KANNAPOLIS— You couldn’t blame Doug Wilson’s eyes for lighting up when he saw the West Rowan girls basketball team start its game with Kannapolis in a press.
After all, Wilson’s Wonders are a bunch of quick cats.
But afterward, Wilson was doing what he always does when Kannapolis plays West Rowan. He was congratulating the Falcons on another fine effort.
Led by senior pest Kristen McNeely outside and Danielle Scearce and Jenny Sloop inside, West used defense to salvage a 38-27 South Piedmont Conference road victory Tuesday night.
With Shameeka Wansley sitting on the bench with a dislocated shoulder, West coach Angie Waddell turned to her seniors to control the game. McNeely’s defense outside helped West to its third league win in in four tries, while upping its overall mark to 6-1.
“It’s killing me not seeing Shameeka out there,” said Waddell, “but I thought the other girls all stepped up.”
Sloop, a guard, found herself underneath most of the night and came away with 12 rebounds and eight points. Scearce fought her way to eight points and eight rebounds and hit perhaps the most crucial shot for the Falcons in the fourth period.
And, of course, there was McNeely, who accumulated nine steals and four rebounds before fouling out.
Wilson will agree those three were keys to West’s victory but he was looking at the game from a Kannapolis point of view.
“It’s as plain as the nose on your face,” he said. “If we hold them to 38 points and don’t win? We’ve beaten ourselves.”
The second half was absolutely painful for Wilson to watch.
After Elise Stanback hit a baseline jumper to start the third quarter, Kannapolis was within 22-19. From that point on, the Wonders couldn’t hit the broad side of Bullock Gym.
And it allowed West to slowly but surely pull away.
Sloop took a pass from Hillary Hampton and scored inside. Lefty Allison Moore scored after a rebound. Sara Pieper did the same. Sloop added a free throw and Pieper scored again in the lane. The 9-2 third quarter put West up by 11 going into the final eight minutes.
Sloop continues to put a big smile on her coach’s face.
“She’s one that I don’t have to worry about,” Waddell said. “If you’ve got a team full of Jennys, you aren’t going to lose.”
Having a Danielle and a Kristen on the team isn’t bad either. And when McNeely fouled out with 5:22 left and West holding a 31-22 advantage, it was gut check time.
With four minutes left, West still hadn’t scratched in the fourth period. Kannapolis meanwhile was making steal after steal and missing chance after chance.
Then, Scearce grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw and scored for a 33-22 lead. That basket seemed to loosen the Falcons up.
“Danielle did the right thing,” said Waddell. “She saw an opening and took it.”
Scearce’s was the last gasp for Kannapolis (2-3, 1-2), who also missed 10 of 11 free throws in the final period. West wasn’t much better in the last eight minutes, missing its first four straight before Hampton swished three of her last four to seal things.
“We must have done a good job defensively,” reasoned Wilson, noting that 38 points aren’t that many, especially for the winning team. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket.”
Wilson was impressed with the Falcons.
“West played hard,” he said. “They contested every loose ball.”
West, meanwhile, has bounced back from its first loss of the season at Northwest Cabarrus.
“It’s water under the bridge,” Waddell said of the loss. “We can’t dwell on the past. Hopefully, we learned something.”
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NOTES: Kannapolis finished 3-of-14 from the line. West was 8-of-17. ... Wansley is out for at least two weeks. ... There were no double-figure scorers in the game. ... Wonder star Kesha Johnson saw her first action of the year due to a bad ankle. ... Wonder center Tamika Powell had five of her seven rebounds in the fourth quarter but the 6-1 center had just two points. ... West goes to North Thursday.
WEST (38) — Pieper 9, Sloop 8, Scearce 8, Hampton 5, mcNeely 4, Moore 4, Jones, Dowdy.
KANNAPOLIS (27)— Stanback 6, Johnson 6, Brown 5, Crosby 4, Hutchinson 2, Morgan 2, Powell 2.
West Rowan 5 17 9 7 — 38
Kannapolis 6 11 2 8 — 27
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