By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
CATAWBA – From the beginning of workouts, Charlie Styborski says he could tell boys’ basketball at Bandys High was about to change.
“I actually noticed in the first couple of practices we had,” said Styborski, a 6-foot-2 junior guard in his third season on the Trojans varsity. “We had a different energy.”
That new buzz and playing together has fourth-seeded Bandys (15-9) headed into an 8 p.m. South Fork 2A tournament semifinal on Wednesday night against top-seeded East Lincoln (21-4) at Catawba Valley Community College.
The Trojans — who won 15 games over head coach Adam Dutka’s first two seasons — are fresh off another must-have win. They beat fifth-seeded and visiting Lake Norman Charter 77-65 on Tuesday night in the first round, collecting their first win in a conference tournament since 2009-10.
By winning, Bandys put itself in position – barring No. 6 Newton-Conover winning the tournament to snatch it away – to earn a spot in the state 2A playoffs. The Trojans haven’t reached the postseason since 2009-10, and they haven’t won a state playoff game since 2000-01 (67-64 over Charlotte Catholic).
Dutka said his first message to his players after Tuesday night’s victory was simple: “I told them ‘We’re still playing basketball … we’re not done.’”
With Stybroski (15 points) hitting two key 3-pointers in a run that gave Bandys a cushion and with Ja’Tay Culliver scoring 18 , Laz Maxwell 14 and Grant Wagner 12, the Trojans won their fourth straight game.
An upset win on Wednesday would give Bandys a five-game win streak for the first time in 17 years, and Stybroski knows there’s only one path to that.
“We played very, very unselfish,” Stybroski said of the Lake Norman Charter game. “We’ve had spurts of that this season … When we play unselfishly like that it puts us together as a team.”
The final 3 1/2 of the third quarter on Tuesday night gave the Trojans enough of an edge to slip past the Knights.
Ahead just 40-39, Bandys went on a quickly-produced 12-5 run, started by Maxwell’s inside bucket on a pass by Culliver.
After the Knights’ Mike Ashford drove for a score, Stybroski hit a 3-pointer from left of the circle.
Up 47-43 with 1:35 left in the quarter, Bandys stretched its edge with another 3-pointer by Stybroski and with Davis Clanton hitting a runner.
When the Trojans started the final quarter with a fastbreak layup by Culliver and a transition bucket by Wagner, they led 56-46 and they twice led by as many as 13 points.
Bandys won four straight games earlier in the season, starting 4-1, but Dutka said things are now different.
“The difference between winning at the beginning of the season and now is these are all must-have wins,” he said. “The guys played with a calmness (Tuesday night) … they never looked frazzled …
“Here’s the thing. We tend to get down and out in key games and we didn’t get down. If we figure out how to play an entire game together, we’ll be good. We’re just now peaking.”
At least one playoff projection has Bandys in the state 2A playoffs and opening at Patton, a team the Trojans beat 82-70 at Bandys in the third game of the season.
But Dukta isn’t much interested, at least yet, in the postseason — the pairings will be released Saturday by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), making the berth official — but he likes the way his team is currently playing.
“I would love to go out and put together a great game and knock off the big dog (East Lincoln),” he said. “Everybody knows we’re the underdog.”
If there’s no upset win, the Trojans will regroup and wait to hear if they’ll have at least one more game … or get as far as their teamwork will take them.
“This year is my third year with this junior class and they have bought into what we are trying to do,” Dutka said. “We’re starting to feel what it is to win and that changes a program.”
Comments 1
To see a team make progress as it has is so gratifing and exciting. The boys have learned what it means to be a team. Thank you Coach Dutka and everyone else who has influenced the Bandy’s team to be the best they can be.
We have come from Havelock, NC to see our grandson play and have been so blessed to see the way all the boys play the game. We will never forget the game played with Maiden. It was worth the sore throats from cheering.
Oh that we lived closer to Sherrills Ford.