South is a magic act. It beat Kannapolis 49-42 in a nonconference game that the stat sheet says it had no business winning — had no chance of winning.

How do you beat someone on the road when you turn the ball over 22 times to their three? And how do you beat someone when they make 28 more field goal attempts than you do? For that matter, how do you beat a team that sinks five 3-pointers to your one?

Let’s ask Raider coach James Greene.

“By sticking to the game plan,” said Greene, whose team is only 4-12, but has won two straight and has beaten Kannapolis twice. “The plan was to pack back in a zone and let them try to beat us from outside. We didn’t care how many times they shot the ball, as long as we didn’t give up any second shots.”

The Raiders didn’t. They outrebounded the Wonders (4-11) by a whopping 50-30 with Jennifer Morgan getting 12 boards and 5-6 Morgan Andrews and Brittney Gaddy yanking down nine each.

South also had another stat on its side. It shot 47 percent, mostly from the paint, while the Wonders were firing away at a miserable 23 percent, mostly from downtown.

“Sometimes it just comes down to whether or not you can make some shots,” said Kannapolis coach Doug Wilson. “We took 70-plus shots and they were mostly wide-open shots. We just didn’t shoot worth a dang.”

Kannapolis also can’t defend the 6-1 Gaddy worth a dang. The sophomore star has terrorized the Wonders for 53 points in two games this season. She had a career-best 28 when the Raiders won 48-46 in Landis and 25 more last night, while shooting 12-for-15 from the field. Take away Gaddy’s effort — Wilson would love to — and the Raiders shot only 30 percent.

“We actually did a better job tonight of denying Brittney the ball,” said Wilson. “But she killed us with stickbacks. We just don’t have to deal with an inside player like her in the South Piedmont Conference. Candis Spratt (Concord) is good, but she’s 5-9. This girl’s 6-1.”

South controlled the game early, jumping out 9-0 as the Wonders misfired on their first 10 attempts. But the Wonders cut the gap to 25-19 at halftime thanks to an eight-point second quarter by sophomore point guard Kesha Johnson.

The critical point in the game came after Elise Stanback’s jumper pulled Kannapolis within 46-40 with 4:32 remaining.

That’s when South went ice cold, but used its defense to hang on for dear life.

“We must have had seven, eight possessions in that stretch and just couldn’t make a shot,” said Wilson.

Finally, at the 1:10 mark, Gaddy scored on a lob off a set inbounds play for the first Raider points in four minutes. That pushed the lead to 48-40.

Freshman Michelle Crosby, who had a super game for the Wonders with 13 points and 10 rebounds, scored off the glass with 27 seconds left to break her team’s drought and make it 48-42. Then the Wonders got the ball back on a turnover, but Johnson’s long 3-pointer went in-and-out with 10 seconds left, sealing the win for the Raiders.

“Our goal was to hold them below 50 points,” said Greene. “We felt if we did that we had a great chance to win the ballgame. We played together and got those rebounds we had to have.”

And a little magic didn’t hurt, either.

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NOTES: Kannapolis did not have a turnover in the second half. ... South committed just one foul in the first half. ... Morgan made second-quarter steals for two of the Wonders’ three turnovers. ... Andrews and point guard Katie Willett combined to set up all 11 of Gaddy’s second-quarter points. ... Aisha Khan hit South’s only 3-pointer. Johnson made three bonus shots and Stanback two for the Wonders. ... Ashlie Sheets had four big rebounds and two clutch free throws for South in the fourth quarter. ... Gaddy’s first big game as a freshman came against the Wonders when she scored 14 at Bullock Gym. ... Gaddy, who scored 121 points last year, already has 256 this season and is averaging 16 ppg.

SOUTHROWAN(49) — Andrews 4, J.Morgan 5, Gaddy 25, Willett 6, Khan 3, Easley 2, Miller 2, Yost, Sheets 2, Roberts, Efird.

KANNAPOLIS (42) — Johnson 12, Little 2, Stanback 9, Connor 2, Hutchinson 2, Powell, H.Morgan 2, Crosby 13.