The Falcons won it 61-53, overcoming some early nerves to prove that they remain a serious threat to win the 3A South Piedmont Conference championship. West is now 6-2 in the SPC at the halfway point in the wild league race and 11-4 overall. Central, which came into the game tied with West and Northwest Cabarrus for first place, slipped to 8-4 and 5-3.

“We hope that we’re going to be the No. 1 team in the SPC the rest of the season,” said Falcon guard Kristen McNeely, who scored 11 points to match her season high. “Our heads are on straight now, and we’re really focused.”

But the Falcons couldn’t shoot or pass as straight as their heads in the first half, blasting away at 30 percent and flinging eight passes into the masses of spectators. They trailed 18-15 at the break.

“We were just nervous,” said McNeely. “We knew how much there was on the line tonight. This was a game that was going to tell us where we stood.”

West coach Angie Waddell almost couldn’t bear to watch in the second quarter when the Falcons’ most dependable scorers — Kari Schenk, Sara Pieper and Kate Goodman — all were shut out. The Falcons didn’t score against Central’s set defense the entire quarter, but stayed in the game thanks to three breakways layups by McNeely on passes from Schenk.

“I’m the shortest one out there, so I’m the one who always gets to release,” said McNeely. “Give credit to Kari for getting the ball to me and credit to Pipe (Pieper) for getting the rebounds.”

West took a deep breath at halftime, regrouped and forced a tempo more to its liking in the second half.

“The first half it was like we were just trying to get a feel for them,” said Waddell. “In the second half, though, our girls stepped up big-time and really took control.”

The third quarter was likely as well as West has played all year, considering that the opposition was as sound fundamentally as any squad the league has to offer. The Falcons overpowered and outran the Vikings in the third quarter by an amazing 17-4 and might have posted a shutout had Evan Miller and Jessica Hardin not made difficult shots.

West did its damage with a furious press, coming up with five steals in the quarter, including two by McNeely. And on the offensive end, the Falcons got the ball inside to Goodman instead of settling for outside shots. She responded with a flurry of eight points and a several assists.

West continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter to win by a deceiving 17.

The surprising thing was that the Falcons, who played only one reserve —Jenny Sloop — pressed the entire second half and never lost an ounce of energy.

“I was worried about that,” said Waddell, whose usual sixth man, Danielle Scearce, was out with a back injury. “It was getting hot in here with all those people, but our girls seemed to get a second wind when they needed it.”

“Ah, I never get tired playing basketball,” said McNeely. “Only in cross country.”

And Waddell will never get tired of seeing her team play the way it did in the second half when it blitzed Angie Morton’s Vikings 37-17.

“I’m just really, really pleased,” said Waddell. “This one was huge.”

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NOTES: Schenk and Goodman finished with 14 points each, but the unsung hero for the Falcons was Pieper. She didn’t shoot well but had the rebounding game of her life with 14 caroms. “Scoring’s great,” said Waddell. “But give me someone who will do the hard work things. That’s what Pieper did for us tonight.” ... Sloop had two big baskets off the bench.

CENTRAL (35) — Morris 3, Van De Venter 7, Smith 10, Miller 5, Hardin 6, Woodard 2, Kelough, Garmon 2.

WEST (52) — Schenk 14, Goodman 12, Pieper 4, Wansley 5, McNeely 11, Sloop 4.

Central Cabarrus 7 11 4 13 — 35