By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
MOCKSVILLE ó The buzz over West Rowan football is carrying over to the basketball court.
With his full compliment of players, Mike Gurley enjoyed a 64-35 thrashing of Davie County on Wednesday night.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Gurley said one night after his Falcons scored 87 points. “I’m not expecting anything. I’m going to adjust to what’s going on at the moment.”
Freshman Keshun Sherrill led the way with 11 points, while K.J. Sherrill, Kaleb Kimber and Maxx Gore each had 10.
I’m seeing things we can do,” Gurley said. “Right now, we’re playing on Falcon competitveness.”
His team not only gave him four players in double figures, it gave him what he likes best: lockdown defense.
Especially on Davie’s scoring leader Drew Absher, who came in under the weather. He shot 10 times and missed 10 times.
Jon Crucitti put the clamps on Absher for the most part.
“Drew’s so good,” Gurley praised. “He’s got a head start on college because he understands how to use screens and he read defenses so well. But we did a good job of fighting through the screens. We were fortunate.”
After a lackluster first quarter with West up just 14-8, the Falcons hit a spurt early in the second, going up by double digits.
Myles Moore started things with a 3. K.J. Sherrill hit a free throw and a rebound dunk. Jordan Kimber turned a steal into a layup and then tossed a beautiful lob to Sherrill for a slam and a 24-10 lead. Davie never threatened again.
Two of the six football players who joined West this week, Gore and B.J. Sherrill, scored the final seven points of the half and Davie trailed 33-16 at the half.
Davie coach Mike Absher thought the early going, when West hadn’t hit high gear yet, was the key to the War Eagles’ loss.
“When they were missing from the perimeter, that was our chance,” he said. “But we couldn’t hit our shots.”
How complete can West Rowan be? Against Northwest Cabarrus a night earlier, K.J. Sherrill scored only three points in the first half. Against Davie, he didn’t even score after intermission.
“That’s why they have a chance to make a great run at the end of February,” Absher said. “They have different guys stepping up.”
Jamal Mayfield was the only effective War Eagle, scoring 13. But West is already showing how talented it can be.
“I enjoyed watching those six guys play football, but I also enjoyed watching the other eight putting in 29 practices, two scrimmages and two games,” Gurley said. “I’m not looking at the calendar. I’m just going to enjoy every game.”
WEST ROWAN (64) ó K. Sherrill 11, K.J. Sherrill 10, Gore 10, K. Kimber 10, Moore 8, B.J. Sherrill 5, J. Kimber 4, Grant, 2, Huffman 2, Crucitti 2, Cuthbertson, Phifer, Noble.DAVIE (35) ó Jamal Mayfield 13, James Mayfield 7, Harris 7, Taylor 4, Dillard 2, Neely 2. W. Rowan 14 19 19 12 ó 64
Davie 8 8 12 7 ó 35