West Girls Beat North in OT

BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

At West Rowan High, they call 5-11 post player Shameeka Wansley, "Rock."

But "Rock" had been no more than a pebble over West's last five games prior to Friday night. In those five games, she had averaged exactly two points per contest.

But in a packed and rocking North gym, the shy sophomore proved that when she's on, "Rock" can be a full-fledged boulder as big as Mount Rushmore.

All Wansley did was pour in a career-best 19 points, block a half-dozen shots and grab 10 rebounds as West survived the Cavaliers 70-58 in overtime.

"It all just happened," said a wide-eyed Wansley.

Wansley's coach, Angie Waddell, had a more specific explanation. "Rock did what she did, because she knew she had to do it," she explained.

None of Wansley's effort was oh-by-the-way fluff. West (6-1) needed every ounce of her surprise magic to escape Spencer alive.

This may have been the strangest game ever played in Rowan County.

North coach Gary Atwell was like an admiral who started a battle with a fleet of missile-firing warships and ended it throwing water balloons from a tugboat.

Atwell lost starting forward Erin Bailey on fouls with nine minutes left. Then his leading scorer Megan Honeycutt fouled out. Guard Joyce Hipps had a sprained ankle but played anyway. Guard Sharika Cuthbertson, who was ill when the game began, played her guts out. Shooter Hopelyn Brown fought cramps as hard as she fought the Falcons.

It was a scene straight from the Twilight Zone as Atwell sent in anyone he could find that was still able-bodied. Miraculously, everyone who volunteeted did good things. Ultimately, his team fell short, but the Cavs (3-3) came within an inch of pulling off a stunner in regulation, before running out of gas and being run over 12-0 in overtime.

West led 55-49 after Wansley's three-point play at the 2:27 mark, but just as folks started talking about the boys game, Brown dropped in a 3-pointer from the parking lot of nearby Hardee's to make it 55-52.

A minute later, North's Courtney Hill, who played an inspired game with 16 points, fought her way inside to tie the game at 55-all.

West point guard Kari Schenk, who had 18 points, made three of six free throws on the Falcons' next three possessions to put her team ahead 58-55.

But with only five ticks left, the unsinkable Brown calmly tossed in another cardiac-inducing 3-pointer to even the game at 58.

After a timeout, West tried to inbound the ball, but Brown darted in for a steal. With the stunned crowd on its feet, she fed Sharika Cuthbertson, who took aim at an open shot. But Cuthbertson missed, and time expired during the wild battle for the rebound.

"I'm just standing there hollering, 'Go in! Go in!'|" said Atwell. "It just wouldn't. We had our shot. And the girl who took it was our best option on the floor to take it. That's all you can ask. I sure can't fault anyone's effort. Wednesday at East we weren't fired up, but tonight, intensity was no problem.

"The kids showed a lot of heart."

Speaking of hearts, Waddell's almost stopped when her team turned the ball over on its final possession of regulation.

But when it came down to overtime, her team regained its composure.

The key was Schenk, who put her hands to her head in disbelief after missing three late free throws, but took charge of the extra session, directing West's offense and making repeated steals.

Two Wansley free throws gave West a 60-58 lead 35 seconds after overtime began. Les-Lee Peeler scored to make it 62-58. Wansley crashed the boards to make it 64-58.

Then Emily Miller got a layup and Schenk scored four quick points, as the Falcons finally flew away from the exhausted Cavs. In the extra period, North failed to score on any of its nine possessions.

North jumped ahead 12-3 in the first four minutes of play.

"We started out shellshocked," admitted Waddell. "That's the first time that's happened to us all year. We had to play catchup from the first minute and that's hard against North's quickness.

"I told the girls right off that we were going to be in a tough ballgame up to the end. And we were."

West eked out a two-point lead by halftime, but never could push its lead past six in the second half.

Honeycutt fouled out with 6:03 on the clock when she bumped West's Kate Goodman on a layup attempt with North ahead 43-42. She exited with a season-low 11 points. West seized the initiative with Honeycutt on the sidelines, before fending off Brown's bombs late.

NOTES: Goodman scored 12 points and had five fourth-quarter rebounds, before fouling out in overtime. ... Hill had 14 boards for the Cavs. ... Honeycutt and Bailey, who scored North's first four points, had three fouls each at halftime. ... North won't play again until the Christmas tournament, while West hosts East Monday night.

_WEST ROWAN (70) Ð Peeler 4, Scearce 2, Sloop 2, Goodman 12, McNeely, Pieper 6, Schenk 18, Miller 7, Wansley 19.

_NORTH ROWAN (58) Ð Cuthbertson 7, Honeycutt 11, Bailey 8, Lee, Hipps 6, Brown 8, Tucker, N. Hill 2, C. Hill 16, Cowan.