here. My job is to make them better.”

So far, so good for the Hornets, who are suddenly 11-3 with four straight wins and ranked No. 2 in the MaxPreps 2A West rankings — thanks chiefly to a demanding early-season schedule. But truth be told, their 85-53 championship-game rout of CD wasn’t so much dominance as it was deliverance.

“We just believe we’re the best team in the county,” said Wake Forest recruit Juke Harris. “And that’s how we play. This was simply another chance to prove it.”

Harris did his part. The 6-foot-6 point guard was a stabilizing force at both ends of the court, topping all scorers with 26 points and all rebounders with nine. For his effort, he was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“We all know Juke is a tremendous player,” said Perkins, a former Belmont Abbey assistant and a one-time professional in France. “He can score and he can rebound, but what I love most about him is his coachability. You can have basketball conversations with him. He’ll tell you what he’s seeing on the court. It’s another part of his talent and his makeup as a basketball player.”

Harris was backed by a supporting cast that won’t win any Oscars, but certainly deserves a front-row seat. There was senior Mike Geter, the heady backcourt maestro who contributed 14 points, three steals and blocked a shot. “Mike’s energy is infectious,” marveled Perkins. “He brings us to another level.”

So does sophomore sensation Braylon Taylor, a 5-foot-11 guard who came off the Salisbury bench and delivered a 13 point/5 rebound offering. Nearby was Deuce Walker, the rugged senior with velvet hands who finished with 10 points. Big men Dashawn Brown and Hank Webb, both listed as 6-foot-3, cleared driving lanes and defended the rim with brawny authority.

Then there’s junior Bryce Dalton, who joined Harris and Geter on the all-tournament team after netting eight first-half points and draining a game-altering 3-pointer midway through the second quarter. What had been an early 10-point Salisbury lead was reduced to 23-21 when Central forward Devin Sigmon caught nothing-but-nylon on a 3-ball from deep in the left corner.

“We were falling asleep on defense and getting beat,” explained Geter.

“Let them get downhill on us,” Dalton added with an assertive nod. “That’s never a good thing.”

But instead of getting bitter, the Hornets got better. Harris, who attended many Christmas tournament clashes as a youngster, ignited a 14-0 Salisbury scoring spree with a pair of free throws. Geter’s fastbreak layup and Taylor’s electric putback made it 29-21 before Dalton found himself undetected near the top of the key. He took a sharp pass from Webb, who was stationed under the basket, and calmly buried a 22-footer, providing an 11-point edge with 3:05 remaining in the first half.

“That three made it double digits,” said Harris. “It was a tone-setter. You could just see the energy leave their team and their crowd.”

After that the Hornets seemed to burn with grit and cohesion, tightening their back-to-the-basket defense and padding their lead in steady increments. It ballooned to 63-39 after three quarters and stretched to 35 points on two occasions, the last when reserve forward Macari House hit a baseline jumper in the final minute.

“I love where we are as a team,” said Perkins, who guided Salisbury to a pair of one-sided Central Carolina Conference victories in mid-December. “Our plan is to keep plugging right along.”

That’s all fine and dandy with Harris, except for one aspect.

“I know all the social media pages are sleeping on us,” he said after scoring 88 points in three tournament games. “We’ve beaten some really good teams. But games like this, when we blow people out, they get us noticed. Comes playoff time, we’ll be ready for anything.”

NOTES: It was Central’s first loss in 14 decisions. The Spartans, ranked fifth in the 3A West rankings, made only six two-point field goals and 11 3-pointers, including four by senior guard Luke Staten (16 points, 6 rebounds). … Joining Harris, Geter and Dalton on the all-tournament team were Central’s Staten and Sigmon, as well as A.L. Brown guard Kaden Williams. … Central’s Will Beck won the RONZ Award. … The Hornets, who were seeded No. 2, won the tournament four straight years from 2007-10. They’ll dive back into conference play Wednesday night when South Davidson visits.

 

Salisbury        17    20   26    22 — 85

C. Davidson    7    17     15     14 — 53

SALISBURY (85) — Harris 26, Geter 14, Taylor 13, Walker 10, Dalton 8, D.Brown 4, Webb 4, Matthews 2, House 2, Davis 2, T.Brown.

C. DAVIDSON (53) — Staten 16, Beck 9, Hulsizer 8, Sigmon 8, Hughes 6, Daniels 3, Montgomery 2, Tysinger 1, Henderson, Craven, Clendenin, Bush, Flowe.