Mount Tabor, energized, well-schooled and with revenge on its mind, exorcized its biggest playoff demon with last night's 72-54 win over Charlotte Vance.
Vance had knocked Mount Tabor out of the Class 4-A playoffs in each of the past two seasons, including a heartbreaker in the Western Regional semifinals last season.
But last night, C.J. Harris scored 24 points and wreaked havoc in the passing lanes as the Spartans (27-1) moved into Friday night's sectional championship game against Greensboro Page (22-6).
Vance, which started four sophomores and a junior, couldn't match the Spartans' intensity and finished the season 24-4.
Harris thought back to 2007, when Vance led Mount Tabor 20-1 in Charlotte on the way to a blowout playoff win.
"That's how I felt when we played Vance my sophomore year, terrible, so I guess what comes around goes around," Harris said. "We had to get them back. Last year was terrible. That makes this feel so much better.
"We know that they might be the toughest team we will face and if we can beat them, we can beat anyone in front of us."
Mike Grace added 15 points, Josh Hicks added 12 and Alex Fagg finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans, who ignited the blowout by reeling off the first 10 points of the third quarter to take a 42-19 lead.
Coach Andy Muse of Mount Tabor said that between himself and his assistants, they had scouted Vance seven times this season and also had two game tapes.
"We have been waiting for this victory for a full year," Muse said. "Yesterday Mike Grace put last year's Winston-Salem Journal up in the locker room and it said ‘Mount Tabor falls.' Before the game I tore it up and said tomorrow's headline will not say ‘Mount Tabor falls.'
"I think we flexed our muscles tonight as far as this tournament is concerned. We just got to be ready Friday night. We are playing a very tough Page team that we split this year. So we are glad to move on."
The Spartans forced 13 turnovers in the first half, including six of Vance's first eight possessions in the second quarter, to lead 32-19 at halftime.
Fagg rebounded a Harris miss and stuck it back in early in the third quarter, Harris added a 3-point play, Grace zipped in a 3 from the left corner, and Hicks scored on a strong drive as the Spartans opened up a 23-point lead two minutes into the second half.
Harris finished the third quarter with a steal at midcourt and had one of his three dunks at the third-quarter buzzer for a 55-32 lead.
"They have beaten us the past two years and we had to get them back," Harris said. "It was still intense even thought we kind of blew them out, but we played hard on every possession. That's what the coaches had emphasized in practice and we came ready to play."
The Cougars struggled to find good looks against Mount Tabor's 2-3 and 1-3-1 zones, and the long-armed Spartans disrupted the Cougars' flow with numerous deflections and tips.
Vance, every bit as guard-reliant as Mount Tabor, shot only 4 of 22 from 3-point range, and three of those came after the game was out of reach.
"I knew we had the guards to get the game out of control at some point -- I didn't think it would be this kind of margin," Muse said. "We had great respect for their guards. But I think our energy and our aggressive play right out of the gate dictated the tempo, and our trapping and switching defenses kept them off guard the whole first half. Our goal at halftime was to win the third quarter and we did.
Sophomore Jacoby Davis scored 17 to lead Vance.
■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
Vance 11 8 13 22 -- 54
Mount Tabor 14 18 23 17 -- 72
Vance: Ogbueze 6, Brown 5, Sayles 6, Rankin 8, Davis 17, Durantz 1, Farmer 3, Hood 2, Scott 4
Mount Tabor: Grace 15, Harris 24, Grote 3, Hicks 12, Jackson 5, Fagg 15
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