By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
MOUNT ULLA ó West Rowan’s boys, playing Friday in their first game since the calendar flipped, rolled to an 85-47 win against visiting Statesville.
The Falcons closed a year, not a season, with a loss to Salisbury in the Sam Moir Christmas Classic final earlier in the week.
“I’m really proud of the fact they’re buying into what I’m trying to get them to do, and that’s that this is all about a journey,” West coach Mike Gurley said.
“A lot of people wanted to stop Tuesday night and say that was the end of the season. We did a lot of talking the last couple days of practice and worked hard in practice. We reminded them it would have been a nice title to win, but it’s not the title we play for. Especially at West Rowan, where you have banners hanging all over the place.”
K.J. Sherrill, who was held to four field goals in two Moir Classic contests, had 24 points and 18 boards as West (8-1, 4-0 NPC) remained unbeaten in league play.
Kaleb Kimber (18 points), Jordan Kimber (13) and Keshun Sherrill (11) also scored in double figures. The Falcons received a spark from B.J. Sherrill, who rounded out the starting lineup, and Gurley praised the energy Chris Smith exhibited despite coming off the bench.
Jason Grant also provided quality minutes as West’s 12 players wore down Statesville (2-10, 1-6) with pressure defense.
“We saw the wrong stuff we did against Salisbury and fixed it in practice,” K.J. Sherrill said. “We just used it for tonight, like our press. We did a whole lot better on our press. We’re a pressing team with 12 guys, so we can’t get tired.”
West trailed 9-4 and took control with a 23-4 run over the next nine minutes.
The Falcons, who were ahead 37-22 at the break, scored 55 points and allowed only 25 in the middle two quarters. They shot 22-for-30 in that stretch.
“That pressure turned my boys green, and I’ve got a young squad,” Statesville coach Sonny Schofield said. “We started flinching under pressure and just couldn’t find ourselves. All the poise we had left and all the chemistry we had left.
“We should have handled the pressure better, but when nerves take over, you can’t think. The nerves took over and the body was slow to react. Boom, that’s that. I didn’t feel too bad being down 15 at halftime.”
Suffocating defense enabled West to force turnovers and score in transition throughout a 30-point third quarter.
Statesville had six turnovers in the first three minutes of the period, and Keshun Sherrill made a layup following a steal by Jordan Kimber to cap a 13-3 run to begin the half.
West went 12-for-16 from the field in the quarter, and K.J. Sherrill wasn’t even one of the six Falcons who made a basket.
“We didn’t know a lot about Statesville coming in, but they fit a lot of the parameters that we figured we need to get better at: quickness, toughness, rebounding,” Gurley said. “I think we got some great performances from the top down.”
The Falcons, who started the season late because of the football squad’s run to a state championship, will need contributions from as many team members as possible as they play catch-up with three-game weeks.
The painful loss to Salisbury didn’t affect West’s positioning in the NPC.
“When you lose a ballgame, there are so many experts that want to share their opinion with you,” Gurley said. “I know that New Year’s Eve I thoroughly enjoyed having three or four or five people explain to me what my team needed to do, what we needed to work on. You can imagine, if somebody has the gumption to tell you what’s wrong, how many times did they hear things over the last three or four days?
“We’re not used to losing. It doesn’t mean we’re going to win every game we play. Sometimes we have to step back and say, ‘What’d we learn from this.’ I think we learned some positive things.”STATESVILLE (47) ó Mott 10, Gill 7, Edwards 6, Lackey 5, Feimster 5, Nichols 4, King 4, Darty 2, Schofield 2, Carr 2.
WEST ROWAN (85) ó K.J. Sherrill 24, K. Kimber 18, J. Kimber 13, Ke. Sherrill 11, B.J. Sherrill 6, Moore 4, Smith 3, Grant 2, Noble 2, Huffman 2, Gore, Phifer.
Statesville 9 13 12 13 ó 47
West Rowan 12 25 30 18 ó 85