Published: 05:30 PM, Wed Mar 03, 2010
Westover girls ready for 3-A regional play
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor
When Westover girls' basketball coach Gene Arrington made regular appearances with his team in the 4-A Eastern Regional, he could always count on having general knowledge about the other teams in the field.
That won't be the case tonight as Westover heads to J.H. Rose High School to take part in its first 3-A Eastern Regional tournament. "We're unfamiliar with the teams, the coaches and the players,'' he said. "Everything is different.''
One thing he hopes will have his team ready for the regional test is surviving a tough race for the title in the Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference. "We've got two teams at home, Western Harnett and Overhills, that could have been here,'' he said. As it is, Westover is joined in the regional by league rival Union Pines.
In tonight's regional semifinals, Union Pines (22-6) faces Winterville South Central (26-4) at 7 p.m., followed at 8:30 by Westover (21-5) and Havelock (25-5). The winners meet Saturday at 1 p.m. at Rose for the regional title.
South Central is the closest thing to a home team in the tournament, located just a few miles from Greenville and the Rose campus. "Everybody is picking them to win it,'' Arrington said. "I'm glad not to get them in the first round, but whether it's Wednesday or Saturday you've got to play them.''
Arrington has a good deal of information on the Havelock team his Wolverines will play. Both teams were in the holiday tournament in Wilmington this year, and Arrington scouted Havelock during that tournament.
"They've got a very quick, athletic team,'' he said. "They push the ball, similar to how we play. They don't have what I consider a legitimate post player, but they've got a lot of athletes to make up for that.''
Melissa Thomas, a 5-foot-6 senior guard, is Havelock's top scorer at 17 points per game.
She has over 1,200 points for her career. Also averaging double figures for Havelock are 5-7 junior guard Kelly McCaffity at 12.7 and 6-2 sophomore forward Aiyetoro Nix at 10.0.
Arrington thinks Westover is peaking and playing its best basketball of the season right now.
Chante' Bell leads the team in scoring at 15.9. She's followed by Jasmyn Trawick at 11.5 and Shanice Pringle at 11.1.
Pringle, at 6-1 the team's tallest player, is the younger sister of former Seventy-First and North Carolina star LaToya Pringle. The younger Pringle leads Westover in rebounds with 12.5 per game.
Arrington hopes regional experience will count for something. "I've got five players who've been here before and three are in the starting lineup,'' he said. "We've got to play good team defense. That's the key.''
Scholastic sports editor Earl Vaughan Jr. can be reached at vaughane@fayobserver.com or 486-3519.