Staff report

THOMASVILLE — Thomasville’s boys basketball team was so fired up for Friday’s game that 6-foot-1 Bryce McCoy soared to the rafters to block a 3-point attempt by Salisbury’s 6-foot-6 Juke Harris.

Harris was as startled as anyone at that turn of events, and the Wake Forest recruit wasn’t pleased when he was called for a charge a few moments later.

Not much went right for the Hornets in Thomasville’s gym for some long, frustrating minutes, but they eventually settled down, owned the second half and smashed the Bulldogs 67-39.

Salisbury (16-3, 7-0) had eviscerated Thomasville 80-35 at home to start Central Carolina Conference play, but it’s never a walk in the park in Thomasville’s gym.

“Thomasville was well-prepared by their coaches and they played with a lot of confidence,” Salisbury coach Albert Perkins said.

Thomasville (8-7, 3-4) scored the first two buckets, held Harris to five points in the first quarter and trailed 12-11 after eight minutes. That added to the Bulldogs’ confidence.

The Hornets needed a drive by Harris at the end of the first half to take a 24-20 lead to the locker room. Harris had only nine points at the half.

“We talked about defense, we talked about rebounding, and we talked about executing better on offense,” Perkins said. “The team responded well. They remembered losing at Thomasville last year.”

Salisbury played much stronger in the third quarter, and Harris started to roll. He scored 12 in the third. He made back-to-back 3-pointers, deep ones, to turn a 26-20 lead into some 32-20 separation. Thomasville’s bravado started to sag when those shots swished, and the Hornets led 42-26 after three quarters.

With seven players scoring in the fourth quarter, the Hornets made it a resounding 28-point victory. Thomasville was held to 19 points in the second half.

Harris finished with 31 points, which actually lowered his 31.5 points per game average a bit.

Braylon Taylor made several of his patented flip shots in the lane and four free throws to contribute a dozen points.

Mike Geter helped the Hornets stay afloat in the second quarter. That’s when he scored six of his 11 points.

Salisbury is still playing without Dashawn Brown, but he could return to action soon.

Salisbury       12   12   18   25   — 67

Thomasville  9     11   6     13    — 39

SALISBURY — Harris 31, Taylor 12, Geter 11, Davis 6, Walker 4,  Dalton 2, Webb 1.