DENTON — In a contest between Yadkin Valley 1A Conference regular-season co-champions Chatham Central and North Rowan to determine the league’s number one seed for the upcoming state playoffs, it was really no contest at all.
The second-seed Cavaliers jumped out to an early 13-3 advantage and never looked back as North Rowan outscored the top-seed Bears every quarter to claim its third straight YVC Tournament title and earn the conference’s No. 1 seed in the 1A state playoffs with an overwhelming 59-35 victory Saturday afternoon at South Davidson High School.
The winners raised their overall record to 20-7, while Chatham Central slipped to 21-6 for the season.
Denerio Robinson poured in a career-high 22 points to lead three Cavaliers who finished in double figures. Brandon White tallied 12 points and Kendrell Goodes notched 11 as North Rowan connected on 41 percent (25-of-61) of its attempts from the field and commanded a huge 43-22 rebounding advantage, with White, Robinson and Goodes snaring two dozen caroms between them.
“This was a significant win with regards to the playoffs as it probably gives us an opportunity for at least two home games, and it’s always better to play at home,” related Cavaliers’ coach Jason Causby.
“Chatham Central is a hard team to prepare for since a lot of what they do is read and react, but by defending with a lot of energy and passion we managed to deny passes to the wings and take them out of a lot of what they wanted to do,” Causby said. “We tried to limit them to one shot, and when we can rebound and get an outlet pass we can score points a lot easier.”
Preston Cox was the only player to register double figures for the Bears with 11 points, including three treys. Chatham Central shot 23 percent (12-of-53) from the floor, while both teams committed nine turnovers.
Bears’ coach Robert Burke’s assessment of the outcome was to the point. “We did not come to play,” emphasized Burke. “We didn’t box out, rebound or shoot well. Half of our losses this year have come on days we’re not in school, and when we get out of our normal routine we don’t play well.
“At the end we had no choice but to put up threes, and only made one-of-six down the stretch,” the coach said. “But give credit to North Rowan because they just outplayed us and deserved to win.”
Clinging to a 4-3 advantage five minutes into the game, the Cavaliers suddenly erupted for nine unanswered points to seize the momentum before Cox’s three-pointer from the right wing with 1:25 to go in the frame narrowed Chatham Central’s deficit to 13-6 after one quarter.
But after a Lucas Skertich trey from the left wing to start the second stanza pulled the Bears within four, Robinson proceeded to toss in nine points during the period as North Rowan gradually extended its lead out to 29-15 at halftime.
Following another Skertich three-pointer from the left wing with 4:36 remaining in the third frame that closed the gap to 34-21, back-to-back put-backs in the paint by White triggered an 8-5 quarter-ending Cavaliers’ spurt that put them up 42-26 heading into the last eight minutes.
The difference was still 16 points (51-35) after Cox drained his final trey from the right wing with 3:29 to play prior to North Rowan padding the final margin by closing out the game with an 8-0 scoring spree.