CONCORD — West Rowan’s girls basketball team coasted past Concord 51-21 here Tuesday night, holding on to a tie for second place in the 3A SouthPiedmont Conference standings.
Shameeka Wansley and Hillary Hampton scored 12 points apiece, and Danielle Scearce added 10 as coach Angie Waddell’s Falcons improved to 13-7 overall and 10-3 in the SPC. West shares second place with Northwest Cabarrus, a winner over East Rowan last night.
Concord, which lost to West by a similar margin (61-32) earlier in the season, dropped to 2-17 and 2-12.
Waddell, after her team’s easy win over the eighth-place opponent, said, “Every game toward the end, I always look for improvement. Any time you improve, it’s always good. I was stressing at the beginning of the game that we’ve got to play up to our potential and not to the other team’s level.”
West had a shutout going until Concord’s Latoya Lynch made a free throw with 46 seconds left in the first quarter. It was 15-1 after that period.
Concord finally made its first field goal when reserve Adrienne Russell hit a 3-pointer with 7:45 to go in the half.
“Everybody got playing time and quality playing time, too,” Waddell added. “They need that experience. It builds a lot of team unity and keeps everybody happy.”
Central Cabarrus’ girls have clinched the league title with a 14-0 record, but West will be gunning for three straight victories to be assured of a tie for second. The first two games are against Piedmont and Sun Valley, then West hosts tough Central on Feb. 9 in the regular-season finale.
“We’ve got three games left, and we’re just taking one at a time,” said Waddell. “I think a lot can happen within two weeks. Maybe Central’s probably above everybody else, but everybody else is even keel.If you don’t show up ready to play, you can get beat on any given night.”
Wansley, who has bounced back strong from a December shoulder injury to play well inside for the Falcons, said the Falcons still aren’t playing as well as they can.
“I think we can put a little bit more effort into it. There’s always room for improvement,” said the senior.
West visits Piedmont on Friday.
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NOTES: West went 21-for-60(35 percent) on field goals and 9-for-18 at the foul line. Concord was only 8-for-42 (19 percent).
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