Published: 12:35 AM, Sat Feb 27, 2010
Westover girls roll into regionals
By Al Myatt
Correspondent
Coach Gene Arrington and the Westover girls' basketball team earned another trip to the regionals Friday night after a 48-26 win over Rockingham.
Senior Chante Bell led the Wolverines (23-5) back to Greenville with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Arrington will take an experienced group into the 3-A Eastern regional.
"The girls who have been there won't be as nervous as the first time I went," said the Wolverines coach. "The first time I went, my girls were so nervous I knew I wasn't going to win the game. I was glad to be there."
It took some time for Westover to settle down against Rockingham (19-9).
"The way it started out, you'd have thought ours was the team that traveled here," Arrington said. "I mean we just didn't play well. A lot of little easy shots, we weren't making. We had good looks at the basket but we weren't knocking them down.
"But again, Chante Bell, she's worth her weight in gold. Every time it looked like we would go down, she made big shots. My hat goes off to her. She's worked hard her senior year and I'm proud of her."
Arrington and his Cougars counterpart, Woody Wall, agreed on a truce with four minutes left in the first half and Westover holding a 20-14 lead. The Wolverines held the ball near midcourt and Rockingham stayed back in its zone.
"I'm sure he was content," Arrington said. "He was only down by six. That gave his girls a chance to rest a little bit but my thing was I had girls in foul trouble and I wanted to get through the first half without getting any more fouls. If they wanted it to be a stalemate, we'd just hold it."
Nia Trawick, who had six assists, finally ended the inactivity with a drive with 18 seconds remaining in the half but her runner was off the mark. The Wolverines went to the locker room with the same 20-14 lead they had held midway through the second quarter.
Westover post player Shanice Pringle blocked three shots on three straight Cougars possessions to start the second half and the Wolverines took advantage at the offensive end with hoops by Jasmyn Trawick and Bell for a 24-14 lead.
Bell hit a 3-pointer to put Westover ahead 27-16 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. Bell provided some anxious moments for the Wolverine faithful when she went down with a right shoulder ailment with 3:47 to go in the third. Bell made a quick recovery but Rockingham's Becky Livengood wasn't as fortunate after catching an elbow in the face with 43.9 seconds left in the third.
The game was delayed as she was treated and then loaded on a rolling stretcher by emergency medical attendants. Pringle, who had five points, 11 rebounds and six blocks, expressed her apologies to Livengood's family and Rockingham personnel as the crowd applauded the Cougar forward when she was wheeled off the floor.
Arrington didn't play Pringle in the fourth quarter but the Wolverines put the game away with a 14-5 run to start the period. Both coaches used reserves in the closing minutes.
"It could have gone either way," Arrington said of the injury delay. "It could have given them some rest but our girls came back and responded."
A basket by Bell started Westover's fourth quarter scoring.
"We wanted to end off with a blast, so we did," Bell said.
Laqeisha Coley and Jasmyn Trawick scored eight points each for Westover. Nia Trawick had five points and six assists. Lindsay Puckett led Rockingham with 11 points.
Westover 48, Rockingham 26
Rockingham 10 4 4 8 - 26
Westover 14 6 11 18 - 48
ROCKINGHAM - Lindsay Puckett 11, Pace 4, Carter 4, Barker 3, Jones 3, Sparks 1.
WESTOVER - Chante Bell 19, J. Trawick 8, Coley 8, N. Trawick 5, Williams 2, Simmons 1.
Fouled out: None
Technical fouls: None
3-Point Goals: R-Puckett 1. W-Bell 3, N. Trawick 1.
Records: Rockingham 19-9, Westover 23-5.