By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
MOUNT ULLA ó West Rowan’s seniors finished a perfect home season, and the head of the class, 6-foot-7 K.J. Sherrill, was nearly perfect in an 88-69 victory against A.L. Brown in the first round of the 3A playoffs.
“That was an emphasis tonight,” West Rowan coach Mike Gurley said. “We wanted these seniors to go undefeated at home. That’s a special accomplishment for their class.”
Gurley also accomplished something special. He won his 274th game coaching boys basketball in Mount Ulla to tie Bob Hundley’s county record. Getting No. 275 will be a challenge. West (24-3) is on the road Wednesday at Jamestown Ragsdale (26-1), a 64-50 winner over Carver.
Gurley will take his chances as long as the Charlotte-bound Sherrill doesn’t come down with the flu. Sherrill scored 33 points Monday, a season high and one shy of his career high. He was 12-for-16 from the floor, 8-for-9 from the line and even stepped out to knock down a 3-pointer.
“First time we’ve played against a big man that good,” A.L. Brown coach Shelwyn Klutz said. “K.J.’s a special player and a great guy.”
Brown’s 69 points were the most the Falcons have allowed since Jan. 7, but West countered with one of its most prolific offensive efforts in a game played at a racehorse pace.
“The Wonders are quick,” Gurley said. “The quickest team we’ve seen all year, including Salisbury. Guys like Smoke Phifer, Jacob Newman, T.J. Johnson play so darn hard. They just weren’t easy to lock down.”
Senior Myles Moore scored 15 points to help out Sherrill. With senior shooter Kaleb Kimber under the weather, freshmen guards Keshun Sherrill and Jordan Kimber came through with 25 combined points.
Phifer scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half to lead Brown (15-9). Newman had 14, while Johnson scored 11.
Most visitors get knocked out early in Mount Ulla, but the veteran Wonders started strong against Gurley’s all-senior starting lineup.
When Zach Massey hit a 3-pointer with 1:40 left in the first quarter, the Wonders led 18-11, but Moore’s three-point play on an acrobatic drive turned momentum.
“Basketball is a game of runs, and you’ve gotta expect the other team to have some at playoff time,” Moore said. “They had a nice run early, but my teammates were getting me open a lot, and I wanted to finish for them.”
The Falcons owned the rest of the half, as Brown’s offense sped off the highway, going from quick to reckless.
Brown shot 4-for-19 in the second quarter with K.J. Sherill blocking three shots and changing a half-dozen.
The telling possession of the half was a flurry by the Falcons, who crashed their offensive glass for five shots. Sherrill took the fifth and cashed in a three-point play for a 32-26 lead.
Sherrill’s 3 from the left corner gave the Falcons a 40-30 halftime lead.
Brown got within 50-47 late in the third quarter but failed to score on its next four possessions. Opportunity knocked. The Wonders didn’t answer the door.
“We missed a lot of chances,” Klutz said. “And you’re only going to able to hold K.J. down for so long. He went to work on us right after that.”
West led 56-49 after three quarters and put the game away with an 8-0 burst to start the fourth. Keshun Sherrill hit a 3-pointer, then flicked a slick pass on a break to his trailing brother, K.J., who finished with a manly three-point play.
“I got a lot of points tonight just running the floor,” K.J. said. “Keshun is small, but he’s smart. I thought he played very big.”
After another pullup jumper by Keshun stretched the lead to 15, the Wonders were officially history.
Brown chased and fouled most of the last five minutes, and the Falcons, who shot a sizzling 56 percent from the field for the game, went 13-for-14 on free throws down the stretch to ice it.
A.L. Brown (69) ó D.Phifer 22, Newman 14, Johnson 11, Deese 8, Massey 5, Jones 3, Fesperman 3, Watson 3, Watts, Chapman, Falls, Rogers.
west Rowan (88) ó K.J. Sherrill 33, Moore 15, Ke. Sherrill 14, J. Kimber 11, K. Kimber 5, Grant 4, Noble 2, Parks 2, Crucitti 2, Huffman, B.J. Sherrill, Smith, Gore, C. Phifer.
A.L. Brown 18 12 19 20 ó 69
W. Rowan 14 26 16 32 ó 88