By DAN BISER

GREENVILLE - Reversing the trend.

The Whiteville High Lady Wolfpack, whose trademark all season has been taking control of games early with a flurry of first-quarter points, found itself waiting until the fourth quarter to put away its opponent Tuesday in the semi-finals of Eastern N.C. 2A Regional girls basketball tournament at the Rose High School gym.

With the sister tandem of Shannon and Paige McCallum leading the way, the Lady Wolfpack pulled away from a precarious 23-21 halftime lead to a 59-40 victory over the First Flight Lady Nighthawks of Kill Devil Hills.

Shannon McCallum, the senior All-Stater pumped in 24 points while Paige McCallum, the up-and-coming sophomore bucketed 15 points with 14 coming in the second half. Each had seven rebounds.

The win put the Lady Wolfpack season record at 25-0, the best mark ever established by a WHS girls team.

The Lady Wolfpack will make its first-ever appearance in an Eastern Regional championship game Saturday at 1 p.m., when it goes against Farmville Central at the Rose High gym. Farmville Central took Tuesday’s semi-final with a 71-57 victory over Eastern Guilford. (See related story).

First Flight, which started four sophomores, closed its season with a 23-7 record. The Lady Nighthawks controlled much of the first-half tempo, holding a 15-7 lead in the first quarter.

“They brought a good game plan and it threw us off some in the first half,” Coach Jordan said. “They play a deliberate style and they work for good shots.

“We started getting a little impatient and couldn’t get some shots to fall,” Jordan continued. “We were playing well defensively, but we couldn’t convert much on offense.”

Shannon McCallum, who recalled losing a heart-breaking regional tournament game to Southern Vance two years earlier on the same floor, said she and her teammates felt some first-half frustration with their slow start.

“It’s like we couldn’t get anything going offensively,” said McCallum, who has signed to play for the University of South Carolina. “We missed some easy shots and we didn’t make good passes like we usually do. We got into our game in the second half.”

Whiteville played the second half without starting center Portia Baldwin, who sustained a shoulder separation in the second quarter.

“I told our girls at halftime to relax … to keep playing good defense and keep doing the things that got us here.”

With 3 minutes, 28 seconds, left in the third quarter, Shannon McCallum put her team ahead to stay when she grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in for a 29-28 edge. Guard Talena Faison added an 18-foot jump shot a minute later and that was followed by a basket by Shannon McCallum off a spin move. Faison drove for a lay-up with a minute left in the period to give WHS a 35-28 lead.

Whiteville went on 17-4 run in the first five minutes of the final quarter to take control, extending its lead by as much as 23. Faison and Samantha Smith each scored eight points.

First Flight coach Dan Corbin said that Whiteville’s overall quickness and athleticism was the difference in the game.

“Their defensive pressure wore us down,” Corbin said. “I was pleased with our team’s effort, but when you’re going against players like the McCallum sisters, you’re taking on a lot. They both played a great games.”

Kristina Argiroff and Carly Pruitt each scored 11 points for First Flight.

The Whiteville girls previous best record was a 24-0 mark in 1984. The team, paced by All-State Phyllis Edwards, lost in the sectional finals to South Robeson.

FIRST FLIGHT (40): Argiroff 11, Strickland 2, O’Neill 4, Gomez 1, Pruitt 11, Murray 6, Evanoff 5.

WHITEVILLE (59): Smith 8, Faison 8, S. McCallum 24, P. McCallum 15, Baldwin 4.