By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
The West Rowan girls had lost their lead and were trailing at halftime. The situation had coach Erich Epps shaking his head.
“We’re down by six, we played lousy yesterday and I’m thinking we couldn’t play well at 12 o’clock,” Epps said.
West’s second noon game of the Sam Moir Christmas Classic turned out much better than an opening-round loss to Davie County. The Falcons outscored North Rowan by 14 in the second half on their way to a 63-55 win.
“We’re 5-5, and I’m tickled to death,” Epps said. “I’ll take it.”
West fashioned its rally from a 32-26 halftime deficit with other players contributing while North used a box-and-one on star Ayana Avery. She still led all scorers with 19 points but was only 5-for-15 from the field.
Mila Simmons had her best game of the season, scoring 17 points and knocking down three 3s.
Simmons started the third quarter with two free throws and ended it with a driving layup. That gave West a 43-38 edge.
West spent the fourth period trying to hold off the Cavaliers, and the speedy Simmons was the reason North couldn’t catch the Falcons. Nine of her points came in the final period. When she took a pass from Leighana Watson and nailed a 3, West had its biggest lead at 57-50.
North’s Quon Cuthbertson hit two free throws, but West put the game away by scoring the next six points. Avery had three free throws, Simmons made one and Desere Cross hit a basket on a feed from Gabby Calloway. The shot allowed Cross to reach double figures with 11 points.
Epps praised Calloway, a 5-foot-6 senior. She came off the bench to score four points, grab four rebounds, dish out two assists and make six steals.
North (2-8) turned the ball over 31 times.
“They’ve got good post players but some shaky ball-handlers,” Epps said.
North coach Tony Hillian watched his team outscore West 20-9 in the second quarter, so there were positives for the Cavs.
“Overall, we had a great effort,” he said. “We were never out of the ballgame. But once again turnovers killed us.”
Hillian was glad to have guard Symphony Roberts back from a nose fracture. She scored seven points in North’s second-quarter run and had 12 of her 17 in the opening half. She was 9 of 11 from the foul line.
Cuthbertson had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Teaunna Cuthbertson had 11 points, and Deshea Torrence added 10.
Epps said he is happy heading into NPC play Friday against preseason favorite Statesville.
“We’ll get ready for Statesville, which isn’t going to be fun,” Epps said, “but at least we have a win going in.”
north ROWAN (55) ó Roberts 17, Q.Cuthbertson15, T.Cuthbertson 11, Torrence 10, Ellis 2, Rhinehardt, Gregory, Brown, Miller, Bush, Bethea.west ROWAN (63) ó Avery 19, Simmons 17, Cross 11, Moose 4, Calloway 4, Parker 4, Watson 2, Dutton 2, Holloway, Baucom.
N. Rowan 12 20 6 17 ó 55
W. Rowan 17 9 17 20 ó 63