KING— All season long, fans have said that Salisbury star Sharmari Spears has not played like a freshman.
Until Wednesday night.
Spears made several ill-advised reaches for the basketball, was mired in foul trouble the entire night and Salisbury suffered because of it in the Hornets’ 83-48 loss at West Stokes.
Then again, it may not have mattered if Spears had played the full 32 minutes. Dan Spainhour’s first-place Wildcats were in one of those “zones.”
West Stokes (12-3, 5-0, Central Carolina Conference) made all the right passes, played in-your-face defense and shot the lights out in an impressive shellacking of the Hornets.
“The difference in the game,” mused Salisbury coach Drew Mathews, “was that they came out and executed and played good defense. We came out and did not execute and did not play good defense.”
Spears finished with 10 points, breaking a five-game streak of at least 20. But the 6-foot-5 freshman was in foul trouble from the start. He did score six of Salisbury’s eight first quarter points but only two in the second as West Stokes outscored the Hornets 42-23 in the first 16 minutes.
With Spears on the bench, John O’Neal, a 6-6 center, drop-stepped his way to 15 first-half points. When he wasn’t bulling his way inside, he was throwing out to Puff Gallimore and point guard Jarred Bottoms for open 3-pointers.
“We’ve been shooting 40 percent on 3-pointers,” said Spainhour. “The key is that we have to run stuff to get those shots.”
Mathews knew if his team was going to cut into the 19-point halftime deficit, it would have to happen early in the third quarter.
But Spears picked up foul No. 4 in the first 30 seconds — again reaching in and trying to poke the ball away. He sat for the rest of the period.
“Sharmari is going to be a great player,” Mathews said. “But he’s learning his lessons the hard way. When you’ve got three fouls, you don’t reach and grab. It’ll take time.”
West Stokes didn’t sit on its lead. It had Salisbury’s players running around in circles, forcing turnover after turnover, which usually resulted in an easy bucket for the Wildcats. A 22-7 surge in the third period had West up 64-30 with eight minutes remaining.
“Spears getting in foul trouble was important,” Spainhour pointed out, “but another thing is, when we got up, we didn’t take any possessions off defensively.”
O’Neal finished with 18 points while the kid named Puff powdered Salisbury for 17 more. Eleven different Wildcats scored.
“In terms of overall performance, from top to bottom, it was certainly one of our best,” said Spainhour, a lanky, 6-6 former inside player. “We did a good job tonight playing to all of our assets.”
Burly 6-5 Matt Butler put in enough rebounds to lead the Hornets with 12.
Salisbury (5-9, 3-2) has now been thrown into the middle of the pack. A win could’ve solidified third place but now, every defeat could mean a lost playoff spot.
Mathews didn’t expect the performance from his guys, who were coming off a win a night earlier at West Iredell.
“I thought we’d play a good game,” he said. “But West Stokes took us out of what we wanted to do by putting pressure on our guards. We didn’t get the big guys going early.”
West Stokes, tied with Lexington at 5-0, can practically punch its playoff ticket.
“Did I expect to be 5-0 and 12-3? Probably not,” said Spainhour. “But I knew we had a good group. I know we’re not that many points better than Salisbury. But tonight, we were. So we’ll take No. 5 and go on.”
n
NOTES: It gets no easier for Salisbury, who hosts Lexington Friday.
SALISBURY (48) — Butler 12, Spears 10, Bruce 7, Geter 6, Edward 4, Greene 4, Doleman 2, Campbell 1, Davis 1, Roten 1.
WEST STOKES (83) — O’Neal 18, Gallimore 17, Jarr. Bottoms 13, Hauser 11, Edmunds 7, Burchette 6, Jones 3, Fowler 3, James Bottoms 2, Baker 2, Adams 1.
Salisbury 8 15 7 18 — 48
West Stokes 20 22 22 19 — 45
n
Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
.
Today's News
