Staff report
Boys prep basketball …
Salisbury-Providence Grove and West Rowan-Lake Norman matchups this week will go a long way toward deciding championships in the CCC and NPC.
Salisbury’s boys have won 15 straight games since an opening loss at South Rowan ó their strongest surge since 1992 ó and will take on Providence Grove, a new school in Randolph County, for the first time.
Both teams will own 6-0 records in the league entering Tuesday’s game at Salisbury. No one else in the CCC is better than 3-3.
Salisbury has finished first or second in the CCC each of coach Jason Causby’s previous four seasons, but it hasn’t hasn’t won 20 games since 1994. The Hornets are a lock to reach that plateau this time.
Eight different Hornets have scored in double figures on a given night. Brandon Abel and Darien Rankin usually lead the way, but Dominique Phillips and Jahaan Hailey keyed Friday’s victory against rival North Rowan.
Providence Grove, coached by former East Rowan and Davie coach Jim Young, has a sharp-shooting team, paced by Zeb Milliner. The surprising Patriots have reeled off seven straight victories since losing to Asheboro in Randolph’s Christmas tournament.
In its six CCC games, Providence Grove (11-5) hasn’t been held below 71 points and has averaged 80 per game. There’s also been a different scoring leader in each of PG’s last three contests.
n West Rowan has to take care of business in a makeup game at Mooresville on Tuesday before it takes on Lake Norman in a highly anticipated NPC rematch in Mount Ulla on Wednesday. Both teams are ranked among the top 10 in 3A, with Lake Norman (15-0, 10-0) holding down the No. 3 spot.
The NPC race is all over but the shouting if Lake Norman finishes a sweep of the Falcons. Lake Norman beat third-place Northwest Cabarrus by 30 so it’s hard to see anyone other than West having a realistic shot against the Wildcats.
Lake Norman has a host of nice players, but the guys to watch are point guard Kevin Canevari, big man Paul Larsen and electric super sub Reggie Price, who torched West in the game at Lake Norman.
Canevari (North Meck) and Price (Garinger) are transfers who have made a major impact in their first season as Wildcats.
On its homecourt on Jan. 7, Lake Norman shot 53 percent to beat West 71-68. West (12-2, 8-1) shot only 32 percent, but it had a chance to win because of career-best performances by B.J. Sherrill and Jason Grant. West standout K.J. Sherrill spent that first meeting double-teamed and in constant foul trouble, but he’s scored 20-plus points in four of his last six outings.
West-Lake Norman has been an entertaining rivalry even when the Wildcats didn’t have an outstanding team. West leads the series 9-6.
West has won eight conference championships in coach Mike Gurley’s previous 11 seasons.
n East’s boys have made the playoffs the last five seasons. They still can make it six in a row, but the job got tougher when Brian Grohman aggravated a balky knee in practice last week and missed Friday’s loss against West Rowan.
Grohman said he’ll undergo surgery Tuesday. He hasn’t officially been declared out for the season, but coach Greg McKenzie said the most optimistic return date is the NPC tournament.
The 6-foot-4 junior said he first hurt the knee in East’s second game, but he’s been playing very well, including a 16-point outing against South Rowan last week.
Grohman was shooting 62 percent from the field, a figure which led the team ó and probably the county. He also was averaging a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game.