By Marny Hendrick

sports@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A year ago, the West Rowan boys won the Dale’s/Sam Moir Christmas Classic and center Caleb Mauldin was the MVP. This season is a different story as West had to scramble Saturday to salvage a seventh-place finish.

The Falcons (5-7) gradually pulled away from county rival South Rowan to claim a 56-45 victory and veteran Coach Mike Gurley was gratified. “It was big to win this one,” Gurley stated. “I don’t mean to insult these children when I say we are not the most gifted team of all time. But when they play hard they are pretty hard to beat.”

The Falcons prevailed, thanks in large part to Mauldin, a bulky 6-8 senior, who continued to put up MVP numbers in this tournament despite the team’s lower finish. After a slow start in the game, Mauldin finished with 27 points, on 11-of-19 shooting, plus 10 rebounds. For the three-day event, Mauldin averaged 21.3 points and 11.3 rebounds.

After the two teams battled to a 16-16 tie in the first period, West started to pull away behind Mauldin, plus a clutch 3-pointer by Payne Stolsworth late in the half. Additional 3-pointers by Stolsworth and Martavio Rankin plus a three-point play by Mauldin pushed the score to 44-33 after three quarters.

Despite some key baskets by Connor Childers and Tyrese Shaver, South (4-8) could not close the gap. Bailey Graham led the Raiders with 10 points and seven rebounds while Childers and Shaver had eight boards each.

Following Mauldin in the scoring for West were Stolsworth with 12 points (three treys), and guard Josiah Dixon off the bench with eight points.

While the win was good news for the Falcons, perhaps the bigger story is that Coach Gurley confirmed he was not going to retire from coaching at the end of this season. After 20-plus years and three state titles, the West coach says he will likely go two more years when he retires from teaching.

“I meant it when I said it (at the beginning of the season),” Gurley stated. “But my wife and I talked and I can’t see myself not doing this while I am still teaching.”

WEST ROWAN (56) — C. Mauldin 27, Stolsworth 10, Dixon 8, Rankin 6 , Lawrence 3,  Joseph, Myers, Sproul, Tadlock, AJ Mauldin, Hassard.

SOUTH ROWAN (45) — Graham 10, Childers 8, Shaver 8, Powers 7, Kluttz 4, Finger 3, Jones 3, Oglesby 2, Hines, Bebber, Gaskin.

West Rowan    16  11  17  12 — 56

South Rowan   16  5   12  12 — 45