East Wilkes stops South girls
Thu. February 23, 2012 at 12:38 a.m. | By James W. Houston
South Davidson's Hunter Sigmon takes s shot against East Wilkes' Samantha Adams during the second half of their playoff game Wednesday night. (Photo by Donnie Roberts/The Dispatch)
DENTON | The third-seeded South Davidson girls hit experienced a scoring drought that last over four minute during the first quarter and the Wildcats never could quite come back.
East Wilkes made them pay the price by scoring 13 straight points for 16-4 and went on to a 61-49 win in the second round of the 1-A state playoffs Wednesday night in Denton. Cardinal center Samantha Adams dominated play with 35 points.
The loss ends the Yadkin Valley Conference champion Wildcats’ season at 21-7.
“We got behind early and never could recover,” said South coach Fonda Jackson. “We came and got close a couple of times but just get over the hump. They (East Wilkes) always seemed make the shots when they needed them. We could have done better at the foul line and we missed some easy shots that could have made a difference.”
The Wildcats took a 4-3 lead with just five minutes left in the first quarter, then the Cardinals scored 13 unanswered points for a 12-point lead. South’s Larsen Sigmon broke the scoring drought on a driving lay-up and was fouled, but missed the free throw. The quarter ended with the Cardinals on top 16-6.
Hunter Sigmon hit a three-pointer on the Wildcats’ first possession of the second period, cutting the lead to seven. East Wilkes went on six-point for their biggest lead of the game at 13 points. The Wildcats chipped away at the lead, scoring eight straight points, trimming the advantage to 22-17. That was the closest the Wildcats would get over the rest of the game. East Wilkes closed out the half on a 9-4 run, putting up a 31-21 lead at the break.
Larsen Sigmon had eight points at the half while Holly Wall and Addie Grubb added four points each for the Wildcats.
The scoring pace slowed in the third quarter with team scoring only nine points, leaving East on top 40-30 going into the fourth period.
The Wildcats cut the lead to six points twice in the final frame, once on a trey by Madison Sigmon and another time when Wall converted a foul shot, cutting the lead to 50-44 with 2:12 left in the game.
The Wildcats’ point guard Larson Sigmon had to be carried off the court with an ankle injury, hurting the Wildcats’ chances of a complete comeback. The Cardinals connected on 13 of 18 foul shots in the fourth period and 22 of 28 for the game. South made only 14 trips to the charity stripe and made eight.
“They’re (South Davidson) a good team and we were able to get a good jump on the them in the first quarter,” said East Wilkes coach Billy Brown, whose team improves to 18-11 on the season. “They have some very quick guards, but our ballhandling was very good and we didn’t turn the over much. It was a good game.”
Larsen and Hunter Sigmon finished with 10 points each followed by Madison Sigmon with eight, Madi Beeson eight, Wall seven and Grubb six.
Ashley Hayes added nine points for East Wilkes.
“We had a good season,” said Jackson. “We don’t have any seniors and told the girls after the game we need to work hard in offseason and make a deeper run next year.”
East Wilkes takes on six-time defending state champion Bishop McGuinness in the third round.