In a nutshell, Salisbury’s shooting was poor and East Rowan’s was Rich.
And that explains why the Mustangs cruised past the Hornets 60-49 in a first-round Sam Moir Christmas Classic girls game on Wednesday.
East’s Rich sisters, senior Emily and freshman Maggie, shot 13-for-19 from the field and combined for 27 points. Meanwhile, coach Jennifer Shoaf’s Hornets made just 16 field goals for the game, tossing balls rimward at a meager 28 percent.
Fifth-seeded Salisbury’s frigid shooting night places it opposite sixth-seeded South Rowan (2-10) in a noon losers bracket game today. The teams have split two meetings.
East, fourth-seeded and 5-4 on the season, earned a 6 p.m. rematch today with No. 1 North Rowan (7-0) in the semifinals. That’s an assignment most teams would dread, but one the Mustangs are actually looking forward to.
“The first time we played North (a 58-39 loss), we didn’t play that well,” said Emily Rich. “We believe we’re better than we showed on that night. We’re excited about playing them again, and this time we’ll be ready to play.”
Certainly, the Mustangs, who were only slight favorites Wednesday, were ready to play against the Hornets (3-4). Salisbury had some youthful breakdowns in its press rotations and the Mustangs leaped out to a 13-4 lead with a string of layups. It was pretty much over by halftime with the Mustangs in complete command at 32-12.
The Christmas tournament is as important to the East girls as any team of either gender, because they failed to prove in the pre-Christmas schedule that they could handle a strong team. They were right in the thick of games with (undefeated) Central Cabarrus, North, West Rowan and Northwest Cabarrus at the half, but faltered each time in the third quarter. The Moir tourney is a second chance to get some respect.
“What happens is that we’ve been getting in a slump and then all of a sudden we get 10 down and then we’ve panicked,” said East coach Randy Bingham.
Last night, though, there was no slumping, no faltering when it still mattered and no panicking.
East shot nearly 70 percent from the field. It turned the ball over 24 times (mostly on steals by Hornet guards Ke-Ke Chunn and Ternisha Charleston), but when it got the ball down the floor it generally got a layup.”
“We came in here off two straight losses in pretty big games,” said Bingham. “So I was anxious to see how we’d do. I was proud of ‘em. Michelle (Haynes) had a great rebounding game and Maggie played with so much confidence.”
The younger Rich was 8-for-9 on field goals, was aggressive as a grizzly bear that’s had its snout poked, and made a positive impression on everyone in attendance.
“Maggie’s tough,” said Emily Rich. “It’s more fun for me when she scores than when I score. I’m proud of her.”
“Both those Riches are impressive players,” sighed Shoaf.
Of course, Shoaf had some impressive players as well. Chunn was phenomenal in the second half when she scored 17 of her career-high 25 points. Charleston finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals, turning in a terrific all-round game. But outside of its two speedy guards, Salisbury got only a dozen total points. Jenny Reilly, who averages 16 ppg, was held to seven by early foul trouble and some tough interior defense by the Mustangs’ 2-3 zone.
“Jenny would like to play on the wing like she did last year, but she has to play in the post for us now,” said Shoaf. “She’s just not getting many looks at the basket right now.”
The silver lining for the Hornets was that they bounced back from that dismal first half to outscore East 37-28 in the second half. Salisbury poured in 23 points in the fourth quarter, which might generate some momentum for today’s consolation contest.
“I sure liked Salisbury’s attitude,” said Bingham. “A lot of teams quit when they’re behind 20 at halftime. No one on that team gave up.”
Shoaf agreed her team showed some belated spark in the second half. As for that dreadful first half, however, she could only shake her head and throw up her hands. “We hadn’t played in so long (Dec. 5), Ithought we’d be excited to play,” she said. “But we started out real flat. You could see it in their eyes. With this team, there’s just no telling how they’ll react.”
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NOTES:Chunn’s having a solid year and has been in double figures every game. ... Haynes had nine points and 10 boards for East. ... East won the board battle 33-27.
SALISBURY (49) — Chunn 25, Charleston 13, Reilly 7, Seay 3, Wingerson 1, Wilson, Edwards, Mendez, Jones.
EAST ROWAN (60)— M. Rich 17, E. Rich 10, Haynes 9, Alexander 6, Morgan 5, Maclamroc 3, Huffman 3, Shaw 2, Ivey 2, Brown 2, Ingold 1, Mundy, Cress, Williams.
Salisbury 4 8 14 23 — 49 East Rowan 13 19 15 13 — 60
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