MOUNTULLA — The Concord scorekeeper breathed a sigh of relief at halftime when he noticed the Spiders trailing West Rowan’s boys basketball team just 41-26.
“At least, they won’t beat us by 47 like they did last time,” he said.
The scorekeeper was right. West had a letdown in the first round of the South Piedmont Conference Tournament Tuesday night.
The Falcons only won by 40.
West’s 85-45 victory over the 4-20 Spiders propelled it into Thursday night’s semifinals against A.L. Brown in Kannapolis’ Bullock Gym. And the win served notice that while the West offense is super, its defense is super-duper.
Concord was held to just 19 points after halftime as West won its 21st game in 25 tries. It was the 12th straight win for the Falcons and No. 100 for coach Mike Gurley at West.
Concord coach Foster Parker was left to shake his head over a Falcon team that went 16-0 in the league.
“It didn’t surprise me one bit,” he said of the unblemished SPC mark. “And if West went 16-0, I’d hate to see how good North Rowan is. Mike and his staff have done a great job.”
North Rowan, of course, is the club that handed West three of its four losses this season. And senior Vicco Barringer can still remember the chiding from the Cavalier fans in regards to Scooter Sherrill, now a freshman at N.C. State: “You need Scooter! You need Scooter!”
“We don’t need Scooter,” scoffed Barringer, who was one of three Falcons to hit double figures and one of 12 to score. “He has moved on. It’s our time now. We’re going to show people in the county and all over the state that we can win without him.”
And Barringer can play without sickness overtaking his body. He was hit with a bout of pneumonia two weeks ago and just returned.
He led a third quarter charge, scoring eight points as West outscored the hapless Spiders 22-7 to take a 30-point lead into the fourth quarter.
“Vicco has a an undefined role on the team,” said Gurley. “He’s not quite sure how many minutes he’s going to play. But when we put him in, if he plays as hard as he did tonight, he’ll help us.”
Speaking of help, there’s always big, bad Donte Minter. The 6-8 junior thrashed the smaller Spiders from the start, ripping the net for 14 points in the first quarter. He had 25 of his game-high 31 points in the first 16 minutes.
How do you defend him,Foster Parker?
“You can’t,” Parker exclaimed. “It’s plain and simple.”
Thinking a moment, he added, “The only way to defend a Donte Minter is with a Donte Minter. He’s basically fundamentally sound. If the ball comes off on a rebound, it’s his.”
Gurley wasn’t too happy with his team in the first quarter. Concord scored much too easily for him and trailed the Falcons only 21-15.
So he challenged his team to play defense and on the first play of the second quarter, Timmy Mauldin came up with a steal. The onslaught was just beginning.
A 9-0 run gave West a 32-19 advantage and when Phillip Williams fed Minter for a layup at the second quarter buzzer, the Falcons led by 15, giving the scorekeeper some hope.
Still leading by 15, West went on an impressive 23-3 surge to finish the third quarter. The star of the period was Barringer.
“It felt good getting out there not hurt or sick,” Barringer said. “I’ve been struggling this season. But I felt it tonight. My body was feeling good ... I was my old self.”
When T.J. Gaither scored off a Terris Sifford assist to end the quarter, it was time to empty the bench.
While Minter was dominating, Junior Hairston was doing a little of everything. The 6-7 sophomore finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
“Junior is a perfect example of leaving your ego at the door and you’ve got to do that at this point of the season,” Gurley said. “He’s all about winning.
Gurley was asked how he could get his team up for this game.
“You put on the uniform, and if there’s referees and another team out there, you have to be self-motivated enough to be focused and ready to play,” he said.
The Falcons were definitely ready — even if they did “only” win by 40.
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NOTES: Gurley is 202-53 overall in his career. ... Horatio Everhart was disciplined for missing practice and did not play until late. ... Adam Pritchard scored six points in the fourth. ... Minter added nine rebounds. ... Mauldin had four steals. ... Barringer also had four rebounds and two steals.
CONCORD (45) — Cook 11, Cummings 8, Smith 7, Howard 8, Fairley 5, Peay 4, Calzado 2..
WEST ROWAN (85) — Minter 31, Hairston 13, Barringer 10, P. Williams 6, Pritchard 6, Mauldin 5, Sifford 2, J. Williams 2, Gaither 2, Goodnight 2, Trosper 2, Diggs 2, Johnson 2, High, Everhart.
Concord 15 11 7 12 — 45
W. Rowan 21 20 22 22 — 85
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