SPENCER— Thanks to its superior size, the South Rowan girls basketball team won the opening tip Tuesday night.

A small, fast and scrappy North squad surrendered little else.

The Cavaliers neutralized the Raiders’ inside game by hitting early and often from the outside and flying down the court for easy buckets in a 56-38 win over its nonconference county rival.

Brittney Gaddy, South’s 6-foot-1 center, scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but Cav head coach Gary Atwell got the message across that he’s been pounding home all year to his 5-9-and-under troops — box out, or else.

“They had a big advantage on height and we knew we had to box out,”said Joyce Hipps, who scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds. “Sometimes we were boxing out our teammates and fighting each other for the ball. But the choice was to box out in this game or box out all day in practice.”

Four other Cavs tallied five or more rebounds, led by forward Amber Hill with seven. Courtney Hill scored a game-high 20 points and added five rebounds, Ashley Bowie had eight points and five boards and Moriah Jones picked up five more loose balls.

North’s girls (2-0) also didn’t let Gaddy and 6-foot forward Alexius Blackwood bother many of their shots. Hipps bombed three straight 3-pointers in the first quarter and Amber Hill added another to give the Cavs a 16-2 lead in the first four minutes. Hipps’ final jumper of the quarter made it 20-2.

“We know that’s got to be our game plan against anybody — hit the jumpers and penetrate,”Atwell said. “The kids came out shooting like they were still in practice.”

Hipps spent much of the second quarter on the bench, but Courtney Hill sparked a 14-0 run off several South turnovers to increase the lead to 34-6. Gaddy’s five points in the last two minutes of the half and a Katie Willett jumper decreased the margin to 36-15, but the damage was more than done — South (1-5) committed 20 turnovers and shot 7-for-29 (24 percent) from the field.

Instead of taking his girls into the locker room at halftime, South coach James Greene had them stay on the court and shoot.

Atwell gave his three quick sophomores plenty of playing time in the third quarter and watched his team score just four points on 2-for-13 shooting. Eleven turnovers gave South a chance to catch up, but the Raiders only hit for eight points in the quarter on 2-for-16 shooting.

That left North leading just 40-23 in a game it had thoroughly dominated. South crept within three points on the second of Aisha Khan’s 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and a Gaddy basket in the low post cut the lead to 46-34 with five minutes left to play.

“We didn’t even realize it until we looked up at the clock and saw it was only 12 points,”Hipps said. “We knew we had to pick up our intensity and take some time off the clock.”

Courtney Hill responded with a pair of baskets and Hipps capped her night with five points in the closing minutes, including a 3 at the buzzer. The Cavs, who shot 47 percent from the floor in the first half, finished at 39 percent and committed 31 turnovers, but Atwell wouldn’t let the second-half slide take away from the strong rebounding effort.

“We played the young kids quite a bit and that’s good,”Atwell said. “They’ve got to give us minutes where they can do things in the team concept.”

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NOTES: Of the three sophomores, only Jones scored. Crystal Craige andDanielSuber each had a few rebounds and steals, though. … Atwell credited Ashley Witherspoon with her best game of her varsity career. The 5-9 junior scored two points and grabbed four rebounds, but also held Gaddy in check. “She didn’t let Gaddy’s size intimidate her,”Atwell said. “She did a super job defending and rebounding.”

SOUTHROWAN (38) — Gaddy 16, Ai.Khan 11, Raper 4, Willett 4, Blackwood 2, Yost 1, Efird, Miller, Neely.

NORTHROWAN (56) — C.Hill 24, Hipps 18, Bowie 8, A.Hill 6, Jones 2, Witherspoon 2, Craig, Suber, Hendrick.

South Rowan 6 9 8 15 — 38

North Rowan 20 16 4 16 — 56