Even the West boys would have had to think twice about tangling with the squad that routed familiar 3A South Piedmont Conference rival Central Cabarrus 76-40 in a Sectional 1 semifinal at Kannapolis.

West was not only lethal, it was loose — showing none of the usual jitters that so often come along for the ride in the postseason. The Falcons shot 53 percent from the field, 64 percent from the line, accumulated 16 steals and had one heck of a good time.

“You know it’s your last game if you lose,” said West senior guard Kari Schenk, who just missed a triple-double with 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. “But there was nothing to be nervous about tonight. We knew Central real well.”

Kate Goodman had 14 points and six steals for West, while Kristen McNeely had 14 points and four steals. Sara Pieper added 12 points.

West’s two earlier league games with Central had produced hard-fought 52-35 and 71-61 wins, so the early wipeout — it was 42-18 at halftime — was both surprising and impressive.

“We were excited and really ready to play,” said McNeely, who piled up 12 of her season-high point total in the first half. “We learned a lesson in the SPC Tournament when we had a hard time in the first round with Harding. We weren’t taking anything for granted.”

Central started out in good shape and led 6-5 after three minutes. And the Vikings, who already had a playoff win under their green and gold belts, were down just 15-11 after an Evan Miller 3-pointer with a minute to go in the first quarter.

But the rest of the first half was sheer devastation.The Falcons had an 11-0 run followed by a 14-3 run. It was all over by halftime with West leading 42-18.

The key points in the decisive first-half blitz came on a 30-foot pull-up 3-pointer by Schenk that beat the first-quarter buzzer.

“That was too awesome,” said McNeely. “It was so good. We knew after that it was our night.”

Schenk, who usually doesn’t get overly excited about her own baskets, left her left arm in the air after the 3 — smiling all the way to the happy huddle.

“I couldn’t believe I made that one,” gushed Schenk. “When I hit one from that far out, I guess it’s OK to leave that arm up.”

“There are a couple of schools of thought on how to play West,” said Central coach Angie Morton. “Some people say play zone and hope they miss, but sometimes they don’t miss and they always crash the boards.

“We decided to come out man-to-man and try to take it to them. But we turned it over and when you do that they’re going to shoot layups on you all night long.”

What was really scary is that West didn’t back off once the second half started, opening the third quarter with a blistering 15-4 burst. West led 57-22 three minutes into the half, meaning they had outscored the Vikings 42-11 over one furious 12-minute stretch.

“It was tough,” said Morton. “We’re really young and it’s hard to cope with seniors like Schenk who have been down the road so many times.”

Usually the Falcons jump on someone and then coast, but last night, there was no apparent inclination to let up.

“We had the killer instinct — a real attack mentality, said West coach Angie Waddell. “Especially McNeely. She gets overshadowed sometimes, but she really played well tonight.”

Central had a run of its own late in the third quarter, getting nine quick points from Serlethea Smith to fight back to 57-33.

“We rested a little bit in there,” said Schenk. “But the way we had played, we deserved a little rest. Most of the game, we were as intense as we have been in a long time.”

West then grabbed its hard hats and went back to work at the start of the fourth quarter, scoring another 14 unanswered points against Central reserves to blow the game wide open. Schenk and Goodman finally rested for good with four minutes remaining with West up 71-33.

There were a couple of ways to look at that.

Waddell was obviously trying to keep her team sharp for Friday’s sectional final against North Davidson (at 4 p.m.) and wanted her team to get back its fighting edge after it went soft late in the third quarter.

Morton, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly pleased with the beating her youngsters took in the second half, with the game long decided.

“West is a good team and they did what they do very well — run and press — for a long, long time,” she said. “But there will be another day.”

But that’s the future.

And in the present, the Falcons are a handful.

“We played a great game against a Central team that we think is very good,” said Waddell. “We just did a heck of a job. The girls look like they want to keep playing for awhile.”

CENTRALCABARRUS (40) —Smith 13, Miller 7, Van De Venter 4, Morris 5, McLaughlin 1, Stamey 2, Woodward 2, Hardin 2, Killough, Kiser, Garmon 4, Johnson.

WEST (76) — Schenk 19, Pieper 12, Goodman 14, McNeely 14, Wansley 6, Scearce 2, Sloop 4, Honeycutt 4, Shaver, Moore, Rabon, Jones 1.

Central 11 7 15 7 — 40