GREENVILLE — Apex junior Adam Perry came into the postgame news conference at Minges Coliseum Saturday carrying a rock that featured several motivational terms like “resilience,” “never give up” and “attack” scribbled on it.

“All season, we’ve believed the story of David and Goliath,” Perry said. “We started out 4-9, so we looked at ourselves as the smaller man, so we had to throw stones. All year, we’ve just thrown stones. We couldn’t give up this game. We had to battle, believe; resilience and attack. And we thought those would be the keys to the game.”

The rock was introduced by assistant coach Isaac Bristol. He printed off copies of the story of David and Goliath and distributed them to team members.

“Whatever it takes to get these guys motivated, we’ll take it,” Apex coach David Neal said.

Cardiac Cougars

After Saturday’s game, in a hallway adjacent to the playing floor, Green Hope boys’ basketball coach Mickey Bissette walked by and said, “N.C. State ’83,” a reference to the 1983 N.C. State team that won the national championship.

Asked about that comparison, Neal said it was apt.

Each day in practice, Neal poses a thought of the day.

One day last week, that thought was the Cardiac Pack.

He also said he sees some similarities to the 1995 state championship team from Cary High.

“I’ve always looked up to coach Bill Boyette,” said Neal, a reference to the man who guided Cary to that state title. “That was a special run they had that year. It was similar to us because they had a Division I player the year before when they made it all the way and lost to [Morganton] Freedom with Jeremy Pearson. “And they lost him when he graduated, and the next year, that team without a big-time Division I player went all the way and won it. It’s pretty wild.”

Apex graduated Yorel Hawkins, who is now at Fairfield, last year.

Another similarity between the ’95 Cary team and this Apex team: According to a story in the March 29, 1995, edition of The Cary News, two Cary players walked into Boyette’s office two days after losing the title game in 1994 and told him the Imps would make it back to the final in 1995.

Last year, after losing to Wakefield in the sectional final, Tim Plummer said he and DeArius White met with Neal, Hawkins and Scott Bedoe and told them Apex would play for a state championship in 2008.

“Everybody in the room looked at me like I was [crazy],” Plummer said. “Just watch and see.”

Boyette, now the coach at Terry Sanford, which Apex beat 58-55 in the regional semifinal on March 5, also coached Neal when he was at Sanderson High in the early ’90s.

And one last tie-in to the Cardiac Pack: The state championship game will be played Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum, where the ’83 Wolfpack played their home games.

Hawkins helps

Speaking of Hawkins, he also had a hand in the Cougars’ win over Britt.

The previous two seasons, Plummer guarded him in practice every day.

Plummer and Hawkins spoke before Saturday’s game, and Plummer said Hawkins told him that he shouldn’t have any trouble guarding Britt’s 6-foot-5 forward C.J. Williams, a player with a similar build and game to Hawkins who is bound for N.C. State next year.

“I played against [Hawkins] a lot, so [Williams] came out and I knew he was going to try and score and take over, but it ain’t nothing I’ve never seen before, so I had to show him,” Plummer said. Williams, also plagued by foul trouble in the first half, had five points on 1-of-4 shooting.