By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — It’s the opening possession of Wednesday’s game, and A.L. Brown’s Caleb Ford confidently fires a 3-pointer from the right corner that dances around the rim before deciding not to fall.

West Rowan’s brick wall of a point guard, Kayvone Norman, who is stationed on the back of a 2-3 zone, fends off three taller Wonders to seize the rebound.

Norman pushes the ball and flicks a pass to his right to Will Givens Jr., just as Givens crosses mid-court. Givens sends the ball right back to Norman and keeps sprinting. Norman snaps another pass to Givens, who is now 3 feet behind the 3-point line on the right wing. That’s a long shot, but it’s a clean look and Givens lets it fly.

A.L. Brown head coach Jonathan Efird’s last words in the pregame huddle had to be “know where No. 3 is at all times,” but things happen fast on the basketball court.

Derick Brazil, an athletic defender, tries desperately to close out on Givens, but he gets there too late.

Swish. West leads 3-0.

“I’ve got the green light,” Givens said with a shrug. “My coach (Dadrian Cuthbertson) always has confidence in me. My teammates have confidence in me. If I like a shot, I’ll take it.”

It was the first minute of the game, but Givens drilled an important shot on the road. West had lost to A.L. Brown in the Dale’s Sporting Goods Sam Moir Christmas Classic at Catawba College, a game the Falcons believe they should have won. They were determined that the rematch would go differently. They needed a good start. Givens made sure the Falcons got started properly on their first possession.

Givens’ reaction to a super shot was interesting because there was almost no visible reaction. He didn’t blow kisses or shoot arrows at the crowd. He didn’t thump his chest. He didn’t scream at the A.L. Brown bench. He didn’t jump around like his sneakers were on fire.

Givens is a senior. He expected to make that shot. He’s made a lot of them. This was a business trip. He was just doing his job.

He nodded at Norman for the pass and stoically headed down the court to take his place in the zone as a 6-foot, 170-pound forward.

Two days before the game in Kannapolis, West had played at South Rowan. Givens had scored his 1,000th career point very early. He made a layup that gave West a 2-0 lead. The points came on a generous pass from teammate Elijah Holmes. He could have made a layup himself, but Holmes scooped the ball over to Givens, so he could get the milestone out of the way and get on with the business of winning the game.

“Elijah definitely will take that shot next time,” Givens said with a laugh. “He knew I needed two, but only needing two, it’s not like there was any nervousness.”

Givens had joked with his mother about getting 1,000 with a slam dunk, but that didn’t happen.

He did, however get a modest dunk to close that win at South — a squeak dunk they used to call it back in the day. He got an inch or so over the rim.

“It wasn’t my first dunk,” Givens said. “I think that’s three in my career.”

For everyone who gets to 1,000 points, male or female, it’s a journey through twists, turns and detours that takes place with the help of family, coaches and teammates.

“Some of my earliest memories are basketball,” Givens said. “When I picked up a basketball the first time, I knew that was the sport for me. Then when I was in fourth or maybe fifth grade, I really started to get serious about the game.”

Givens and Cuthbertson go way back in AAU ball, long before Cuthbertson became head coach of the Falcons before the 2022-23 season.

“I’ve been around Will probably more than I have anyone else on the team,” Cuthbertson said. “I know I’ve been a little hard on him because I’ve always had high expectations for him — and the team.”

Givens remembers his first points for West’s varsity. That was during the COVID season of 2021.

Mike Gurley was still coaching then, and West had a powerful team that not a lot of people ever got to see. Jalen Moss, Zeek Biggers, Macari Allison, AJ Mauldin and Braden Graham were starters, with freshman Juke Harris, who hadn’t sprouted to his full height yet, as the sixth man.

When the jayvee season ended, Givens got some varsity minutes. He scored four points.

The breakout game for Givens was the third one of his sophomore season. West beat Salisbury 66-55, with Givens leading the way with 22 points. He averaged 13.6 points for the season.

As a junior, Givens had two 32-point efforts, but both came in losses — 62-59 against Davie early in the season and 74-68 to Crest in the 3A state playoffs. He averaged 17.0 points per game.

As a senior, he’s averaging better than 19 points per game with a quick, smooth stroke that is poetry in motion. He’s scored more than 20 eight times and has scored in double figures in every game.

“He has meant a lot to us,” Cuthbertson said. “He’s been a scoring leader for three years. Every time he steps on the floor, he can go for 20 or 25, so teams have to worry about him.”

Givens has evolved steadily. He’s always going to be known mostly as a catch-and-shoot guy because he’s elite in that category, but he’s added to his game and has become a true scorer, not just a shooting specialist.

He’s not one of those guys who becomes irrelevant if you run him off the 3-point line. The game at A.L. Brown was a good example. Givens had four buckets — all 2s — in the decisive third quarter of a game that the Falcons won 60-44. He gets lots of transition hoops and he gets the occasional stick-back, pull-up or floater.

“There really has been major growth for him in the last year,” Cuthbertson said. “He’s gained some size and some strength, and he’s putting the ball on the floor more than he ever has.”

The world is full of 6-foot basketball players praying for scholarships, but Givens’ 4.25 GPA has helped him with recruiters at least as much as his shooting touch. The combination of basketball and grades should get him a free (or close to free) education at a D-II, D-III or NAIA program. He hasn’t committed yet, but he’s drawn interest from several in-state schools as well as some from far away. Waynesboro College in Pennsylvania and Defiance College in Ohio were the latest to inquire about Givens’ future plans.

“Those out of state programs, that’s probably because a lot of schools have seen me play AAU,” Givens said.

West (9-7) recently suffered the pain of a five-game losing streak, but the A.L. Brown game was the team’s third win in a row and the Falcons should make the 3A playoffs.

Givens wanted 1,000 points — it was a goal — but he wants to win more than he wants points.

Points aren’t always easy to come by. Givens has played his three varsity seasons in the strong South Piedmont Conference.

Central Cabarrus is the best team in 3A. Robinson, Concord, Carson and Northwest Cabarrus are solid teams. West needed 19 from Givens to nip seventh-place Lake Norman Charter, 52-51. South Rowan and East Rowan don’t have the talent level of the other SPC schools, but they don’t roll over. They’ll usually make you work.

Givens is the focus of every scouting report. Every player on every team knows that No. 3 can shoot. Every player knows that daylight means three points.

Givens has been given the green light for a reason.

“We went through a rough stretch, but we’ve made up our minds to finish this season strong,” Givens said. “We’re starting to play the way we can.”