Biggest surprise NC basketball team? It may be in Charlotte, and South Meck wants more
The 13-0 record is a warmup.
Now, the real season begins, South Mecklenburg High boys’ basketball coach Chris McDonald said.
“The next five games … it’s what we’ve been working for,” McDonald said. “Those five games will be a test of who we are.”
The string of tough contests begins at 2 p.m. Saturday, when South Mecklenburg faces defending 4A state runner-up Richmond Senior (7-4) in Rockingham.
Following that will be games against Ardrey Kell (Tuesday), private school power Coastal Christian (Jan. 13 at the MLK Showcase in Kinston), Charlotte Catholic (Jan. 16) and defending 4A state champ Myers Park (Jan. 19).
McDonald, in his second year as head coach at South Mecklenburg, said the process of preparing for the upcoming tough stretch — and for a successful season overall — began many months ago.
“We lost so many close games last year,” said McDonald, whose Sabres finished 8-17 a year ago. “We were young, and we didn’t know how to win.”
McDonald said the process of working toward this season began a month after last season ended. In March, the team began working on new offensive and defensive sets.
A grueling summer
Then came a 25-game summer schedule, in which the Sabres traveled from Asheville to the Outer Banks, facing tough competition.
“We were 18-7 during the summer,” McDonald said. “That tough summer schedule is paying dividends now.”
One obvious reason for the success has been the play of 6-3 senior wing Peter Moye, who is averaging 22 points a game and scored 39 in a game last month. Moye is shooting 61 percent from 2-point range and is making 54 percent of his 3-point tries.
Earlier this season, Moye reached the 1,000-point career scoring mark. Only three South Mecklenburg boys’ players — former NBA standouts Walter Davis and Bobby Jones, and former Sabre coach John Fitch — have reached that mark.
“Peter’s in some good company there,” McDonald said.
Anderson Skelton, a 6-4 senior wing, is averaging 17 points a game and shooting 56 percent from the floor (38 percent from 3-point range). Yariel Chudgar, a 5-10 senior guard, has a 3.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and 6-4 sophomore wing Ben Houpt has a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“We’re averaging only seven turnovers a game,” McDonald said. “That’s a big part of why we’ve done so well.”
A bit surprised
McDonald admitted that he’s a bit surprised at his team’s unbeaten start.
“I knew we had the talent,” he said. “But the guys had to learn how to win.”
McDonald, who was an assistant at South Mecklenburg several years ago, and then left to become an assistant at Rocky River before returning to South Meck, said he wanted the Sabres to regain their status among Mecklenburg County’s basketball royalty.
“It takes hard work to be among the best — like Myers Park, North Mecklenburg, Ardrey Kell, Charlotte Catholic and all the other good programs in the Charlotte area,” McDonald said.
“The amazing thing is that we’ve turned things around here so quickly,” he said.
The Sabres will have their hands full Saturday.
Don’t let Richmond Senior’s 7-4 record fool you. The Raiders have lost to out-of-state powerhouses John Marshall (VA) and Grovetown (GA), along with 2A state title favorite Northwood, and private school power Cannon School.
Paul McNeil Jr., a 6-6 senior and an N.C. State commit, is averaging 29.6 points and 11.1 rebounds a game.
“This will be a very tough game for us,” said McDonald, a former basketball standout himself at Richmond Senior. “Like I said … it’s what we’ve been working toward.”
