By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
RALEIGH ó One thought entered Graham girls coach Kyle Ward’s mind when he learned of Salisbury’s 26-24 win against East Davidson.
“Phil Ford came out and ran the Four Corners,” Ward, an avid North Carolina fan, said with a laugh Monday morning at the NCHSAA’s annual press conference.
An old-school score, not strategy, made the Western Regional championship a throwback game. Salisbury (28-3) advanced to the 2A state final Saturday in Chapel Hill, where it will face Ward’s Red Devils (28-3). The opening tip is scheduled for noon in the Smith Center.
The Hornets did force East Davidson to chase them around the perimeter during the even-numbered quarters, but poor shooting and stingy defense played a bigger role in creating unusual point totals.
It was the lowest-scoring win in Salisbury girls history.
“A lot of people, when they first saw it, said they thought it was a halftime score or couldn’t believe it was a final score,” first-year Salisbury coach Andrew Mitchell said. “I never would have believed that we’d score 26 points and beat the No. 1 team in the state.”
Salisbury hadn’t won without posting at least 30 points since the 1975-76 season, the second in school history. The Hornets had 28 points apiece in consecutive victories against Hunter Huss and Ashbrook.
They lost a 26-24 game to East Rowan in the 1995-96 season and won 34-31 as recently as 2006, beating rival North Rowan in the CCC tournament final.
Salisbury defeated East Davidson despite shooting 16.7 percent for the game and making only one second-half field goal. The Hornets finished with a 49-27 rebounding edge.
“I think it showed a lot of guts,” Mitchell said. “We came out extremely determined, even past my imagination. The way we were throwing our bodies around, flying into people, we had a passion for one another that day that was really a rewarding feeling. The whole day just seemed like a blur.”
Bubbles Phifer, De’Rya Wylie and Ashia Holmes went a combined 2-for-23 from the field against East Davidson, but contributions in other areas enabled them to join Shi-Heria Shipp on the all-region team.
Ward didn’t view the shooting percentages as an encouraging sign.
“That may not be a good thing for Saturday,” he said. “A lot of times you’ll play a game like they did Saturday and your next game is going to be a game where you can’t miss. I’m real nervous about that.”