MOUNT ULLA — It was a great beginning for the West Rowan girls Friday night then some old habits came back to haunt them. The Falcons saw a nice lead quickly evaporate just before halftime and never recovered in a 76-63 non-conference loss to South Iredell.

“That has been the story of our season,” West coach Ashley Poole said. “Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.  We were playing so well then we started turning the ball over and giving them easy chances. We just have to take better care of the ball.”

Turnovers were a problem for West (2-5) but they were equally victimized by the inside-outside duo of point guard Lekia Hall and forward Julia Scoles. The two combined to score 63 of the Vikings 76 points in all possible ways: fast breaks, three pointers and foul shots. Hall a 5-0 senior led the assault with 32 points including 16 in the third quarter and 22 in the second half. Scoles, a 6-1 junior, had numerous steals and repeatedly drove inside for 31 points. Her performance also included 11 of 13 free throws and 10 rebounds.

“They are definitely our one-two punch,” Vikings coach Michael Fisher said of Scoles and Hall. “We have some good role players on our team who contribute a lot but when it is flowing like it did tonight we just let it go.”

Falcon senior guard Taylor Martin led the team to a strong start in the contest, hitting a pair of threes early to put them ahead 17-13 after one period. A layup by Shanice Miller then a three by Shyann Vaughters put West ahead 23-16 midway in the second quarter and all seemed to be going well. Over the final four minutes of the half, however, the Vikings (5-1) erupted for a 14-1 run that put them ahead 30-24 at the break. Scoles led the attack with eight points on drives.

West cut it to five briefly in the third period but Hall led  a 17-4 streak for South Iredell that put them comfortably ahead 57-40 after three quarters. West got as close as 13 in the final period but the Vikings nailed a series of free throws to put the game on ice.

“We were really strong in the first and fourth quarters,” said Martin, who led the team with 17 points. “But we fell apart in the second and third period with turnovers and missed shots and could not recover. But we will be okay.”

Junior forward Shanice Miller had a strong inside game for West with 16 while junior Khaila Hall added 15 and  6 rebounds despite suffering a painful rib injury in the second half,

“A game like this will really help us,” Poole stated. “We can learn from our mistakes and see how important it is to take care of the basketball. We play great in spurts but we have to put a whole game together.”

The Falcons return to South Piedmont conference action Friday night when they host Central Cabarrus.

BOX SCORE

South Iredell (76): Hall 32, Scoles 31, Labell 6, Dawes 3, Ruffin 2, Heiligenthaler 2, Walker, Berg.

West Rowan (63): Martin 17, Miller 16, Hall 14, Lovell 6, Spratt 3, Vaughters 3, Greene 2, Yow, 2, Cowan 1, Charles.

South Iredell 13 17 27 19  — 76

West Rowan 17 7 16 23 — 63