MT. ULLA — Central Cabarrus freshman Mahaley Holit and West Rowan sophomore Khaila Hall went four quarters — and 15 rounds — on Friday.
Holit, a flyweight, and Hall, a featherweight, both played like heavyweights. Holit, who scored 27 and dished out 10 assists, got the decision in Central’s wild 66-57 SPC win over the Falcons.
Hall scored a career-best 29 for the Falcons. She had scored 28 when West lost 65-61 at Central in December.
“No. 11 (Holit) just worked her butt off for them,” Hall said with a sigh. “She’s hard to stop and she helped her team make a great run.”
When Hall hit a 3-pointer with seven minutes left, it was 44-44, but the next three minutes decided the game, and the Vikings won that three-minute stretch 10-1.
Wisdom Blackwelder, a jayvee who was just called up by Central coach Brandon Blalock made the wing jumper that gave the Vikings a 46-44 lead.
After Shanice Miller made a free throw for West, Holt got loose for back-to-back baskets. Then Holt drove and dished for an easy layup.
“I played off my teammates,” Holit said. “My job is to get them all involved and when it got tight we did what we’re supposed to do.”
Justice Wallace scored 13 points for the Vikings (10-9, 8-3), who are battling Hickory Ridge and South Rowan for second place. Central also got boosts from NiAsia Bryant, who got the Vikings off to a fast start, and Elanna Peay, who hit the boards.
“The girls fought really hard,” Blalock said. “Hall is a tough player for West, but we had a lot of girls that came through and helped out.”
Miller had the second-best scoring game of her career for the Falcons with 16 points. She scored 21 earlier this season against Cox Mill.
Taylor Martin added nine points for West (6-13, 4-7), but the Falcons, who played without Quanice Miller, didn’t have the balance Central did.
Wallace hit two free throws for a 10-point lead with 3:10 left, and Holit put away the Falcons by controlling the ball and making free throws.
“When you’ve got a guard like that, it really puts you at ease in the fourth quarter,” Blalock said. “She takes a lot of the burden off everybody. She makes good decisions and she makes free throws.”
It was the second installment of a lot of Hall-Holit battles. They’re going to be fun to watch.
“I’d never seen her until we played them the first time,” Holit said. “But I like Khaila’s game. I like it a lot.”
CENTRAL CABARRUS (66) — Holit 27, Wallace 13, Blackwelder 7, Bryant 7, Peay 6, Windham 6, Davis .
WEST ROWAN (57) — Hall 29, S. Miller 16, Martin 9, Lovell 2, Cowan 1, Greene, McNeely.
C. Cabarrus 15 11 16 24 — 66
W. Rowan 10 15 16 16 — 57