By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

8th in a series of reports on local basketball teams …

MOUNT ULLA — West Rowan’s girls have lost about 99 percent of their scoring and rebounding from last season.

Five seniors graduated, including Rowan County Player of the Year Lauren Arnold, Rowan County Female Athlete of the Year Emma Clarke, 1,000-point scorer De’Mya Phifer and tough forwards Mya Edwards and Makayla Tenor, who were fine high school players. That group led the Falcons to 61 wins in 62 games in 2022-23 and 2023-24, and their legacy is secure, with two 3A state championship plaques in the trophy case.

“A lot of people have asked me if I was going to retire now that those girls are gone,” West head coach Ashley Poole said. “I’m not planning to retire. That was a very special group of girls and I loved that group, but I coached a long time before I got to coach those girls and hopefully, I’ll be coaching a lot more years.”

Poole’s legacy also is secure with a record of 206-81 for 11 seasons at the helm of the Falcons. But how many wins she can add this year is hard to say. It’s safe to say that each one will be a challenge.

West figured to be a competitive team even after losing the Class of 2024, but guard Tiara Thompson, a talented junior who figured to be Rowan’s top player and leading scorer this season, announced a transfer to play for Mount Zion Prep Academy in Maryland shortly before the season started. Poole also doesn’t have Lydia Wilson and Aubrey Martin, who were the seventh and eighth girls last season. Wilson decided to focus her athletic efforts on volleyball.

The Falcons have only two girls who have been on the varsity for a full season, and guard Kennedy Clawson and post Katie Hoffner have been in roles where they practiced and cheered for their teammates. They got into games in the final minutes with huge leads. Hoffner scored 28 points last season, while Clawson scored 15.

“People ask me about this being a rebuilding year and I still answer that it’s not,” Poole said. “I say that because we’ve got a foundation in place, we’ve built a culture of high expectations. We won’t have much experience at all, but Kennedy and Katie do know what it takes to have a championship team.”

Clawson and Hoffner are likely to provide more experience and leadership than points, but the Falcons have several girls who have a chance to average double figures.

Jayden Carter, who played on the jayvees last season and made a couple of cameo varsity appearances, has some quickness and shoots the ball well enough to score effectively.

Point guard Jamelia Allen is strong and aggressive and showed a willingness to attack the rim in West’s 56-34 loss at Community School of Davidson.

The team’s best shooter probably will be freshman Sydney Smith. She’s a calm player with a nice stroke. Like Allen, she scored 12 points on opening night.

Hoffner and Jahneria Hurd give the Falcons some height, They’ll have to provide rebounds and inside scoring.

Poole will look for contributions from Torrin Everhart, Victoree Crump, Justice Willis, Anna Sawyer and several more girls as the Falcons develop chemistry. Poole has coached these girls previously in middle school.

“They’ve been in the gym a lot, and they’re working hard,” Poole said. “It’s different with girls this young — I’ve got to explain a lot more now — but they’ll get it, and they’ll improve.”