By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The timing couldn’t be much better for Western Alamance’s Xiomara Moser.
She has been increasingly in a groove as the girls’ basketball season has progressed and that sure showed Tuesday night.
Moser, a senior guard, scored a career-high 20 points as the Warriors ran away from visiting Fayetteville Seventy-First in an 81-49 victory in the third round of the Class 3-A state playoffs.
“I think we were more prepared,” Moser said.
Tina Bowers had 21 points, Allie Sykes provided 16 points, and Regan Averett added nine points for the Warriors, who are the No. 2 seed in the East Region.
Western (25-4) meets sixth-seeded Union Pines (27-1), a 79-77 winner against third-seeded Rocky Mount, in a regional semifinal Friday night at home.
Moser suffered a torn meniscus in her right knee during the summer. Even though she was available at the beginning of the season, the recovery process has been ongoing.
“Now I’m trying to prove something,” Moser said. “I had to get in the flow.”
That has been evident to the Warriors.
“She’s back healthy and doing better than ever,” Sykes said.
Western put together big scoring runs against No. 10 seed Fayetteville Seventy-First (19-10), which won in the first two rounds by an average margin of 29 points. The Warriors scored the game’s first 14 points in less than four minutes.
“We were able to build off of that,” Moser said.
Even though the Falcons closed within 23-16 in the second quarter, Western answered with two free throws from Emma Johnson and a basket from Bowers. When Sykes and Moser connected on 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, the lead grew to 35-20.
Four Western players hit at least one 3-pointer in the first half, which ended with the Warriors up 41-26. The margin grew to 68-37 entering the fourth quarter, when Western scored the next 11 points.
It was a special night for Skyes, who turned 18 years old Tuesday.
“I’ve never played on my birthday,” she said.
Friday’s winner will go to the regional final Monday at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem. Top-seeded Fayetteville Sanford and fourth-seeded Wilson Fike meet in the other regional semifinal.
The state championship games for Class 1-A and Class 3-A are March 14, also at Joel Coliseum.
The Warriors defeated No. 15 seed Carrboro 56-41 last Friday night in the second round. Sykes tallied 24 points and Bowers had 13 points.
- No. 22 Eastern Alamance’s season ended with Friday’s 65-50 loss to Union Pines, which led 26-25 at halftime before a 23-5 spread in the third quarter. The Eagles finished with a 14-13 record.
