The eighth-seeded Rams, who were supposed to be little more than sacrificial lambs for top-seeded West Rowan in the first round of the 3A South Piedmont Conference Tournament, played the game of their lives before falling to the high-powered Falcons 69-57.

West (19-5) was pretty awful in the first half, but shot 62 percent in the second. Still, the Falcons couldn’t shake Harding, which looked as much like a 2-16 team as Cindy Crawford looks like Roseanne Barr.

“We’ve lost a lot of close ones. About half our games we’ve come out and played intense like we did tonight,” said Harding coach Jennifer McVickers, who got knockout nights from Amber Springs (23 points) and Dorsheka Sellers (17 points, 10 rebounds). “We gave our all. No matter what, we just kept playing.”

And playing.

When it was over and applause rained down from Falcon fans, it was at least as much for the Rams’ courageous effort as for West’s victory.

Things started out raggedly for the Falcons, whose minds appeared to be on candy and flowers rather than prudent shot selection and defense.

“It was a rough start,” said West senior guard Kari Schenk, who wrapped up a fabulous career in her home gym. “Harding came out strong — a whole lot stronger than any of us expected. Then we started throwing bad passes. We couldn’t catch the ball and we couldn’t even get a rebound.”

West is a team known for its runs, but Harding laughed off the first one. Four minutes into the game, Kristen McNeely and Schenk produced back-to-back steals and layups for a 10-5 lead. The Rams shrugged off that surge to forge ahead 14-12 after a quarter.

By halftime, West had inched ahead 25-22 after three quick buckets by Sara Pieper, but every wild-and-wooly possession was a struggle. Which would happen first? Would a Falcon fire up an airball or would a Falcon fling a pass off the back wall?

The halftime numbers were as ugly as any coach Angie Waddell has ever examined. Her girls had shot 28 percent and had thrown the ball away a disturbing 18 times.

Waddell, not surprisingly, was only slightly more perturbed than the average wet hen.

“When you’re No. 1, you’ve gotta come to play every night,” she said. “Athletic skill has taken us a long way, but now’s the time when you have to be mentally strong, too. You can’t pick and choose when you’re going to show up and when you’re not. I hope we understand that.”

“Coach told us at halftime we just weren’t trying as hard as Harding was,” said senior forward Kate Goodman. “She was right. They were playing like crazy, because they knew if they lost it was their last game.”

West finally got its feet moving in the third quarter, mostly because it abandoned its zone and went man-to-man. Defensive stopper Goodman cooled off Sellers by forcing her outside and Schenk and McNeely bottled up Springs.

Schenk, a fierce competitor who had zero tolerance for seeing her home career end in a defeat to the lowly Rams, raised her energy level a notch from its usual fever pitch in the second half. At one point, she screamed “Move, move, MOVE!” at her teammates, when they hung her out to dry on an inbounds play.

Schenk has scored 1,375 points in her career — third best total in West history — and likely has exceeded 500 assists, 500 steals and 500 rebounds, as well, in what has been a four-year, night-in-night out, all-round effort. In her Mount Ulla farewell, she posted 21 points, eight steals and eight assists.

But the person who clinched the game for the Falcons was Goodman.

West was ahead only 29-27 two minutes into the second half when it hit Harding with a decisive 11-0 run. Goodman’s two 3-pointers in the middle of that burst were the key. She made one out of the corner off a feed from Schenk, another from the top after a dish by Pieper (11 points, five assists).

“Those are the kind of shots only an experienced player can make,” said McVickers. “Goodman saw we were playing her to drive and she stepped out and made shots.”

“Threes are a deadly weapon,” said Waddell. “One way or the other. They can shoot you to a big lead or get you in big trouble if you miss.”

But Goodman, who finished with 19 points, 15 in the second half, didn’t miss.

Goodman rolled her ankle in the final seconds of the third quarter and missed five minutes, which helped Harding hang around to the bitter end. But she returned with 3:30 left and scored nine more points to keep the Rams at bay.

Still, it was a victory that left the Falcons feeling more relieved than relaxed.

“We know we can’t play that kind of game again,” said Schenk. “If we do, we’re sure to lose.”

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NOTES: West will face bitter rival East Rowan in the tournament semifinals at Kannapolis on Wednesday. Motivation for that one won’t be a problem for either team. West has won two of three meetings this season. ... Goodman said the ankle would be “OK” by Wednesday. ... West’s Danielle Scearce came off the bench for seven points and five boards, while reserve Jenny Sloop led the team with 10 rebounds.

HARDING (57) — Springs 23, Mbanzue 6, McGill 3, Murray, Buckley, Hooper 6, Johnson, Sanders 2, Sellers 17.

WESTROWAN (69) — Schenk 21, Scearce 7, Goodman 19, Sloop 4, Wansley 5, McNeely 2, Pieper 11.

Harding 14 8 14 21 — 57