But if you ask Honeycutt to talk about the big games — the really, really big games — she’ll tell you in a heartbeat they were the ones she played against her friends and foes right here in Rowan County.

“There’s no bigger challenge and no games that are more fun than when you play against the people you know,” says Honeycutt. “East, West, South or Salisbury, it didn’t matter. You always wanted to prove you had the best team.”

And Honeycutt apparently was motivated to do just that. She led North to a 7-2 record in county games and to the Christmas Tournament championship.

The great individual rivalries between Honeycutt, West’s Kari Schenk, East’s Nicole Loggins and Salisbury’s Sherree Gillespie led, in turn, to great intra-county games. West-East, North-West, South-East or Salisbury-North. Like Honeycutt said — didn’t matter. The gyms filled and the players thrilled. Almost every game was memorable.

One extra-large reason why girls basketball has surged in interest and intensity is Rowan’s Class of 2000. It’s one of the best there’s ever been. And six of those classy 2000 seniors are featured on this year’s all-county team. That’s a bunch.

There’s Player of the Year Schenk, the No. 3 scorer in West history. There’s Honeycutt, the No. 2 scorer on North’s all-time list. There’s Loggins, East’s school’s all-time scoring leader, and Brooke Misenheimer, who together comprised one of the county’s all-time best backcourts. There’s Salisbury’s Sherree Gillespie, No. 2 all-time scorer at Salisbury. And there’s West’s Kate Goodman, who only played two years in Rowan, but went out with a bang with a potent postseason and 982 career points.

It was a special class by any measure. A quartet of 1,000-point scorers. Two girls — Loggins (Western Carolina) and Honeycutt (UNC Greensboro) will play Division I ball. Another, Schenk, could have, if she’d wanted to travel that road. Goodman, Gillespie and Misenheimer will certainly have the chance to continue their careers, as well.

But look for the four juniors named to this year’s all-county team to accept the torch and keep the quality of Rowan hoops life high. North’s Courtney Hill and Joyce Hipps; East’s Emily Rich and West’s Sara Pieper all made all-county for the first time and have bright futures. Coaches and Post sportswriters voted for their top 10.

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Capsules of the 2000 all-county players:

Kari Schenk, West: The guard leaves with 1,446 points and maybe that many floorburns. West won 82 games with the three-time all-county player at the point the last four years.

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Megan Honeycutt, North: The post player will swing to the wing in college. Honeycutt scored 1,555 points and played on two Christmas Tournament champs and in a school-record 106 games. A three-time all-county player, Honeycutt averaged 14.7 ppg this season. North had four losing seasons in a row before Honeycutt. Gary Atwell’s Cavs were 69-38 and had four straight winners with her.

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Sherree Gillespie, Salisbury: : The three-time all-countian helped Jennifer Shoaf’s Hornets make the quantum leap to the state playoffs this season. Gillespie, who scored 1,398 career points, poured in 33 against West and led the county with 21.7 ppg. High Point Central’s Kenny Carter called her one of the best he’s seen at hitting the offensive board.

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Nicole Loggins, East: The perception is that Loggins didn’t have as good a senior year as she did in 1998-99 when she was Rowan’s Player of the Year.

But the stats would argue otherwise. Even as the focus of every opposing defense, Loggins averaged 16.1, a smidgen below last season’s 16.2. Loggins finished her career with 1,350 points. This is her second all-county selection.

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Brooke Misenheimer, East: On the other hand, statistics don’t come close to telling the story of this point guard’s value to Randy Bingham’s team. A 4-H player: Head, heart, hustle and humility.

East was 82-28 over the last four years, and Misenheimer was a huge, huge part of it.

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Kate Goodman:, West. The forward was a key in West’s run to the regionals. An outstanding rebounder and defender, this is her first time on the all-county team. Goodman has received several college scholarship offers. She’ll either play at a Division II school or will enroll in N.C. State’s School of Design and become an intra-mural monster.

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Emily Rich:, East: The forward is one of the best shooters in the county. She scored in double figures in 12 of her last 13 games.

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Courtney Hill, North: The forward/guard is a great athlete, strong, fast and a terror on the offensive boards despite being only 5-7. She had a 20-point game against North Stanly.

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Joyce Hipps, North: The point guard was awesome at times, and when she was on, the Cavs were tough to handle.

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