Davidson County Community College head coach Matt Ridge doesn’t have to look far to find a motivational tool for his team heading into this weekend’s Region X, Division III Tarheel Conference at Brinkley Gymnasium.

Even though the Storm won their conference with a perfect record, climbed into the top-five of the national polls and haven’t lost a game since 2009, all Ridge has to do is bring up how last season ended in the blink of an eye. A year ago, DCCC sat on the cusp of a Tarheel Conference Tournament title and a possible berth in the national tournament only to see a buzzer-beating 3-pointer end its season.

On Friday at 5:30 p.m., the Storm, winners of 18 games in a row, will take their first step towards burying that dreaded memory when they face the winner of Sandhills Community College and Central Carolina Community College in the tournament semifinal.

“We’ve mentioned it throughout the season, but we haven’t harped on it,” Ridge said. “This is a new year, a new championship and a new team. We’ve talked about not getting big-headed. The guys have done well with it to date and I hope that continues.”

DCCC’s job is pretty simple — keep winning and the season continues, lose and it’s over with. The Storm are 26-4, including a perfect 10-0 in the Tarheel conference. Two more wins over the weekend and DCCC will play for the District 7 championship on March 6 and a trip to the NJCAA national tournament in Delhi, N.Y. A loss either Friday or Saturday ends the season like the past two — in disappointment. Sophomores Reco Geter, Phillip Williams and Eric Potts were all on the team last season, and Ridge said they are sharing that bitter memory with the freshmen in an attempt to avoid another letdown.

“The sophomores all understand it’s one-and-done,” said Ridge. “If you lose, that’s it. I told the guys coming back from last year to not forget that loss and use it as motivation to work harder. Those three guys have reminded the freshman to not get big-headed and go finish our season the way we want to. We want to base our season on what we’re getting ready to do.”

Regardless of the opponent Friday, Ridge knows his team will have to play well in order to advance. Sandhills led DCCC by 15 points a week ago and CCC stayed close with the Storm in both regular season contests. The key to the DCCC’s success so far has been its balance as seven players average at least nine points on a team that scores 90 a game.

“We’re a difficult matchup because we’re so balanced offensively,” Ridge said. “You can’t key in on one or two guys and that works to our advantage.

“Both teams will present a major challenge for us and we know we’ll have a big bulls-eye on our chest being 10-0 in the league. We know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”

Playing at Brinkley Gymnasium should work in the Storm’s favor. In three seasons, DCCC has lost only two games at home.

“I think a big part of the credit goes to our fans,” said Ridge. “They make it exciting but at the same time a difficult place for our opponents to play. I call them our sixth man and they have certainly helped us win a lot of games. They provide us with a lot of energy.”

Tournament play starts today at 5:30 p.m. with the Sandhills/CCC tilt, followed by Caldwell against Oxford. The winner of the Caldwell/Oxford game plays second-seeded Southwest Virginia in the second semifinal Friday night at 8 p.m. The championship game tips at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be reached at 888-3578, or duke@tvilletimes.com.