High school basketball playoffs: West, Salisbury girls advance; Hornet boys end season

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, March 1, 2023

From staff reports

MOUNT ULLA — West Rowan’s girls basketball team romped to its 29th straight victory on Tuesday, crushing fourth-seeded Ben L. Smith 64-27 in a 3A regional semifinal.

Top-seeded West established its dominance right away over Smith (25-3), putting together a 13-0 run early and leading 21-5 after a quarter and by 45-17 at halftime.

West led 57-17 in the third quarter, triggering a running clock.

De’Mya Phifer led the Falcons with 19 points. Emma Clarke scored 13, and Lauren Arnold had 12.

Clarke had nine rebounds, Huntley had eight, and Arnold had seven.

The Falcons will play second-seeded East Lincoln, also undefeated, at a neutral site on Saturday. The announcement on where and when will be made at 10 a.m. today.

Ben L. Smith     5     12     3     7 — 27

West Rowan     21    24    14    5 — 64

B.Smith (27) — Drayton-Gill 10, Rogers 6, Scott 3, Haith 3, Davis 2, Smith 2, Burch 1.

W.Rowan (64) — Phifer 19, Clarke 13, Arnold 12, Thompson 7, Edwards 7, Huntley 6, Tenor, Cuthbertson, Durham, Martin, Clawson, Hoffner.

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SHELBY — Icesis Nwafor swished four 3-pointers and scored 20 points to lead Salisbury to a 46-40 win at Shelby in a 2A girls regional semifinal on Tuesday.

Salisbury will play fifth-seeded East Burke (27-2) in regional final on Saturday at a neutral site that will be announced today.

Third-seeded Salisbury (25-3), which beat second-seeded Shelby (26-2) in two overtimes in the regional final last season, survived foul trouble to standout Kyla Bryant and won its 14th game in a row.

Both teams struggled offensively early. Bryant made a 3-pointer and Nwafor had a bucket for a 5-all tie after a quarter.

Nwafor made a 3-pointer in the second quarter, and Mary Morgan hit a 3-pointer for a 16-12 halftime lead.

Salisbury moved out to a 31-20 lead late in the third quarter, with Nwafor making back-to-back 3s to push a five-point lead to 11.

But the Golden Lions scored the next 12 points. Brook Hartgrove stopped the Hornets’ run with a 3-pointer. Ally Hollified capped the 12-0 run with the bucket that put Shelby ahead 32-31.

A 3-pointer by Noble gave Salisbury the lead. A 3-pointer by Hollifield swung the lead back to the Lions.

Nwafor hit the 3-pointer that put the Hornets ahead to stay, and Noble scored for a 39-35 lead.

After Bryant made a free throw, Nwafor made three buckets to finish off the Golden Lions.

Bryant scored 12, Noble had nine, and Morgan scored five.

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REIDSVILLE — Salisbury’s boys basketball team ended the season with a 59-50 loss at second-seeded and undefeated Reidsville (25-0).

The Hornets (22-5) had won 15 in a row.

Salisbury (22-6) led a low-scoring game at the half, but the Rams took charge with a big third quarter.

Reidsville will take on Lincoln Charter for the regional championship at a neutral site on Saturday.