Western Regional 2A Final: Salisbury 43, Newton-Conover 32

Salisbury's Ashia Holmes (4) defends Tiana Littlejohn (14) in win over Newton-Conover's in the 2A Western regionals. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Newton Conover's Tiana Littlejohn (14) and Kadesha Gibbs (42) fight Salisbury's Olivia Rankin (21) for the ball. Photo by Jon C. lakey, Salisbury Post.

By David Shaw

dshaw@salisburypost.com

GREENSBORO — In simplest terms, the Salisbury girls basketball team got exactly what it wanted Saturday afternoon.

The unbeaten Hornets out-defended defensive-minded Newton-Conover 43-32 at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center, narrowing the gap between themselves and a second straight 2A state championship to one victory.

"Defense wins. That's always been the key to our success," forward Jessica Heilig said after Salisbury (28-0) earned a final-round berth against East Bladen (29-0) next Saturday at N.C. State's Reynolds Coliseum. "Let's hope it'll win one more."

Salisbury coach Andrew Mitchell said defense was paramount against N-C, a team that averaged about 60 points per game this season.

"It was our savior," he said. "Had our ladies not defended like they did, it could have been a long game."

Instead, Salisbury quickly set the tone for its 34th straight win. The Hornets made 10 steals and forced 12 N-C turnovers in the opening quarter. They made the post area their own personal property, limited the Red Devils (28-4) to five field-goal attempts and opened a 15-4 lead after one period.

"We were just knocked out of our defensive game," Newton-Conover's Renee Lewis said. "And on offense we never had any rhythm."

Bubbles Phifer led Salisbury with 15 points, and Olivia Rankin added 12. But on a day when the Hornets shot only 29 percent from the floor, defense and rebounding made all the difference.

"We wanted to win the war on the boards," Mitchell said after SHS grabbed 23 offensive rebounds and held a 42-21 overall advantage. "We said that right before we went out on the floor. And, to be quite honest, I was truly amazed at how we went after every single ball. When we can rebound like that and play good defense, it's going to be pretty tough."

Newton-Conover coach Jonathan Tharpe agreed that rebounding was pivotal.

"That's why we lost the game," he said. "We felt if we could control the boards, we could win. But the ball just seemed to bounce away from us."

It usually bounced Heilig's way. The 5-foot-11 junior topped all rebounders with 12, including seven at the offensive end of the court.

She added two of Salisbury's five blocked shots and was quick to credit Mitchell, the second-year coach who puts defense first — and second and third.

"We do a lot of boxing out drills in practice," Heilig said. "When it comes time for the games, we're usually ready."

Mitchell said he thinks Heilig is a natural rebounder.

"She outleaps most girls in our area," he said. "The first couple weeks of practice we didn't do anything but rebound and play defense. Jessica's a joy. And this team — we actually feared them on the offensive boards because we heard how much they liked to attack. Jess took care of that."

Salisbury's lead grew to 23-9 by halftime thanks to Ashia Holmes and Phifer, the tournament MVP. Holmes reeled in two consecutive offensive rebounds and hit a putback with 1:42 left in the half. And Phifer made a steal near midcourt and drove the left side for a layup with 24 seconds on the clock.

"This wasn't a pushover team," Holmes said. "We had to really get physical and bring our inner strength into the game. We had to shut down a lot of their players."

N-C was limited to 30 shot attempts, the same number Bandys managed in Salisbury's 45-31 semifinal win Wednesday.

"That really says a lot," Mitchell said. "We knew if we played ugly offensively, we'd be OK if we could make them look a little worse. But 30 attempts — that's hard to beat anybody."

The Red Devils didn't make much noise until the third quarter, when Salisbury was called for five fouls in the first 2:21.

Newton scored six points in the last 30 seconds of the period — four on fastbreak layups by Shynese Whitener with Salisbury's three primary ball-handlers on the bench — to pull within 32-22. But Salisbury converted 9 of 13 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.

In the end it was Phifer who walked off with the biggest smile.

"I trust and believe in all of our players," Mitchell concluded. "But Bubbles is the reason I feel confident we can win the state title. She just refuses to let us lose."

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NOTES: Saturday's game begins at noon. ... East Bladen, the 1A runner-up in 2007 and 2009, advanced with a 48-43 win over Burlington Cummings in the Eastern Regional final. ... The Western Regional all-tournament team featured Salisbury's Phifer, Holmes and Rankin, Newton-Conover's Whitener and Kadesha Gibbs and Shelby's Matrice Weezy.