MOUNT ULLA — West Rowan’s girls are heading into the stretch run in the 3A South Piedmont Conference, and coach Angie Waddell seems to be finding more basketball players that can be big factors.

West, while beating Piedmont 54-42 here Wednesday night, got 19 points and 24 rebounds out of players who came off the bench.

“We’re going to need that,” said Waddell after the third-place Falcons improved to 10-6 overall and 7-2 in the SPC. “The second time through (the league schedule), if somebody’s not performing, we’ve got to find somebody that will get the job done. Playing them (reserves) gets them a lot of good experience in how to handle certain situations.”

Two starters, guard Hillary Hampton and forward Danielle Scearce, led West’s scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Helping out off the bench were guard Natalie Jones and center Mandy Massey with eight and six points, respectively. Massey also shared team rebounding honors with starting center Shameeka Wansley and Scearce with seven boards.

“I have total confidence in them, and I expected that. They are coming along,” said the West coach of juniors Jones and Massey. “Natalie: A lot of times she was in a couple of good places at the right time. She was scoring most of our shots early on. Massey: She’s very physical and strong. If she’s got the ball, you don’t have to worry about anybody taking it from you.”

Two of West’s regular starters, forward Sara Pieper and guard Kristen McNeely, have been sick with the flu and didn’t start, but they saw action. Hampton’s also been sick lately.

West took the lead late in the first quarter and broke it open in the second period, outscoring the Panthers 18-6. Hampton and Jones led the second-quarter scoring with five and four points, respectively, and Scearce came up with three steals.

The Falcons gradually built their lead to 19 in the fourth quarter.

West now has seven games left in the regular season as the Falcons try to gain ground on first-place Central Cabarrus (10-0) and runner-upNorthwest Cabarrus (8-2).

“It’s not that the early games didn’t count, but it’s kind of like you’re in a position where you can control your own destiny. We want to control our own destiny,” said Waddell.

Her team gets shots at Northwest next Tuesday and Central on Feb. 9, both at home.

Piedmont (5-11, 4-6) was led by Jessica Greene with 11 points, Jennifer Smith with eight points and eight rebounds, and freshman Kasey Gillis finished with eight points.

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NOTES: West went 21-for-65 (32.3 percent) on field goals and 12-for-20 at the foul line, while Piedmont was 16-for-57 (28.1 percent) from the floor and 9-for-14 on free throws. ... Scearce, Wansley and Massey led West to a 44-40 edge in rebounds. ... Wansley led West in steals with five. ... The Falcons had 21 turnovers to 29 for the visitors.

PIEDMONT (42) — Gillis 8, Ellis 5, Hinkle 2, Sexton 2, Smith 8, Greene 11, C. Simpson, Price 2, S. Simpson, J. Helms, Thompson 4.

WEST ROWAN (54)— Scearce 10, Sloop 6, Wansley 6, McNeely 1, Hampton 11, Pieper 4, Moore 2, Dowdy, Jones 8, Massey 6, Izze,Peebles.

Piedmont 12 6 10 14 — 42

West Rowan 15 18 12 9 — 54