MOUNT ULLA —  Khaila Hall’s 19 points and Taylor Martin’s defensive energy were the keys as West Rowan ended a four-game losing streak on Friday.

Hall, a junior who already has 727 career points, has been up and down in the early going, but she was on in a 59-44 win against Central Cabarrus. The talented guard made good shots, good passes and good decisions.  It was supposed to be a tossup SPC contest, but with Hall filling it up early,  the Falcons (3-5, 2-2)  put 20 on the scoreboard in the first quarter and never looked back.

“We’ve had a lot of fast starts this year, but the second quarter has not been as good,”  West Rowan coach Ashley Poole. “We were focused on having a better second quarter tonight.”

West Rowan cooled off  offensively in the second quarter but took a 30-20 lead to the break because Martin was able to shut out the Vikings’ high-scoring guard Mahaley Holit in the period. Holit had 10 points early but finished with 16.

West got two 3-pointers and 12 points from Martin and plenty of points in the paint from Shanice Miller, Diamond Lovell and Marissa Yow. That trio chipped in with a combined 22 points.

The biggest single play of the game was a soaring block by Hall that she turned into a layup in the middle of the third quarter. Central Cabarrus (2-5, 1-3) was only down 34-29 when Hall went airborne.

When Hall found Martin for a wide-open 3-pointer, she drilled it for a 57-42 lead to clinch the victory.

“More than anything, it’s been turnovers that have hurt us this year,” Poole said. “We worked on taking care of the ball this week — and the girls responded.”

 

CENTRAL CABARRUS  (44): Holit 16, McFarlane 11, Adcock 5, Rowden 4, Van Dyke 3, Ratzloff 2, Benton 2, Wallace 1.

WEST ROWAN (59): Hall 19, Martin 12, Miller 10, Lovell 6, Yow 6, Charles 4, Greene 2, Vaughters, Cowan, Goddard, Moseley.

C. Cabarrus                      11    9   14   10 — 44       

West Rowan                     20  10    13  16 — 59