Mustangs Down West Rowan 61-52

BY RONNIE GALLAGHER
SALISBURY POST

Didn't Amanda Morris know this was supposed to be Julie Austin's night?

While the spotlight shined on Austin's attempt to reach 1,000 points in her career, Morris came off the East Rowan bench Monday night to steal a little thunder while helping the Mustangs to a satisfying 61-52 victory over talented West Rowan.

Morris, who barely got off the bench in a win over Davie County on Friday night, was in the game early against West after starting forward Karen Brown injured her ankle. The 5-foot-9 senior teamed with the 6-4 Austin to give the Mustangs too much firepower inside, combining for 24 points and 21 rebounds.

With its second loss, West was thrown into a three-way tie along with East and South Rowan as far as the seedings for the upcoming Sam Moir Christmas Tournament (Dec. 28-30). Considering they've all beaten each other, a drawing will be held to determine the 1-2-3 seeds.

East coach Gina Talbert wasn't thinking as much about the tournament as she was her total team effort. She got scoring from someone other than Austin and Nicole Loggins.

"I told the girls they had to take the role of scorers," she said. "Nicole and Julie are not our only offensive threats. The other girls are capable of that."

And while Austin (16 points) and Loggins (18) had their usual outputs, it was players like point guard Brooke Misenheimer (10 points), Morris (8) and sophomore reserve Emily Rich (6) who were keys to the win.

And of course, the defense wasn't too bad either. Talbert had her team fall back into a zone and force the Falcons (6-2) to shoot from the outside.

"I was scared to play man-to-man because of Kari (Schenk)," Talbert said. "One on one, I didn't think we could stop her."

Even with the zone, the Mustangs didn't stop Schenk, who led West with 17 points. But she was the only double-figure Falcon scorer.

West played hard but as coach Angie Waddell pointed out, just missed outside shots.

"You'll have games like that," she said. "You can't hit every shot. East did a good job of staying in that zone and making us shoot the ball. I give them all the credit."

Despite all of the talent on the court, it was not an auspicious start by either team. After one quarter, it was deadlocked at 6-6.

"It was a huge, huge game for both teams," said Waddell of the early butterflies.

Misenheimer agreed, saying, "I think at the very beginning, we all had the jitters. In the second quarter, we calmed down."

East began charging the basket, something Talbert said the Mustangs forgot to do in the opening eight minutes. The result was layup after layup.

Misenheimer dished out two quick assists and Khara Bost another as Loggins and Austin scored the first six points of the period. When Morris scored on a layup, West trailed 18-8.

When Austin rebounded a miss and hit a turnaround jumper, the lead had suddenly ballooned to 24-9.

Three-pointers by Kate Goodman and Schenk in the final minute of the half pulled West within 28-17 at intermission, and the Falcons' momentum seemed to continue when the third quarter began.

Les-Lee Peeler and Schenk scored to open the second half and it was a game again. When Peeler drilled a 3-pointer, East's lead had shrunk to 31-28 and the Falcon fans began making noise.

Morris, however, scored to up the margin to 35-29 going into the final period.

"I think Amanda was the game's surprise," praised Misenheimer.

"Amanda was awesome," added Austin, who scored the first two buckets of the fourth period.

When Morris slid inside for a basket, East's lead was 41-31 and it began a parade to the foul line. The Mustangs scored just one basket the rest of the way but added 18 free throws in 23 attempts.

Going to the foul line was exactly what Talbert wanted.

"I knew at the end, I had good free throw shooters out there," she said.

Misenheimer sank 7 of 8 during the final minutes while Loggins was 5 of 6. Rich scored all six of her points in the last quarter on a rebound basket and four straight free throws.

By the fourth period, Waddell had realized her team wasn't shooting well and was mixing and matching her lineup. She found two shooters in Peeler, who scored all eight of her points in the third, and quick Kristen McNeely, who bombed in two threes in the fourth.

"They were big," said Waddell of the shooting, especially McNeely. "Some of our girls weren't hitting so we had to find someone who was and go with them."

McNeely's second three actually pulled West within 51-45 with 1:32 left but East hit six of its next seven free throws to seal it.

Talbert said she used a recent newspaper article where Waddell said if her girls continued playing well, West could beat East.

"We read that today in practice," Talbert said. "It gave my girls added incentive."

"We were really wanting to beat West," said Morris, who led all rebounders with 11. "We were fired up. It has been a rivalry throughout all our years."

Considering the teams are both in the South Piedmont Conference, expect a few more battles this season.

"This will make us play harder," said Waddell of the Christmas tournament. "You can't win them all. I don't like to lose but it keeps you on even keel.

"We'll be there in February. I'm not worried about it."