By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
Bubbles Phifer’s 17 points and seven steals were no surprise.
Neither were De’ Rya Wylie’s 16 points and eight boards.
But sophomore Jessica Heilig’s 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks ó while playing half the game ó were a little scary.
“It was fun,” Heilig said with a smile. “Everyone was being supportive and we were playing together.”
Salisbury crushed overmatched CCC foe Providence Grove 68-22 on Wednesday. It was over early, with the Hornets sprinting to leads of 18-1, 26-3 and 31-4. Still, Heilig’s breakout perfomance made it worth watching, and the active post player looks like an importance piece of the puzzle as the Hornets go forward.
“Jess ó that’s the beast and the shot-blocker right there,” Phifer said. “First part of the year, Jess was saying, ‘Oh, I can’t do this.’ But now she’s like, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ I’m happy for her because she’s doing good.”
Salisbury (16-2, 7-2) played without leading scorer Shi-Heria Shipp, who turned her right ankle in Tuesday’s loss at East Davidson.
Phifer took charge, scoring the game’s first five points before finding open teammates. Salisbury shot 12-for-18 in the first quarter, mostly layups off Providence Grove’s 12 turnovers.
“It’s been a tough week, and in tough times you have to band together,” Salisbury coach Andrew Mitchell said. “We showed very nice team spirit and played for each other, and when you do that it’s a lot easier. I might be sticking my foot in my mouth, but if we play with that kind of unselfishness, I don’t think anyone can beat us.”
Salisbury has lost twice to East Davidson so a string of five straight shared or outright regular-season CCC championships will end. But the big goals are still out there.
“I came out here still kinda down about East Davidson,” Phifer said. “But De’Rya told me, ‘Let’s play; let’s get back on top.’ That put a smile back on my face.”
Providence Grove coach Patrick Stover was pleased with his team because it kept playing through all the turnovers and Salisbury layups.
But he was impressed with the Hornets ó even SHS, minus Shipp.
“The nucleus of my team is sophomores, and they’d never experienced anything quite like that,” Stover said. “Salisbury is something else. They’re extremely talented, they get after it, and they just don’t stop. Every turnover that we made, they capitalized.”
providence grove (22) óLangley 6, Matthews 5, C. Hardin 5, L. Hardin 4, Haithcox 2, Mixon,Lowe, Parris, Staley .
salisbury (68) ó B. Phifer 17, Wylie 16, Heilig 15, As. Holmes 6, Ay. Holmes 5, Rice 4, N. Phifer 3, Young 2, Clinding, Miller. P. Grove 3 7 7 5 ó 22
Salisbury 26 9 25 8 ó 68