By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
STATESVILLE ó West Rowan’s 6-foot-7 K.J. Sherrill occasionally defies description, but coach Mike Gurley, rarely at a loss for words, took his best shot.
“That patient pullup jumper K.J. made to end the first half, he flashed in there like Secretariat coming down the stretch at the Belmont Stakes,” Gurley said.
It was one sweet shot Sherrill made, and while the teenage Falcons probably don’t know about the beast that dominated the sports world in 1973, it’s also true that West isn’t doing any horsing around these days.
The Falcons won their 14th game in a row, sticking it to under-the-weather, undermanned South Rowan 73-46 in an NPC semifinal played at West Iredell on Wednesday.
West played tenacious defense in the first half and executed flawlessly in its halfcourt offense in the second half, shooting 65.5 percent.
Keshun Sherrill, Jordan Kimber, Kaleb Kimber and Myles Moore drilled shot after shot in the second half and combined for 50 points.
K.J. Sherrill had 17 points and 10 rebounds despite being the focus of South’s defensive gameplan.
Reid Shaver hit three 3s and scored 13 points for South, but in the opening five minutes South shot 0-for-9 and committed five turnovers.
It didn’t get much better. The Raiders made just one of their first 20 shots, finished the half 4-for-27 and trailed 24-11.
“If we panic and don’t play well defensively, it’s 30-11,” South coach John Davis said.
Davis was livid about no-calls in the first half.
“Someone should have let me know we were in the NBA,” he said. “We don’t have the size or stature of West Rowan, and for the game to be officiated as it was, that’s to their advantage. K.J. makes you rush shots and he intimidates shots, but we also were being knocked around out there. We rely on whistles being blown.”
Davis conveyed his feelings to the officials at halftime in no uncertain terms. Consciously or unconsciously, the whistles U-turned. West was called for three times as many fouls as South (14-12) in the second half.
South, which secured the league’s No. 4 seed for the playoffs by beating Mooresville in the first round, played for pride after halftime. West (23-2), still seeking the No. 1 seed, geared up for Friday’s 8 p.m. title game at West Iredell.
West defended South’s high-scoring point guard Hunter Morrison well without giving room to South’s other shooters. John Davis, Steven Johnson and Blake Houston like to pop corner 3s off Morrison’s penetration and kickouts, but they got few easy looks and combined for one made 3.”What we saw on film from our last game with South was we were trying to help too much when Hunter drove,” Gurley said. “You can over-help unless it’s just a clear blow-by, and he didn’t have many of those. Our guys stayed in good position and closed out on the shooters.”
Morrison, under the weather along with Coach Davis and several teammates, shot 5-for-18 for 14 points. He got one layup. Most of his attempts were heavily defended, step-back 18-footers.
At least four Falcons ó Keshun Sherrill, Kaleb Kimber, Jon Crucitti and K.P. Parks ó guarded Morrison at different times.
The Kimber brothers, Kaleb and Jordan, combined to shoot 7-for-9 in the third quarter and knocked down two 3s apiece with South concentrating its defense on K.J. Sherrill. West shot 10-for-14 in the quarter to roll to a 21-point lead, and it eventually led by as many as 30.
“We’ve learned to be patient and play around K.J.,” said Keshun Sherrill, a freshman who is K.J.’s little brother. “We were pumped up. It’s the conference tournament. That means you turn it up about five notches.”
K.J. Sherrill, Keshun Sherrill and Parks had five assists each. Gurley enthusiastically praised Keshun Sherrill and Parks, his point guards.
“It’s great to have a veteran backing up the freshman,” he said. “K.P. is the bedrock that will help that freshman tree grow.”
south rowan (46) ó Morrison 14, Shaver 13, Davis 7, Akers 6, McDaniel 3, Johnson 3, B.J. Grant, Walker, Houston, Corriher, Honeycutt, Dessasore.
West rowan (73) ó J. Kimber 17, K.J. Sherrill 14, Ke. Sherrill 12, K. Kimber 12, Moore 9, Parks 4, Phifer 3, Noble 2, Smith, Crucitti, J. Grant, B.J. Sherrill, Gore, Huffman.
S. Rowan 3 8 17 18 ó 46
W. Rowan 8 16 25 24 ó 73