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KANNAPOLIS — No girls basketball team plays any harder or with more intensity than Northwest Cabarrus, which explains why the Trojans have beaten some pretty high-powered West Rowan teams four times in the past four seasons.
“You know Northwest is going to be rough and tough,” said West coach Angie Waddell. “But you can’t back down. Only the strong survive, so you have to get rough and tough back with them.”
West got physical in punishing the Trojans 55-38 in a bumping, grinding 3A South Piedmont Conference tourney semifinal that had the feel of a much closer contest than the scoreboard indicated.
The key was second-seeded West’s 1-3-1 zone defense, with Kristen McNeely, who was jumping around like she’d been plugged into a socket, at the top. That alignment stymied the Trojans’ scorers — senior Jenny Volpicelli and junior Danielle Archey. The deadly duo combined for only five field goals.
“We knew who their key players were,” said Waddell. “We did a great job of closing out on their shooters. We really moved our feet well.”
The Falcons (19-7) held the third-seeded Trojans (20-4) without a field goal the entire second quarter and to 1-for-10 shooting in the fourth. Northwest shot just 10-for-42 (24 percent) from the floor. You had to feel for fiery Trojan coach Scott Burleson, whose troops might as well have been shooting at buckets suspended from the ceiling.
“This was not a good time for us to have a game like this,” said Burleson. “We looked to our leaders, but the shots just wouldn’t fall and that led to frustration. Credit West’s defense. Physically and mentally, they were ready to play.”
Waddell got solid games from four starters — Hillary Hampton (14 points, three steals, five assists); Sara Pieper (eight points); Danielle Scearce (nine points); and Shameeka Wansley (10 points, 10 rebounds).
Waddell got a great game from her fifth starter — McNeely. The senior guard matched her season high with 13 points and hit three 3-pointers. The 3s were obviously huge in a low-scoring game and all came at key junctures.
McNeely’s first connection came late in the first quarter and stretched a precarious 10-8 West lead to 13-8.
The second one came at the start of the second half and pushed the Falcons’ lead past 10 points for the first time.
The third one was the backbreaker, stopping Northwest’s last serious comeback try with just under five minutes remaining in the game. It came right after she failed to draw iron on a shot from the perimeter and “Air ball, air ball” jeers from the Trojans’ orange-clad fans were filling the air and ringing in her ears.
“Oh, I heard them all right,” McNeely said. “But I guess the scoreboard told the story, didn’t it?”
It did. It was the ninth straight time the scoreboard has told a happy tale for the Falcons, who bear no resemblance at this point to that struggling West team which lost four of five games in one miserable mid-season stretch.
“We’re playing well and we’ve got momentum,” said McNeely. “This game was fun, but Northwest games are always fun. You know, lots of scrappy people pushing and shoving each other around.”
Games where only the strong survive.
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NOTES:West goes after its second straight tourney title on Friday against Cinderella A.L. Brown, although McNeely is sure the Wonders are no fairy tale. “They’re for real,” she said. “I wasn’t surprised at all they beat Central Cabarrus, because we know how good they can be. But we’ll be ready on Friday.” ... West and Northwest tied for second in the regular season and split their games, so the Falcons’ rubber-match victory means they’ll be seeded ahead of Northwest in the state playoffs. If West beats the Wonders, it’ll be the SPC’s No. 2 team. If it loses, it’ll be No. 3, with the fifth-seeded Wonders moving up to No. 2. ... Hampton had 12 of her points in the second half, while Wansley crashed the boards for seven of her rebounds after intermission.
NWCABARRUS (38) — Dobard 4, Florence 5, Volpicelli 13, Archey 7, Baumgardner, Edwards, Killian 4, Damewood 5, Curtis, Willems.
WEST ROWAN (55) — Pieper 8, Hampton 14, Wansley 10, McNeely 13, Scearce 9, Sloop 1, Jones, Moore, Dowdy.
NWCab. 10 7 12 9 — 38
W. Rowan 13 11 16 15 — 55
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