CoachJennifer Shoaf’s Hornets officially wrapped up a state 2A playoff berth by beating East Davidson 52-39 at the Ledford gym Wednesday night, and Salisbury played a lot without star center Sherree Gillespie, the Rowan County scoring leader.

With her teammate in foul trouble, point guard Ternisha Charleston turned in the best game of her career, posting a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds. She also contributed five steals and four assists.

Gillespie, who scored 11 points, drew her third foul with 2:19 left in the first half, then was hit with a technical for her fourth foul as she was walking off the court. She didn’t return to the lineup until 4:22 remained in the game.

Fourth-seeded Salisbury, 7-17 for the season, knew that only several monumental upsets could keep them from going to the state playoffs. Either fifth-seeded East Davidson, No. 6 North Stanly or No. 7 Lexington had to win the conference tournament to knock Salisbury out of a spot. All three of those teams have been eliminated.

Shoaf said she thinks Salisbury will travel to Black Mountain to play Charles D.Owen of the Western Highlands Conference in the first round of the playoffs on Monday.

“It’s a nice long trip. We’ll just be glad to be going,” said the Salisbury coach.

Her team held a 22-14 lead over the Golden Eagles when Gillespie drew her third and fourth fouls. The lead was only one point less, 39-32, when Gillespie returned.

“When Sherree picked up that fourth foul, I didn’t know where our offense was going to come from,” said Shoaf. “We were having a hard time getting her the ball anyway, but still you like to have her presence on the floor to keep some other people open. Any time those other kids respond when you lose somebody like that, it’s good.”

Charleston responded in a big way. With her team leading only 24-20 in the opening minute of the third period, she took charge on the boards, grabbing eight of her rebounds in that quarter. She also scored three points and dished out a couple of assists.

East Davidson, however, kept hanging around and trailed only 35-32 early in the final period after a 3-pointer by reserve guard Tracy Fleming.

That’s when reserve center Amber Wingerson of the Hornets scored her only basket of the night, starting Salisbury on an 8-0 run that included a basket by Gillespie, a follow shot by Charleston and two free throws by Charleston. It was an 11-point game with 2:57 to go and virtually over.

“I thought Amber Wingerson came in and did a pretty good job of fronting the girl (East Davidson center Melanie Barton) down low. She’s not a scorer, but I thought she did a good job defensively. Crystal (Taylor) and Tiffany(Robinson) gave us some good minutes in there,” said Shoaf.

Charleston went 6-for-13 on field goals and 6-for-10 at the foul line for her career-high 18, topping her previous best of 14 in a homecourt victory over East Davidson on Feb. 3. Ironically, Salisbury won that game by the same 52-39 score.

The most impressive stat for the 5-9 junior, however, was her career-high 15 rebounds.

“She had a total package,” said Shoaf. “Those rebounds are uncharacteristic for a point guard. That just shows that she’s hustling on the back side and getting some offensive rebounds. And on defense she’s doing a good job of boxing out the people at the top, and she’s getting a lot of long rebounds. She played her heart out tonight, and it’s a good thing, because we needed it.”

Shoaf pointed out that Charleston began the season as the Hornets’ No. 2 guard.

“I think Ternisha has made a good transition to the point guard. She’s looking more assertive in scoring,” said the Salisbury coach.

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NOTES: The Hornets were 19-for-54 (35.2 percent) on field goals and 12-for-26 at the foul line, while East Davidson went 13-for-35 (37.1 percent) from the floor and 9-for-15 on free throws. ... Charleston led Salisbury to a 33-26 rebound edge. ... The Hornets had 21 turnovers, while the Golden Eagles lost the ball 30 times. ... Barton and reserve guard Heather Honeycutt were East Davidson’s scoring leaders with 10 points apiece. ... East Davidson, which beat Salisbury once in two regular-season meetings, finished with a 7-16 record.

EAST DAVIDSON (39) — Fredette, Parker, Barton 10, Campbell 2, Beck 5, Palmore, Honeycutt 10, Michael, Fleming 6, Nance 2, Slate 4, Sprinkle, Cline, Sullivan.

SALISBURY (52) — Robinson 5, Reilly 7, Gillespie 11, Charleston 18, Chunn 6, Bauk, Taylor, Atkinson, Edwards, Wingerson 2, Seay 3.

East Davidson 2 16 11 10 — 39