West Boys Clinch Title
West boys devour sixth title in seven seasons

BY BRYAN STRICKLAND
SALISBURY POST

Even as the his team savored its second straight South Piedmont Conference crown Tuesday night, West Rowan coach Mike Gurley took time to serve up some food for thought.

''I'm proud of the young men, and I want them to be proud of themselves,'' Gurley said after the clinching 84-62 victory over Sun Valley. ''But to me this is just the soup and salad portion of our season.

''Next comes the meat and potatoes, and that's the most important part of the meal.''

Maybe so, but the Falcons weren't quite ready to toss their salad days.

''It was our turn,'' said sophomore guard Terris Sifford. ''We're doing well. Now we've just got to keep succeeding.''

Such success may be new to Sifford, a first-year varsity player, but it's actually been the Falcons' turn since around the turn of the decade. The victory gave West its sixth regular-season conference crown in seven seasons.

The one year the Falcons didn't win the regular season title, 1997, they won the state championship instead.

''It's a great feeling, especially as a senior,'' said forward Antwan House. ''But we're looking for more than this.''

The victory improved West to 21-1 overall, 14-1 in the SPC. Sun Valley, firmly entrenched in the league's fifth spot, fell to 12-11 overall, 7-7 in the SPC.

Sun Valley gave the Falcons all they could handle in their first meeting, but the Falcons had a good handle on this one from the outset. Sun Valley led 2-1 and trailed just 5-4 after three minutes, but then West embarked on a fast-breaking, 12-0 run that put the Spartans in a permanent hole.

Frankie Williams started it with a follow shot before Scooter Sherrill, who matched House with 16 points, scored on back-to-back layups. House then blocked a shot by Kenneth Hammond, rebounded Hammond's follow shot, then threw a perfect outlet to Andre McCain for another layup.

Sifford and Brian Hatley completed the spurt with ' what else ' fast-break layups.

''We had high intensity out there,'' House said. ''We had a great practice yesterday, and it carried over to tonight.''

Sun Valley rallied to within 17-12 with eight straight points and trailed just 22-16 early in the second quarter. But the quarter belonged to West freshman Donte Minter, who scored 12 of his team-high 18 in the period. That helped West to a 43-30 halftime lead, then an 11-2 run to kick off the second half turned it into a 54-32 laugher.

It certainly wasn't all about offense for the Falcons. While Sun Valley's Richard Barrett broke loose late to put up 24 points after scoring 23 against West last time, Eddie Oates couldn't say the same.

Oates scored 21 against West last time and scored 40 against Northwest Cabarrus on Friday. But Sherrill sewed up Oates in the second half especially, holding him to eight points for the game.

''Scooter came to play,'' Gurley said. ''He didn't do much spectacular but he did everything solid.

''Slowing down Eddie Oates was a part of his agenda tonight.''

Even if Gurley downplayed the conference championship after it became reality, he certainly didn't do the same before the game. In fact, Gurley said he tried to heighten the importance of the game to properly prepare his players for what's to come.

''We dwelled on this game. We focused on it,'' Gurley said. ''We've got a lot of big games coming up, and I wanted them to deal with the tension of a big game now. I know I was tense.

''The only way you get ready for big games is to play big games. ... We're trying to progress and be the best team we can be for the state playoffs. Come playoffs, it's one loss and you're out.''