MT. ULLA — There wasn’t much to say about this one except that the West Rowan
Falcon girls basketball team couldn’t miss on Tuesday night.West girls made double-pump jumpers in the
lane and they made 3-pointers. They made tip-ins and they made heaves from 30 feet. They
made shots when they were wide open and they made shots when defenders were hanging all
over them. They made free throws and they made layups.
They were unstoppable.
West’s torrid touch easily
shot down youthful Kannapolis 75-44 in a South Piedmont Conference game at the West gym
and pushed the Falcons (6-2, 3-1 SPC) into a tie for the top spot in the league.
“I don’t know that many
men’s teams can shoot the ball like that,” said Kannapolis coach Doug Wilson,
whose team took a step back after taking a step forward Monday at North Rowan.
West’s recent games prior to
last night seemed to indicate a trend that its offense just wasn’t working.
West’s point totals had declined for five straight games — from 64 to 57 to 56
to 47 to 43. But the Falcons got well big-time against the bewildered Wonders, who were
knocked cold by the middle of the second quarter.
West shot 50 percent in the first
quarter, then blistered the nets at 60 percent in the second quarter for an insurmountable
39-13 halftime edge.
“We got good shots because we
made four of five passes on each possession,” said West head coach Angie Waddell.
“We really executed on offense, and that’s exactly what we had talked
about.”
And in so doing, West executed the
Wonders (1-5, 1-3).
West swing player Sara Pieper made
two quick jump shots and picked up three assists in the first four minutes of play. Kari
Schenk was hot, too. So was Kate Goodman. Kristen McNeely drilled a 3-pointer on the only
shot she took in the first half.
Even when Waddell went to her
bench, Jenny Sloop tossed in a 17-footer on her first try and Danielle Scearce poured in
points from everywhere, including a spectacular tip-in that drew oohs and aahs from the
crowd and gave the Falcons a 34-7 lead.
“I’ve been on our post
players for not shooting enough,” said Waddell. “But I was really pleased with
Danielle tonight. You don’t see many tip-ins by girls, but she’s got big, strong
hands from playing volleyball. She can make plays like that.”
The Wonders limped to the locker
room feeling that West had to cool off soon.
And in a way it did. All the way
down to 58 percent shooting in the third quarter.
Kannapolis put together a 9-0 run
behind some strong moves by Elise Stanback to close to within 43-26 midway through the
third quarter, but Stanback’s streak was answered by a fearsome flurry by West
reserve guard Amy Honeycutt.
Honeycutt, a jayvee star last
season, had scored two points in her varsity career before last night. But Falcon fever
was catching, and Honeycutt most definitely caught it. The Wonders may not have been
exactly sure who she was. But, heck, there were West fans who didn’t know who she
was.
Kannapolis defenders backed off
Honeycutt when she entered the game and dribbled cautiously down court. She paused at the
3-point line, and when no one came out to challenge her, she calmly sank the shot. Seconds
later, she did it again.
“I’ve been wanting a
chance to play,” said Honeycutt, who is backlogged on a team with tons of talented
guards. “I wasn’t looking to shoot, but they were going to let me have it, so I
said, ‘OK, I’ll shoot it.’”
Honeycutt proved her dazzling
debut wasn’t a fluke in the fourth quarter. She canned four more shots, including a
30-footer at the final buzzer. She scored a team-high 15 points in roughly 10 minutes of
action.
“Amy’s a very poised and
intelligent player,” said a delighted Waddell.
West got production out of
everyone who suited up. Natalie Jones made both of her shots; Ashley Shaver scored four
quick points; Allison Moore and Shameeka Wansley grabbed rebounds, and Jenny Rabon
contributed two assists.
West finally missed some shots in
the fourth quarter, but still finished the game at 53 percent from the field, bouncing
back all the way from a disappointing and poor-shooting SPC loss to Northwest Cabarrus
last Friday.
“The whole team played smart
and hard and worked together,” said Honeycutt. “This was fun.”
For everyone but Wilson, who felt
like a clay pigeon at the skeet-shooting range.
“We didn’t play all that
well,” he said after the Wonders shot 26 percent and were outrebounded 48-29.
“But the story tonight was that West just couldn’t miss. That whole team was in
the zone. They’ve got one heck of a team.”
n
NOTES: Stanback led the Wonders
with 14 points, all in the second half. ... Jo Hutchinson and Kesha Johnson made two 3s
each for the Wonders, while Tomekia Powell had seven boards. ... Had they played more
minutes, Pieper, Goodman and Schenk might have all posted triple-doubles. Goodman did have
a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Schenk had 14 points, while Pieper had 12
points and eight assists. ... West put four players in double figures for the first time
this season and nearly had five. Scearce just missed with nine points. ... The 75 points
were the most scored by the Falcons since they beat Sun Valley 81-25 in the first round of
last season’s SPC tourney.
KANNAPOLIS(44) — Powell 2,
Connor 8, Stanback 14, Morgan 6, Johnson 6, Crosby 2, Hutchinson 6, Moody, Allen, Little,
Ivey, McCree.
WESTROWAN(75) — Pieper 12,
Schenk 14, McNeely 5, Wansley, Scearce 9, Goodman 10, Honeycutt 15, Sloop 2, Shaver 4,
Jones 4, Moore, Rabon.
Kannapolis 5 8 17 14 — 44
West Rowan 17 22 17 19 — 75 |
Today's News