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Spiders, Wonders advance to SPC final
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Published: February 19, 2009
INDIAN TRAIL — For the third straight year, the boys final of the South Piedmont Conference Tournament will be a matchup between Concord and A.L. Brown.
In Thursday night's semifinals, the top-seeded Spiders took care of host Sun Valley 74-46 and the third-seeded Wonders held off No. 3 seed Marvin Ridge 55-53.
The teams will meet for the championship again tonight at about 7:30 p.m. at Sun Valley High.
Kannapolis led almost the whole game against Marvin Ridge but had to hold on in a frenetic final minute.
The Wonders appeared in good shape when Zach Massey putback a miss after a steal to make it 53-49 with 50 seconds left.
After the Wonders made two of four free throws it was 55-50 with 16 seconds to play.
Marvin Ridge, though, got a driving layup, a steal and one free throw. T.J. Johnson then missed two at the line with and the ball went out of bounds to the Mavericks (18-6) with 2.8 seconds left.
A halfcourt shot Ryan Ledoux at the buzzer was short.
"I don't know where to start," Kannapolis head coach Shelwyn Klutz said after taking a big sigh of relief. "I'm proud of the way we played down the stretch. We kept them in the game by non converting at the free throw line... but all in all, at this time of year we just want to continue to play."
Jacob Newman and DeMarcus Phifer each had 14 points to lead the Wonders (15-7).
Phifer had 12 of his in the first half, while Newman was big in the fourth quarter.
Leading by one entering the final period, the Wonders got a layup by Xavier Watson, a driving layup by Newman and a layup by Vance Chapman off a Newman pass to make it 49-45 with 2:45 to play.
Newman also came up with several big defensive rebounds down the stretch.
"That's just what we get from Jacob night in and night out," Klutz said. "He's going to give you 100 percent.
After the teams exchanged free throws, Massey followed a miss on the fast break to make it a four-point game again.
"He hustled down and made a big play to give us a little bit a breathing room," Klutz said. That was a big-time hustle play by Zach."
Kannapolis started strong, building a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter on a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Xavier Watson.
Marvin Ridge cut the deficit to three at halftime and used a 9-2 run in the third quarter to build a 40-34 lead.
The Wonders, though, battled back with an 8-0 run to regain a slim advantage.
Concord didn't have to work near as hard playing in the first game against Sun Valley.
Chance Rucker scored 19 points, Griffin Templeton had 17 and C.J. Gridine chipped in 12.
Using a combination of 3-point shots and defensive pressure, the Spiders built a 40-26 halftime lead and then ran away in the fourth quarter.
Concord hit nine 3-pointers in the game, including eight in the first half.
"It was a 3-2 zone so they're really guarding the perimeter so we had to do a nice job of creating shots for each other," Concord head coach Scott Brewer said. "I thought we did a nice job engaging the zone, moving around and creating those 3's for each other."
Defensively, the Spiders forced 26 turnovers, including 10 in the second quarter when they outscored the Spartans 23-9. They also held Sun Valley (17-9) to just nine field goals over the last three quarters.
"Defensively we've got six or seven guys and when they get on a string rotating, it's as good a pressing team as I've ever coached, and that's saying a lot," Brewer said. "Our rotations, we're nailing them good now."
The Spiders led 53-39 early in the fourth before putting it away with a 12-0 run, capped by an alley-oop dunk by Rucker off a pass from Roger Smith.
Starters Smith and Jacquise Moore each had just four points apiece, but handed out a bunch of assists.
"That's amazing to beat them that handily and those guys not having to score," Brewer said.
Concord won both meetings against Kannapolis during the regular season, the only two losses the Wonders have suffered since early January.
"Hopefully the third time is a charm," Klutz said.
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