Times-News Staff Writer
Published: Monday, November 30, 2009 at 11:10 p.m.
After hitting three 3-pointers in the first quarter of Monday's non-conference home game against East Rutherford, West Henderson's boys basketball team became gun shy.
The Falcons managed just three field goals in the fourth quarter — none in the final 3:35 — of a 47-38 loss. The visiting Cavaliers used back-to-back 3s in the fourth to break a 36-36 tie and got a game-high 20 points from sophomore guard Rob Gray.
Falcon coach Rob Bliss said if he had an answer for why his team stopped looking for shots he'd "be sitting in the Bahamas sending e-mails to coaches all over the world."
"We're just uncomfortable," he said. "You can just see it in our faces — we're uncomfortable shooting the basketball. You could see, down the line we didn't want the basketball. We didn't want shots. We just kind of avoided it, to be honest."
Junior Kevin Thomas hit two 3s in the first quarter on his way to a team-high 16 points as West took a 12-5 lead at the end of the period. But the Falcons went almost four minutes without a field goal to start the second as East Rutherford battled back to tie the score at halftime.
"I think we missed some shots and then all of a sudden it became a struggle," Bliss said. "We lost confidence in our ability."
Junior forward Devinci Boykins hit a tough 3 from the corner to snap a 36-all tie in the fourth, and West could respond with only one more field goal, a driving layup from Thomas, the rest of the way.
Boykins, along with Gray, gives East Rutherford two Division I prospects. Bliss was happy that West (1-1) was able to hold the opposition under 50 points for the second straight game.
"We held a really, really good basketball team under 50 points," he said. "They physically were much quicker than us, but we were able to use our strength and were able to help each other (on defense). We were able to rebound with a team that was more athletic than we were."
Keenan Young scored eight points for West, which hosts Enka on Wednesday, while Weston Landreth grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Another precocious underclassman was able to lead East Rutherford in the girls game. Freshman Shaquisha Dawkins scored a game-high 29 points to lead to the Lady Cavaliers to a 56-43 victory.
East took control of a tight game by outscoring West 20-10 in the second quarter and was able to hold off every Lady Falcon charge in the second half at the foul line. The Lady Falcons picked up their seventh team foul with just less than a minute remaining in the third quarter and their 10th early in the fourth.
"We didn't move our feet," said first-year Lady Falcon coach Robbie Lowrance. "We used our hands instead of using our bodies."
West (0-2) cut the deficit to nine on a field goal from Ashley Rogers early in the fourth but would get no closer.
Senior Summer Kremer had a team-high 13 points while Rogers finished with nine. The Lady Falcons, who have not been at full strength yet this season thanks to illness, were willing to run with a team that also likes to play an up-tempo game.
"We're going to have to (run)," Lowrance said. "We're small so we can't wait around and set up in the halfcourt."
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