Western Regional: Concord boys 67, West Rowan 63

West Rowan's Mike Gurley hugs Kevin Parks after the loss to Concord High School in the Western 3A regional playoff game at UNC-G. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

West Rowan Keyshaun Sherrill(1) drives up court with Concord High School's Jacquise Moore (4) in hot pursuit during the Regional 3A playoff game at UNCG on Thursday. Concord defeated West Rowan. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

West Rowan's Dominque Noble (40) on a lay up in game with Concord High School in the Western 3A regional playoff game at UNC-G. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

By Mike London

mlondon@salisburypost.com

GREENSBORO — West Rowan's K.P. Parks crumpled to his knees in the final seconds, and coach Mike Gurley sprinted onto the floor of UNC Greensboro's Fleming Gym to bear-hug him to his feet.

Parks lifted West athletics to lofty heights during his career, but now it was time for Gurley to elevate Parks.

West lost 67-63 to Concord in a wild 3A Western Regional semifinal Thursday night. The Falcons (20-7) led by 10 with four minutes left and by five with 90 seconds remaining. The Spiders, who advanced to play Hibriten on Saturday, just kept coming.

Some will remember it as a game that West let get away, but Gurley argued that Concord took it.

"Maybe it's a clich , but Concord won this one more than we lost it," Gurley said. "I can accept it because we played as hard as we possibly could play for 32 minutes. We hit Concord in the jaw a bunch of times, hit them with some shots that would have taken out a lot of people. But they're a big-time team."

West players would gladly have run through every wall in Greensboro. Parks would have cheerfully carried five Spiders on his back, and muscleman Chris Smith would've been happy to bench-press Concord's coaching staff and cheerleaders during every timeout.

But relentless will and sheer strength weren't enough. The thing the Falcons couldn't do was make free throws. Their weakness, an inability to consistently knock down unguarded 15-footers, did them in.

Concord (24-6) was 17-for-21from the line, including an 8-for-9 effort by Jalen Cannady, the tallest Spider at 6-foot-3. In sharp contrast, West was 5-for-17. Parks missed on three one-and-one chances in the fourth quarter, and B.J. Sherrill missed two when he stepped to the line with 13 seconds left with a chance to tie.

Concord's defense was a huge factor. The Spiders forced 19 turnovers, had a whopping 8-1 edge in blocked shots and enjoyed a 12-4 advantage in steals.

"There was a lot of heart out there," Concord coach Scott Brewer said. "My guys sucked it up when there was an awful lot going against us."

West got huge efforts from KaJuan Phillips (16 points, seven rebounds) and Domonique Noble (14 points, six rebounds). Both played brilliantly on the big stage. Noble was hobbled with a sore knee when West won its sectional final against Anson, but he looked as explosive as ever.

"The (two-day) weather delay really helped Domonique," Gurley said. "He would not have been able to play at that level on Tuesday. He was great."

But West's shooters weren't great. Keshun Sherrill was 4-for-12 from the field. B.J. Sherrill was 1-for-7.

The best player was Concord's Jacquise Moore. He hit a big shot every time West threatened to separate and finished with 23 points. The surprise for Concord was reserve guard Will Vanderburg. He tossed in 13.

Neither team led by more than four in a furious first half. Smith crushed the Spiders on the glass, but the Falcons didn't shoot well enough to take advantage.

"Smith is just so tough and so strong," Cannady said. "I was just doing the best I could."

Cannady got one board in the first half. He got seven in the second after a halftime chat with Brewer.

West trailed 35-33 with 5:30 left in the third quarter, but it went on a 12-0 run to open a double-digit lead.

"It was a game of runs," Smith said. "We had ours, but they also had some."

Parks, Noble and Phillips fueled the surge. Parks set up great looks with his penetration, and he finished one electrifying play when B.J. Sherrill, West's football QB, hit him in stride with a 50-foot outlet pass.

"Parks is so strong and so low to the ground you can't take the ball from him," Brewer said. "He was dribble-driving us to death, and they were just manhandling us on the boards. That's one strong bunch of men. They doubled us up (20-10) on the offensive glass."

With Concord reeling, Moore stepped forward. His ice-water 3-pointer stopped what could easily have been a fatal onslaught, but West still carried a 47-38 lead into the final quarter. It was 57-47 with 4:07 left.

That's when freshman Darren Black hit a 3-pointer that triggered a 9-0 Concord run that required only 30 seconds. Cannady made a steal and converted a three-point play. Vanderburg hit a 3-pointer. "We didn't relax," Gurley said. "It happened so fast we never had time to think about relaxing."

West still looked to be in sold shape when Noble flew in from the right baseline and powered down a dunk with 1:32 left for a 63-58 lead.

But West wouldn't score again.

"That dunk gave them a lot of momentum," Vanderburg said. "We needed to make something happen."

He did with a driving and-one to cut the deficit to 63-61.

After a West turnover, Moore hit two free throws for a 63-all tie with 1:08 left. After Parks missed the front of a one-and-one with 46 seconds left, Moore drove against Noble with 25 seconds left, drew a foul and swished two free throws for the lead.

After Parks couldn't get a drive to fall, B.J. Sherrill got a chance at the foul line, but he missed two. When Cannady got the board, the Falcons were in dire straits.

Cannady's two free throws with 11 seconds left made it a four-point game and all but sealed victory.

Parks had no choice but to fire from 25 feet, and his career ended as his teammates fought for the rebound.

"When it got down to the end, Concord just made more plays than we did," Parks said.