If you’re trying to figure out the secret to South Rowan’s success against West Rowan, look no further than the Raiders’ post players.
South Rowan, which handed West its only pre-tournament loss of the season, sent the Falcons off the court with another defeat on Friday.
The Raiders, behind the dominating play of Paris Rucker, Alexius Blackwood and Sade Jordan, knocked off West 60-52 in the semifinals of the Sam Moir Christmas Classic at Goodman Gymnasium.
The talented trio combined for 38 points and 32 points in the victory.
“Our post kids, they love to play West,”South coach James Greene said. “I don’t know what the deal is, but they really show up when we play West.
“They get the spark in their eye like they really want it.”
The Falcons (8-2) erased an early 15-point deficit and trailed 41-39 heading into the fourth.
Rucker, Blackwood and Jordan combined to score 17 of the Raiders’ 19 points in the final period to help South (7-4) pull out the win.
Blackwood had 14 points and seven rebounds, and Jordan finished with 12 points and 16 boards.
Rucker had 12 points and nine rebounds, including eight points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter.
“I think we’re more confident(against West),” Rucker said. “We know we have way more power than they do, and we just put it into effect.”
The Falcons grabbed a 37-36 lead with 1:14 left in the third quarter on a layup by Hillary Hampton, who had a game-high 18 points.
West missed 13 of their first 15 shots in the fourth quarter, though, to trail by 10 with 2:26 to play.
The Falcons, who shot 5-for-24 from the floor in the final period, ended the game 19 of 77 from the field.
“They worked hard to come back, and then South went up by four or five points, and we just kind of lost our legs,” West coach Toni Wheeler said.
West, which trailed 30-15 in the second quarter, actually shot back with some stellar outside shooting.
The Falcons clawed to within 34-27 with 4:25 left, then hit five outside jumpers in the next four minutes, including two by Blair Harkey, to take a 43-41 lead.
All five shots came with at least one Falcon foot on the 3-point line.
Harkey had 12 points for the Falcons, and reserve guard Jacqueline White scored 10.
“We’re not know for hitting the 3-pointer, but that was what South was giving us,” Wheeler said. “I thought we did a great job of shooting the ball from the perimeter.”
The shots finally started falling for the Falcons after a 6-for-33 performance in the first half.
West remained within striking distance, though, thanks to 14 first-half turnovers by the Raiders.
South committed 29 in the game, compared to only eight for West, but Greene and Rucker both said the Raiders’ ball-handling down the stretch played a key role.
“We had to be patient,”Rucker said.“With our turnovers, we allowed them to come back into the game. We had to settle ourselves down and keep a cool, calm tempo.”
The Raiders did just that, then let their post players go to work.
The Raiders didn’t make an outside jumper the entire game, but they outrebounded the Falcons 52-29.
“If we can’t pull down the rebound, we can’t run our fast break,”Wheeler said. “South is the perfect team to get second shots and also keep us from running the break.”
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