But he’ll probably have to count the fourth period of Friday’s 60-50 CPC loss to visiting Mount Tabor twice.

“The girls really showed me something tonight,” Greene said after South (1-3, 4-15 overall) made things interesting after falling 23 points behind the conference leader. “We didn’t give up and that’s a good confidence-builder. This team is coming around.”

It’s a team that was waffled by 25 points when it visited Tabor (5-0, 13-3 overall) earlier this month. “That’s in the past,” Greene insisted. “We’ve come a long way since then.”

Even winning coach Dennis Ring couldn’t help but notice South’s newfound fire-in-the-belly demeanor. “They are much improved,” he said. “Coach Greene has them playing better and better all the time, especially on defense. Put it this way: I wouldn’t want to play them again.”

For the better part of three quarters, the Lady Spartans played South like Bo Didley played guitar — pounding out a steady beat. Utilizing the feisty inside play of forwards Molly Hughes and April Goolsby, the guests scored eight unanswered points and mounted a 22-11 lead in the second quarter. Then after South received a 3-point bomb from Britt Miller late in the half, Tabor rallied and grabbed a 28-15 halftime lead.

“The first time we played them we gave them the outside shot and got 41 rebounds,” said Greene. “This time we went out and challenged them and they beat us inside a little bit.”

The beating continued in the third quarter, when Tabor scored the last nine points and built a 45-22 edge. But in the final stanza the Raiders began to slice into their deficit, trimming it to 14 points when Morgan Andrews stole a stray pass, dribbled the length of the court and hit a layup with 5:41 to play.

Moments later Andrews buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key and South found itself within 55-43 with 2:30 to play. The Raiders drew as close as 10 — and closed the scoring books — when Aprille Easley converted two free throws with 14.5 seconds left.

“This team is evolving,” said Brittney Gaddy, South’s leading scorer with 19 points and top rebounder with nine. “It’s like Coach said, ‘We can see each other growing every game.’”

NOTES: South scored 28 fourth-quarter points and could have made it an even closer game had it performed better at the foul line. The Raiders made only seven of 24 attempts in the final period and missed 10 straight during one stretch...Four of South’s five starters fouled out...Seniors Jennifer Morgan, Ashlie Sheets and Andrews were honored before the game.

MOUNT TABOR (60) — Goolsby 16, Hughes 15, Schleupner 10, Andersen 6, Caldwell 4, Stanley 2, Pleban 2, Allen 2, Crafton 2, Ford 1.

SOUTH ROWAN (50) — Gaddy 19, Morgan 10, Miller 9, Andrews 5, Efird 3, Sheets 2, Easley 2, Yost, Khan, Roberts, Willett.

Mount Tabor 8 20 17 15 — 60