High school boys basketball: Baker’s Vikings blow out Smith with 20-0 run, advance to regional final
Published 9:08 am Sunday, March 10, 2024
- Central's Carson Daniel (24), a Catawba recruit, excels on the defensive end. Photo by Brian Wilhite.
Staff report
CONCORD — Second-seeded Central Cabarrus stayed undefeated with an 84-58 win against (Greensboro) Ben Smith on Friday.
The Vikings forced 24 turnovers and blocked 14 shots against Smith’s Golden Eagles (25-6) in the fourth round of the 3A state playoffs.
Central survived a 2-for-20 shooting night from the 3-point line and a quiet night by 6-foot-9 Josh Dalton.
Lees-McRae recruit Desmond “DJ” Kent was anything but quiet. He scored 31 points and blocked eight shots.
Intense Catawba recruit Chase Daniel scored 22 for the Vikings (31-0), who have won 63 in a row and are 93-1 in the last three seasons under coach Jim Baker. Baker is a North Rowan and Catawba graduate. He was the head coach at Catawba for 20 seasons and for 344 victories. He was inducted into the Catawba Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.
Central Cabarrus got off to a 6-0 start, but a very quick Smith team settled in, outscored the Vikings in the second quarter and was only down 41-33 at halftime.
Central’s lead had diminished to 45-41 with six minutes left in the third quarter and Smith had chances to get within two, but the Vikings blocked a shot and Carson Daniel fed his twin brother, Chase Daniel, for a fast-break layup. That was the biggest bucket of the game.
Then Carson Daniel drove for two. Kent got the next five, beating Smith twice on the offensive glass. Kent’s three-point play made it 54-41.
The run continued with sixth man Emari Russell scoring on a steal. A block by Kent was followed by four Viking free throws.
Chase Daniel followed with an acrobatic three-point play. Russell capped the blistering 20-0 run with a jumper for a 65-41 lead.
Central played small for almost all of the run, with Dalton sitting down.
Held scoreless for six minutes, Smith ended its drought with free throws with seven seconds left in the quarter, but by then, it was all over.
Central Cabarrus will play in the 3A West Regional final on Tuesday against top-seeded Hickory (31-0) at approximately 8 p.m.
Smith 12 21 10 15 — 58
Central 23 18 24 19 — 84
SMITH — Johnson 14, Bumpass 13, Miller 11, Palmore 7, Lee 4, Mann 4, Lattimore 3, Cowan 2.
CC — Kent 31, Chase Daniel 22, Chase Daniel 12, Russell 9, Dalton 4, Baker 3, Smith 3.
