Sherrill, Minter Lead Unbeaten West Boys Over Raiders

BY ED DUPREE
SALISBURY POST

West Rowan's unbeaten boys got a combined 40 points from junior guard Scooter Sherrill and freshman center Donte Minter and defeated South Rowan 74-53 in a nonconference high school basketball game at the South gym on Wednesday night.

Sherrill went 5-for-5 on field goals in the second half, scoring a team-high 23 points, and the 6-foot-7 Minter made his first eight shots of the night before missing his last attempt, winding up with 17 points.

Coach Mike Gurley's Falcons, 6-0, moved a step closer to the No. 1 seed for the Sam Moir Christmas Classic. West has two games remaining before Christmas, against North Rowan and East Rowan.

Guard Carlos Dixon led South with 23 points, sharing scoring honors with Sherrill, before going out with a charley horse above his knee with 4:06 left in the contest. Forward Cornell Roseborough added 17 points for the Raiders, who slipped to 4-3.

Minter's 8-for-9 shooting in close was his second straight accurate game. The tall freshman went 8-for-10 in a win over Kannapolis A.L. Brown last week. He's now had four double-figure games in his first varsity season.

"Scouting reports against us this year has obviously been to stop Scooter Sherrill. The effect has been that Scooter's had to really work. It's good for him, because he's going through some tough times of really having to keep his focus, not getting frustrated and really work hard. I thought he got out of that tonight by just trying to play hard," said Gurley.

"When you want to defend him out there, it really is opening up things for Donte inside. Eventually, I guess they are going to change those scouting reports. I would give anything to see somebody play us man-to-man. They might beat us, but I would just like to see some man-to-man. We've played six games now. Salisbury played us man-to-man, and we've seen five straight zone games. Even if we lose 121-119, it sure would be nice to see somebody come out and check us up," said Gurley.

South battled on its home court and kept it reasonably close. Coach Bob Parker's Raiders trailed by only 10 at 48-38 late in the third quarter, but Sherrill scored six straight points and the Falcons went on a 14-2 run to wrap it up.

"We were down 10 and had the ball, and turned it over," said Parker, "and just kind of went almost into a minute-and-a-half turnover frenzy. ... From that point on, it was never close again. We dug a big hole at the start (25-9 deficit early in the second period), and tried to fight our way out of it, and never really got out of it."

He was impressed with Minter's inside game.

"He doesn't play like a freshman. Obviously, he's got the body of a man. He'll do nothing but get better as the season goes along. He's very fortunate to play on a team that does not depend upon him, which lets him play. He's not rushed, he's not a go-to person, and he can just develop at his own pace," said Parker