North coaches Kelly Everhart (boys) and Mike White (girls) enjoyed last Thursday’s journey to West Stokes, despite tough losses.
By activity bus, the voyage to visit the Cavs’ new CCC foe took an hour and 15 minutes, but that inconvenience was more than made up for by the scenic trip, the tasty hotdogs and the fine facilities at West Stokes, which is only in its third year of existence.
“They have a great place here and it’s not that bad of a trip at all,” said Everhart.
“It beats the heck out of trying to get to (former league member) High Point Central,” added White. “You just get on (Highway) 52 and you’re there.”
White and Everhart also offered two thumbs up for the seating arrangements at West Stokes. The players’ benches and scorer’s table are one side of the arena, while all the seating is on the opposite side.
Obviously, that setup has its advantages. There’s no one sitting right behind the coaches offering helpful advice on substitutions and timeouts or bellowing at the refs.
n
BRACE YOURSELF:East senior guard Haley Shaw has made an amazingly swift comeback from a torn ACL.
“I feel really safe with the brace I’ve got,” said Shaw, who scored 21 points in her first three games back from injury.
n
STRANGE DAYS: A.L. Brown’s Michelle Crosby and Joanna Hutchinson are the Wonder girls’ No. 3 and No. 5 scorers on the season, but combined for their team’s first 19 points in Tuesday’s loss to East.
Kesha Johnson’s 3-pointer with 27 seconds left in the first half was the first point contributed by anyone other than Crosby or Hutchinson.
n
TOUGH MATCHUP:When the Wonders were forced to go to man-to-man defense in an attempt to catch up to East, they ran into difficulties.
East has three tall girls, while the Wonders have just two. That left a Wonder in the 5-foot-5 range (usually Hutchinson) trying to contend with high-scoring Emily Rich, who is pushing six feet.
Rich finished with 26 points, nearly half her team’s 53.
“We had a good matchup with Maggie,” said East coach Randy Bingham. “She got out of her scoring slump (30 points in the previous three games).”
“We just don’t match up well with East very well,” said Wonders coach Doug Wilson. “If we can’t turn them over, we’ve got a problem with them in a halfcourt game.”
n
WHOOPS! Statesville and A.L. Brown mistakenly used a boys ball for the entire first quarter of Wednesday’s big girls game.
The bigger, heavier ball didn’t ruin the shooting percentages. Statesville zinged in 7 of 13 shots, while the Wonders shot an acceptable 6-for-20.
n
MOST IMPROVED:Last season, A.L. Brown guard Timmy Allison was mostly a mop-up man for shooting stars Aundrae Allison and Jason Brown.
But now Timmy’s something of a star in his own right, as the Wonders’ No. 2 option and a reliable double-figure scorer. Timmy, a senior, hit three 3s in Tuesday’s win over East and four more in Wednesday’s loss to Statesville.
Timmy says he is no relation to the more famous (Aundrae) Allison.
“We thought we were cousins like in the eighth grade,” said Timmy. “But we never could find any proof.”
n
COMING ON: Slowly, but surely, an East Rowan boys team that has only two seniors is finding itself.
Freshman guard Eric Taylor’s scored in double figures three of the last four games.
Soph big man Kenny Abel’s been in double digits five times, junior guard Derek Talbert’s scored 18 points twice and another youngster, Caleb Miller, found his stroke with a 22-point night against A.L. Brown on Tuesday.
“We feel like we’re starting to click on all eight cylinders,” said Miller. “I guess that’s a good way to put it.”
Kurnitsky is also encouraged by a 9-2 jayvee team.
n
When John Davis’ South Rowan Raider boys dropped a 76-38 decision at R.J.Reynolds earlier this week, it marked yet another loss in another season to one of the Winston schools in the Central Piedmont Conference.
Demons coach Howard West watched his team jump out to a big lead, then subbed liberally the rest of the game.
“I know they’re going through a tough time,”he said. “I know John’s disappointed. Second year I was head coach, 5-16,”said the coach of the two-time defending state champs. “I’ve been there. I remember.”
Today's News
