By Ronnie Gallagher
Salisbury Post
Ayana Avery may have been the only freshman on the 2008 all-county team but she probably had more freedom than any of the upperclassmen.
West Rowan coach Erich Epps was asked if he really gave his diaper dandy the green light to shoot?
“Why not?” he asked.
Epps then made things crystal clear.
“I’m going to give it to her next year, too. She’ll have every green light in Salisbury.”
Avery, a 3-point specialist, can probably hit from every green light. As the season went on, the team got better as she got better.
It didn’t take long to get her varsity career heated up as she scored 40 in her first three games. But she had only five in her next three as the transition from middle school continued.
“The biggest difference was the size of the players,” Avery said.
But Avery usually stayed outside. And shot. And shot.
Her breakout game came in a 27-point effort against Northwest Cabarrus. She had 22 in a win over East Rowan and stamped her name on the all-county list in her last game, a 35-point effort in a loss to eventual 3A champ Concord.
She finished with a 13.3 average and it didn’t surprise Epps one bit.
He remembers running the clock for a middle school game last year when Avery and West lost to Southeast and the Holmes twins. She scored 36.
“I knew she was going to be tough,” he said. “And I had no idea I was going to get the girls job at the time.”
Well, Epps has it now and he knows West has some talent coming to join Avery.
And his diaper dandy will continue shooting all she wants, right, Epps?
Why not?
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com.