Never any doubt for West

CHAPEL HILL — In their basketball-beating hearts, there was never any doubt.

Even with Donte Minter nursing a fractured left wrist and Brian Avery slogging along with a sprained ankle, there was no question.

West Rowan simply — and quite emphatically — would not allow it.

“Never,” a jubilant Minter insisted Saturday night, moments after the Falcons crowned their jewelry box of a season with another gem in the state 3A championship game. “Not at any point did we question ourselves. Here’s all you need to know: as a team, we came to play tonight.”

They came, all right — to the hallowed Dean Smith Center — and danced among those glorious jerseys strung from the rafters, engulfed by a sea of powder blue.

Ninety minutes later, they emerged triumphant, 80-68 winners over undersized Winston-Salem Parkland, a team that fought courageously until raising its arms into the electrified air.

Now comes this truism: the back page may not be big enough for this story.

“We were definitely inspired this week,” coach Mike Gurley told a roomful of inquiring reporters, measuring his words like a 2-0 fastball. “I didn’t tell the boys this because it’s something you don’t talk about. But to be able to go 30-0, I don’t think that can ever be done again.”

Years from now, when they dribble down memory lane, the Falcons will remember an array of vivid images. There was that mob scene at center court, where West players formed a human pile of unabashed schoolboy emotion, aptly recorded for history by crouching photographers. Cheerleaders launched into midair cartwheels while Gurley extended his index fingers skyward, thanking the West faithful. Across the court, Parkland’s players stood dejectedly, some with arms crossed, waiting to receive their runner-up ribbons.

Spotted near the West bench was dunkmaster Phillip Williams, bellowing to the crowd, “Hey, who’s No. 1 now?”

The answer came in a turbo-charged, 32-minute package. The Falcons dominated whenever they had to, shooting 48 percent from the field. They held a 51-38 rebounding edge. And they used a 16-2 second-quarter run — Williams, playing like a man with his hair on fire, scoring nine of them — to settle into the driver’s seat.

“I don’t mean to brag,” said teammate Junior Hairston, the rubbery junior who reeled in 14 rebounds and stamped his name on half of West’s six rejections. “But we’re just that good. I can say it now that the season’s over. We are that good.”

Minter, his wrist throbbing, played with driven magnificence. His haul of fame included a game-high 29 points on 12-for-19 sharpshooting before fouling out with 2:16 to play. It helped erase bitter memories from West’s 1999 championship-game loss to these same Parkland Mustangs.

“I was right with this guy when he was in the ninth grade,” Gurley said, nodding toward Minter. “We cried a lot of tears. To see what he did tonight gives me a lot of gratification.”

Down the stretch, with the outcome secured, megawatt smiles beamed from the court.

“That last minute,” exhaled Williams ... that was crazy. It felt like I wasn’t even out there. Then it hit me — I looked at the scoreboard and said, ‘Oh guys, it’s really gonna happen.”

Added Gurley, responding to criticism that West played a soft schedule: “People tell us we didn’t play much of a schedule this year. Well tell you what, go play John Davis in China Grove. And Drew Mathews over in Salisbury. And Kelly Everhart and his bunch over in Spencer. Tell me that ain’t hard to do.

“There, I said it. I’ll shut up now.”

Nah. Now’s the time to trumpet an amazing accomplishment to the world. Here they are — three exits past the place where dreams often give out.

Only now, this one is finally real.

n

Contact David Shaw at sports@salisburypost.com .