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When the two teams took to the court Tuesday evening at North Forsyth High School in the 1-A NCHSAA Western regional semifinals, the Bulldogs were the one’s ready to play, but the Bearcats failed to surrender. In the end, though, THS showed why it is the defending state champion, coming up with the big play when it needed it, to escape with a pulsating 84-81 win. They advance to play Winston-Salem Prep on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the LJVM Annex.
“We played well in spurts,” said THS coach Woody Huneycutt. “But those guys (Hendersonville) were everything I thought they were. They were fast, quick and able to give us fits in spots tonight.”
Thomasville built a pair of huge leads, throwing knockout punches that Muhammad Ali would have had trouble getting up from. With a 74-58 lead at the end of three, the Bulldogs were ready to roll into the regional finals. But the Bearcats failed to give up and took a brief 81-79 lead with 1:15 to play.
That is when senior E.J. Abrams-Ward offered his leadership.
“When things looked bad there down the stretch, the guy’s just regrouped,” said Huneycutt. “I don’t know what E.J. grabbed them and told them when we got down by two, but we didn’t have to tell them anything from the sideline. We knew we were gonna push it back and at least try to tie the game.”
Abrams-Ward shared his motivational speech.
“The game isn’t over — they may be up, but as soon as we get the ball, attack the basket, draw a foul — do what we’ve got to do,” he said.
He took the direction of his own words, scoring on an inbounds pass from Dominique Pickett to tie the score at 81-all with 58 seconds left.
Hendersonville took possession and looked as if it would hold the ball for a final shot, but the Thomasville pressure forced a poor shot and the Bulldogs took advantage of the situation.
“We didn’t want them holding the ball, and I was just telling the guys to pressure them,” said Huneycutt.
Donald Simms got the ball in his hands and raced down the floor with 12 seconds left to take an 83-81 lead, and C.J. Campbell added a free throw to extend the lead to three. The Bearcats had one more chance to tie, but a desperation shot from midcourt sailed over the goal.
“The plan was to hold the ball until the end and for us to get the last shot,” coach Rob Strong of Hendersonville said. “It didn’t work out that way.”
Thomasville (21-2) had its press working to perfection in the first quarter blowing out to a 27-15, and made it a 15-point advantage early in the second quarter on a Simms 3. Little worked for the Bulldogs the remainder of the half, though, with Hendersonville streaking back to make it 44-42 at the break.
The two teams would trade baskets for the next four minutes with Hendersonville taking a 55-53 lead, but the Thomasville of the first quarter appeared once more. Pressure defense intensified from the ‘Dogs as they closed out the remainder of the quarter on a 21-3 run, that surely put the game out of reach.
Hendersonville failed to accept its certain fate.
Running the floor in transition and snatching down offensive rebounds, the Bearcats rode the backs of Stephen Clay and Dominique Whiteside to get back within two, 79-77. Clay proceeded to steal the ball and go the length of the floor for a deuce to tie the game at 79-79, and he gave them a two-point lead on a fastbreak layup with just over a minute left.
That set up the final push to the finish line for Thomasville, providing an intriguing showdown for the second straight season with the Phoenix.
For a team that wasn’t given much chance against the reigning champs, Hendersonville showed it belonged.
“I think Thomasville saw we weren’t as bad a team as people thought we were,” said Strong. “Tonight we proved we had a chance.”
Abrams-Ward netted 27 points to go with nine boards. Simms added 20 for the ‘Dogs, while Clay paced the Bearcats with 26 points and 10 boards and Whiteside added 19 points and 19 rebounds.