West Rowan’s youthful towers Phillip Williams and Junior Hairston stopped being super-soft and emerged as super sophs Thursday night as the Falcons belted Davie County 77-65 in a Sam Moir Christmas Classic boys semifinal.
With Davie (8-2) throwing a front-and-back blanket over West star Donte Minter, the Falcons’ pair of 6-foot-6 kids stepped forward and took over in a game that had been considered a toss-up.
Williams, who had scored just eight points in his previous two games, poured in a career-high 27 points.
“I think we got tired of being soft and getting yelled at in practice and let our height take over tonight,” said Williams. “We just used our size to do what we wanted.”
Hairston, meanwhile, was merely sensational with 17 points, 13 rebounds and Rodman-like defense. Minter chipped in with 15 points on solid 5-for-6 shooting and blocked four shots.
Third-seeded West (9-3) came in as something of a mystery team. It had started strong, but then had gone 3-3 in one stretch. Then it had failed to frighten anyone at all in an uninspired first-round Moir win over depleted Salisbury. But in whipping the second-seeded War Eagles and setting up a dream finals matchup with rival North Rowan, the real Falcons finally stood up. And they stood tall.
“We came in here and had to answer the question, ‘Who are we?’” said Gurley. “Well, we found out some things about West Rowan. Donte did a good job of not getting frustrated when we couldn’t get the ball to him and we also found out we could play some pretty good defense.”
Mostly, West found out that it should be able to play with anyone on the schedule.
“The young kids clicked tonight,” said Gurley. “Phillip and Junior attacked the rim. So far this year, we’ve had one or the other on his game, but this was the first time we’ve had both of them going. You saw what happened.”
It was only the second time (a win over Harding was the first) that both of West’s young big men had ventured into double digits on the same evening.
“And just think,” said Gurley, whose mind works in mysterious ways. “Those two haven’t even read the ‘Great Gatsby’ yet.”
While F. Scott Fitzgerald and other American Literature adventures still lie ahead of Hairston and Williams, the pair is already well-versed in hoops. Williams, who made 10 of 15 shots, is a glider who played above the rim all night. Hairston is a long-limbed spidery creature, who could become a defensive nightmare for opposing scorers.
Gurley assigned Hairston and quick guard Horatio Everhart the task of containing Davie shooters Sean Stevens and Ed Zajmovic and they attacked their task with the zeal of hungry dobermans.
Stevens (20 points) and Zajmovic (16) still led the War Eagles in scoring, but shot only 13-for-40 combined. They made seven 3s, but that wasn’t nearly enough.
“West is a good team and to beat good teams, we have to shoot better than average,” said War Eagle coach Jim Young, whose team won the Moir last season. “Tonight, we shot way less than average. Give West credit for that. They got up on our shooters and their great size made our kids change their shots.”
It did not look like it would be a Falcon night early. Gurley’s guards drove him crazy for awhile. West made 10 first-quarter turnovers, mostly by trying to force passes inside. It was 17-12 Davie after a quarter, but a hot streak by Falcon guard Tim Mauldin turned the game in the second quarter. Mauldin hit three 3s and bunched all 11 of his points in that quarter, as West took a 31-28 halftime lead.
West’s size advantage also pushed the War Eagles into desperate foul trouble.
“We lost the lead when our two best rebounders (Rod Tenor and Dan Sullivan) got in foul trouble and sat down,” said Young. “That’s not a complaint about the officiating. It’s just that our kids are a lot smaller than West and they had to use their bodies to do what they could do to compensate.”
West was devastating in the third quarter, making zero turnovers and outscoring Davie 24-11 with big guys Minter (6-7), Williams and Hairston combining for all 24 points. West played big and threw over the top of the pesky War Eagles for repeated layups as the lead widened.
Stevens finally nailed three fourth-quarter 3s, but Davie never got closer than eight points down the stretch.
“It was a good game, but I’m not gonna say West is all the way back yet,” smiled Williams. “But I will say we’re working hard on it.”
And just imagine what this kid will do once he’s read “The Great Gatsby.”
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NOTES:West owned a 36-25 board edge. ... Davie plays East Rowan (4-6) today at 4 in the third-place game. ... Hairston blocked Stevens’ first shot of the game, setting the tone.
WEST ROWAN (77) — P.Williams 27, Hairston 17, Minter 15, Mauldin 11, Everhart 3, J.Williams 2, Gaither 2, Barringer, Diggs, Goodnight.
DAVIECOUNTY (65)— Stevens 20, Zajmovic 15, Sullivan 7, Tenor 6, Stein 5, Hogue 4, Wooldridge 4, Rice 4, Britton, Crump.
West Rowan 12 19 24 22 — 77 Davie County 17 11 11 26 — 65
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