By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
The Salisbury Invitational Girls Basketball Tournament ó excuse me ó the Sam Moir Christmas Classic starts Monday at noon.
A week ago, we were excited about the girls bracket because it looked as if Salisbury and Davie would both enter the event unbeaten.
That’s a rare occurrence, last taking place in 2003 when West Rowan and Salisbury were perfect coming in. They settled who was best in a classic 61-60 final won by the Hornets.
Top-seeded Salisbury (9-0) is still undefeated.
Davie (7-1) no longer is. The second-seeded War Eagles, off to their best start since 1994, fell to third-seeded West 58-52 on Dec. 22.
Since Salisbury beat West 61-22, there’s little evidence to suggest anyone can challenge the Hornets’ long reign.
Not that we’re cheering against the Hornets, but we are in favor of excitement. Salisbury’s won the last three Moir title games 59-42, 76-27 and 75-56. Not that thrilling. Not one fingernail in Goodman Gym has been bitten.
Salisbury’s victory against West in the 2003 Moir final was the start of a run of six straight championships. No girls program had won more than two in a row before the Hornets took over. No boys program has won more than three in a row.
Salisbury’s last loss in the Moir tournament was in 2002, a 53-45 consolation-game setback against South Rowan. The Hornets have won 14 straight Moir outings since then, and the end isn’t in sight.
This year’s SHS starting five arguably includes five of the county’s top six girls. Doreen Richardson, who comes off coach Andrew Mitchell’s bench, might be the top player at several county schools.
Salisbury is 177-15 since the start of the 2003-04 season, and the staggering numbers just keep piling up.
While everyone else appears to be fighting for the runner-up plaque, it will be a nice accomplishment for the team that makes it to the final against the Hornets.
Davie hasn’t been in the championship game since 2002, while third-seeded West (4-2) hasn’t been there since 2003. A Davie-West rematch is likely in a semifinal. That could provide the tournament’s best girls game.
Davie sophomore guard Janna Dixon scored 18 points ó in one quarter ó this season. Freshman post player Tia Clement has great talent.
West has its own impressive freshman in Shay Steele, and it has junior guard Ayana Avery, who scored a school-record 40 points against North Rowan.
Avery has tallied 27, 24, 24, 40, 26 and eight points in her games this season. The eight came against Salisbury. That’s how good the Hornets are.
For Carson, North, South and East, the three-day tournament is a chance to get better and win a game or two.
Fifth-seeded Carson, which starts three freshmen, probably has the most growth potential of the quartet and has won its last two. The Cougars open the tournament against North and will be looking for the first three-game winning streak in school history.
North is 3-1 in its 1A league, but it lost by margins of 53 and 52 to Salisbury.
East, which has played in more Moir championship games (19) and won more Moir games (62) than any girls or boys program, is 1-9.
The schedule has been brutal ó Salisbury twice, SPC powers Robinson, Concord and Hickory Ridge, plus NPC co-favorite North Iredell. The Mustangs also subtracted the top three players from a team that provided the opposition for Salisbury in the last two Moir finals.
South comes in 3-7 and with three straight lopsided losses to good teams. Getting a win in the tournament would be a positive step for the Raiders.
Salisbury has played six games against East, South, West and North this season. The 61-22 game with West was the tightest.
Salisbury has been so dominant for so long that it will be a lot bigger story if it doesn’t win this year’s tournament than if it does. That’s a tough position to be in, but the Hornets are used to it.
Salisbury’s toughest opponent may be rust. It hasn’t played since Dec. 11.