The East-West basketball notebook ...

GREENSBORO — As good as he is, Scooter Sherrill has always been glad to rave about West’s top girls player in recent years, Kari Schenk, whenever he gets the opportunity.

Sherrill, seated right under the goal, had a blast when Schenk sank a 3-pointer in the opening minutes of her game.

It was pretty clear that Sherrill, who almost fell out of his chair when Schenk’s shot hit nothing but net, was handing out ‘I told you sos” to every all-star teammates within earshot.

“I told then all Kari would be the best player out there,” said Sherrill.

“Scooter gave me a hug at halftime,” said Schenk. “And another one after the game.”

Schenk appreciates Scooter, too. She and her family stayed to watch all of the boys game and cheered enthusiastically when Sherrill was named MVP.

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MEDIA DARLING: When you’re the only All-American in the East-West game, the media is going to flock around you.

“I did interviews every day,” said Sherrill. “They were asking me everything, from the McDonald’s game to my gold tooth (which was knocked out as a freshman by an elbow).”

Sherrill was even part of a prank. One player said there would be a late-night team meeting.Sherrill, being a team player, showed. There was no meeting, of course.

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AMAZING STAT: With the success West Rowan has enjoyed in basketball, it’s amazing to realize that Sherrill is just the third boys basketball player in the East-West game. Paul Drechsler in 1974 and Joel Fleming in 1994 were the others.

Schenk became the third girl, joining Andrea Grissett (1993) and Florida State star Wendy Hampton (1994).

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D-DAY: There’s something about the name Duane — or Dwayne — that makes basketball fun to watch.

Duane Phillips was Davie County’s first East-West basketball player since 1977 when Dwayne Grant played.

Grant was the game’s leading scorer that year in a West victory, scoring 18 points and putting the decisive dagger in the East’s heart with a resounding dunk to finish the game.

Grant went to Virginia Tech before transferring to Catawba and becoming one of the school’s greatest players.

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THOUSAND ISLAND: Phillips is only the fourth War Eagle to score 1,000 points in his career. The others: Grant with 2,007 points, Jingles Ijames, who went on to star for Bighouse Gaines at Winston-Salem State, and current West Rowan athletic director Randall Ward.

Ijames played in the East-West game, as did girls Jill Amos (1980) and Angie Browder Slabach (1984).

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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO: West coach John Harder of Eden Morehead was a mentor to former West coach Bobby Shipwash, who recognized Sherrill’s talent enough to put him on the varsity as a freshman.

Harder said Shipwash is living in Eden and considers him one of the best basketball coaches around.

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AAU COMMITMENT: One of the East’s top players, Taron Downey of Oxford Webb, dropped out of the game, due to his AAU team playing in Las Vegas.

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WOOD OUT: Former North Rowan, South Rowan and Greensboro Smith center Jackie Wood did not play. Reports were that her coach at Georgia State didn’t want to take a chance of her getting hurt.

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GET THERE EARLY: Schenk told her parents that Greensboro traffic was awful and that they needed to leave home early on Tuesday.

They did, and as a result the Schenks were among the first 50 fans to arrive.

“It really helped me that I could see them before the game,” said Kari. “It helped me be a lot less nervous.”

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FRIENDS AND FOES: Schenk was already well acquainted with two of her West teammates.

MVP Holly Andrews was the star (along with Pfeiffer’s Amanda Joplin) of the South Caldwell team that beat Schenk’s West Rowan team in a sectional final at A.L. Brown in 1999.

Andrews and Schenk were roommates this week, but Schenk says her new buddy didn’t rub in 1999’s outcome too much,

Schenk also had literally run into West starting center Nicki Fauntleroy (an amazingly agile player for 5-9, 195 pounds) already. Fauntleroy was a key player on the East Henderson team that knocked off West Rowan in the Regional finals last spring. East went on to win the state 3A championship.

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ELDER STATESMAN: West girls coach Dave Elder is also familiar to Rowan fans. His Hickory High team knocked off East Rowan in the 1999 regional semifinals.

Elder is one of only five coaches in the state who is a head coach in football and girls basketball and is the only coach who has won state championships in both sports.

It was the second East-West win for Elder, who guided the West to a 20-7 football win in 1998.

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WOW! Elder was stunned that his West girls won by 18 points over an East team that appeared to have more quickness.

“I was just hoping that we would either win by one or lose by one and that it would be a good game for people to watch,” he said. “I would have been happy if we’d gotten to the fourth quarter with a chance to win the ballgame.”

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GETTING THEIR DUE: Rowan fans were disappointed this year that North Rowan’s Megan Honeycutt (UNCG) and East Rowan’s Nicole Loggins (Western Carolina) didn’t join Schenk on the West team, but as a rule Rowan girls have gotten their fair share of calls to the East-West game.

All five Rowan schools were represented in the game in the ‘90s and Schenk was the third selection in the last four years.

East had Laura Edwards (‘97); North had Stephanie Cross (‘94); South had Janetta Heggins (‘99) and Tracy Connor (‘92); Salisbury had Donna Carr (‘95); and West had Hampton and Grissett.

And that doesn’t count Wood, who was named to the team after her senior year at Greensboro Smith, but played her first three years of high school ball in Rowan.

CAPTAIN KARI: Elder said that Schenk showed leadership throughout the week and proved it by naming her a team captain.

“That’s a real big honor for her,” said Elder. “When you look at the talent we had on this team, it really says a lot of good things about her.”

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BIG FINISH: Last night’s game may or may not be the last of Schenk’s career — she’s keeping her options open for down the road.

But if it is the finale, she went out in a blaze of glory.

“I wouldn’t trade this week or this game — not for anything,” she said.

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