SPENCER— North Rowan girls basketball coach Gary Atwell knows his team won’t always be able to rely on its stars.

He didn’t need his top trio to prove his point all on the same night, though.

The Cavaliers pulled out a 50-40 win against A.L. Brown on Wednesday despite foul trouble that shook up the lineup and left Amber Hill, Courtney Hill and Joyce Hipps on the bench at the same time.

They went out in the middle of the third quarter with North holding a 38-32 lead. When the trio returned early in the fourth, the score was 40-33.

Were the role players overwhelming? No.

Capable? Yes.

“We expect a lot from them,”Courtney Hill said. “We’re going to get in foul trouble some nights and they’re going to have to come in and take over.”

Hipps, North’s senior point guard, picked up her third foul just three minutes into the second quarter. The Cavaliers (3-0) actually trailed 19-17 at the time before everybody else went to work.

Sophomore Moriah Jones hit a runner to tie it, senior Ashley Bowie nailed a jumper and sophomore Crystal Craige drained a 3-pointer to give the Cavaliers a 26-23 lead. A.L. Brown forwards Michelle Crosby and Holly Morgan ended the half with a 4-0 run to put their team ahead by a point, but North had seen that it could play well without Hipps.

With her, the Cavs were even better. Hipps hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter to help North open a six-point lead. The second of two Bowie jumpers in the quarter made it 38-32.

“Ashley Bowie shot the ball well tonight,”Atwell said. “Every time Kannapolis was getting close, Ashley came up with a basket to give us that cushion again.”

The cushion was a mere six points when Hipps, still nursing three fouls; Courtney Hill, also saddled with three fouls; and Amber Hill, busy being the backup point guard, all took a seat.

But the defense didn’t suffer — theWonders shot just 2-for-8 from the floor in the quarter and committed five turnovers — and Jones extended the lead to seven points with a runner with four seconds to play.

The fourth quarter became a free-throw shooting contest, which theWonders lost resoundingly. A.L. Brown converted just 3-of-12 attempts while North made 6-of-10 to pull away. The Hills and Hipps returned to action for eight of the Cavs’ 10 points and never picked up those fifth fouls. Hipps didn’t even get No. 4 until a minute remained in the game.

Hipps finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Her last three points of the first half came at the first-quarter buzzer when she launched a running trey from a few steps beyond the arc. Despite that fantastic finish, the first quarter belonged to Courtney Hill, who scored her team’s first six points and finished the opening period with eight.

Morgan made sure A.L. Brown stayed close, though. The Wonder maneuvered her way around in the post for four easy buckets in the second quarter and closed the first half with 14 points. But she had only one field goal on three tries in the second half after North made some adjustments — putting Jones on point guard Elise Stanback and bringing help quicker from the weak side.

“That was a lack of defense and communication,”Courtney Hill said. “After the first couple of times, Atwell fussed at us and we started talking a little bit more.”

The Wonders fell to 1-3, but those losses have come to North (twice) and 3ASouth Piedmont Conference leading Central Cabarrus. Making Wednesday’s assignment tougher was the absence of injured point guard Kesha Johnson, who certainly has the quickness to match up against the Cavaliers.

“North is tough. I think they’re the best team in this (Rowan) county,”Wonders head coach Doug Wilson said. “You don’t want to lose, but in a way, measuring yourself against them you have to be realistic.”

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NOTES: The Wonders welcome Piedmont onFriday, while North takes a week off until playing host to East Rowan. … North fought for a 43-39 win at Kannapolis last week and is happy to wave goodbye to the Wonders. “I’m glad we don’t play them any more,”Atwell said with a laugh. “They match up with us so well.”

A.L. BROWN (40) — Morgan 16, Stanback 7, Hutchinson 7, Powell 4, Similton 3, Brown 2, Crosby 1, Rodgers, Summers.

NORTHROWAN (50) — C.Hill 16, Hipps 11, Bowie 6, Jones 6, A.Hill 6, Craige 3, Suber 2, Witherspoon, Hendrick.

A.L. Brown 14 13 6 7 — 40

North Rowan 15 11 14 10 — 50