High school basketball: West girls lose a close one
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Staff report
GREENSBORO — The East topped the West 81-78 in an exciting girls basketball all-star game on Monday night at Greensboro Coliseum.
The West had a chance to tie in the closing seconds but Catawba College signee Shaunae Sawyers couldn’t get off a shot after several dribbles to advance the ball past halfcourt.
Mount Airy grad Sawyers made two 3-pointers and scored 10 points.
Half of the 10-girl West team played for Rowan schools or signed with Catawba, and Carson’s Brooke Stouder served as the West team’s assistant coach.
South Rowan grad Janiya Downs (Catawba) shot 4-for-8 from the field with one 3-pointer and was 3-for-4 from the foul line. She scored 12 points for the West.
Salisbury grad Bryanna Troutman (Wingate) was a late addition to the West roster, but proved to be a force on the boards. She led the West with nine rebounds and also led the team with three assists. She made a 3-pointer and scored five points.
Carson grad McKenzie Gadson (Anderson) scored three points. Her bucket came on a fast break started by a Troutman defensive board in the fourth quarter.
Ledford grad Lyrik Thorne, another Catawba signee, shot 5-for-10 from the field with one 3-pointer and was 5-for-8 from the foul line to finish with 16 points.
After an even first quarter, the East outscored the West 30-17 in the second quarter for a 48-35 halftime lead.
Downs made a driving left-handed layup late in the third quarter, but the East carried a 64-53 lead to the final period.
Troutman’s work on the boards, a blocked shot by Gadson and Downs’ 3-pointer were helpful in a late West comeback.
With the East leading 80-77 with 10 seconds left and trying to run out the clock, Troutman made a steal.
Thorne was fouled with six seconds left. She made her first free throw. She missed the second free throw, on purpose, but the shot failed to hit the rim, and the East got possession.
After a foul, the East converted one of two free throws for a three-point lead. The West team had 4.5 seconds to go the length of the court, but couldn’t get a shot up.
Wake Forest signee Alexandria Scruggs was voted the game’s most valuable player. The Wake Forest signee from Fayetteville’s E.E. Smith High, scored 20 points.
Kate Perko from Fayetteville’s Terry Sanford High, scored two points for the East.
Perko is the daughter of Amy Privette Perko, who was a standout at A.L. Brown in the 1980s and starred at Wake Forest. She was Wake Forest’s all-time leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals when she graduated in 1987. She was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
East 81, West 78
WEST (78) — Sutphin 17, Thorne 16, Downs 12, Sawyers 10, Logan 8, Troutman 5, Bailey 3, Gadson 3, Clark 2, Gray 2.
EAST (81) — Scruggs 20, Moore 17, Reddick 9, Grant 8, Washington 7, Staves 6, Davis 6, Jones 6, Perko 2, Mitchels.
West 18 17 18 25 — 78
East 18 30 16 17 — 81
