By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
MOUNT ULLA — In a sense, it was opening night for West Rowan’s boys team.
Keshun Sherrill returned from a hip injury to score his 1,000th career point, Domonique Noble returned from knee tendinitis, and the Falcons looked like a very solid basketball club most of Friday night.
West rolled over South Rowan 68-47 to stay in contention in the NPC.
“Other than five minutes against Carson in the Christmas tournament, this is the first time we’ve had our whole group together,” West coach Mike Gurley said. “Not saying that either Keshun or Domonique is 100 percent, but they’re healthy enough to play. I do feel pretty good about this one. We made a lot of effort plays.”
Keshun Sherrill scored 21 points to lead the Falcons (6-9, 4-1). B.J. Sherrill had 16 points and 11 boards, and Jarvis Morgan added 12 points. Maurice Warren scrapped and got on the floor. Noble was rusty, but the Georgia Tech-bound defensive back will make an impact on both ends.
“Just his presence makes this team so much better,” Keshun Sherrill said.
Keshun Sherrill, a junior, was idle two weeks but missed just two games because of weather issues. He was stuck on 983 points all that time, but now he’s the 13th player in West’s illustrious basketball history to score 1,000 points. He joins his brother K.J. in that elite group.
Sherrill reached the magic milestone when he drilled a 3-pointer out of the left corner to open the second half.
“I really didn’t think about the 1,000 points because I knew that was something that was going to come if I just went out and played,” Sherrill said. “The main thing was my hip felt great. It was a great decision to take two weeks off and not rush it.”
Keshun Sherrill announced his return to active duty immediately, burying a 3-pointer to open the scoring.
“I hadn’t shot a ball in two weeks,” he said with a smile. “But it went in.”
When B.J. Sherrill bulled his way inside for an old-school three-point play, it was 6-0. Another Keshun Sherrill 3 made it 11-2, and it was pretty clear the Falcons were on their way to a routine victory.
“Keshun asserted himself early,” South coach John Davis said. “He gave West a new energy level.”
Seth Martin supplied a 3-pointer off the West bench for an 18-9 lead after a quarter, and the Raiders needed a buzzer-beating jumper by Johnathan Gaddy just to get to the half trailing 37-25.
Gaddy scored 14 to lead South (3-12, 0-5), which has lost four straight and eight out of nine. Soph Nathan Lambert played well off the bench, accounting for six points and seven boards and taking two charges.
“The game is starting to slow down for Nathan,” Davis said. “This was by far his best game of the season, and it should lead to good things the rest of his career.”
West led comfortably by 19 points heading to the fourth quarter.
With South defenders Qua Neal and Jeremie Boulware containing Keshun Sherrill, West had a four-minute scoring drought in the fourth, but the Raiders still couldn’t make any kind of move.
“We did get a lot of stops in a row, but we were passing up good looks to take tougher shots, and we didn’t make anything,” Davis said.
Senior Brandon Sharpe played well for South. His fourth-quarter 3-pointer was one of just four the Raiders hit on the night.
“Our confidence is down some because we’ve lost so many games in a row,” Sharpe said. “We’ve got to play together better and rely on each other a lot more.”
West is home against NPC foe North Iredell this evening at about 5:30 p.m.
SOUTH ROWAN (47)— Gaddy 14, Medlin 7, Lambert 6, McDaniel 6, Sharpe 5, Neal 2, Akers 2, Tyler 2, Parker 2, Boulware 1, Hubbard, Miller.
WEST ROWAN (68) — K. Sherrill 21, B. Sherrill 16, Morgan 12, Avery 5, Parks 4, Warren 4, Noble 3, Martin 3, Edwards, Laster, Phifer, Kraft, Cuthbertson.
S. Rowan 9 16 12 10 — 47
W. Rowan 18 19 19 12 — 68