LANDIS— The Central Piedmont and Northwestern conferences each received three spots for the 4A girls basketball state playoffs.
Monday night’s tournament opener between the CPC’s South Rowan and McDowell showed there’s a world of difference between the two leagues as McDowell, seeded third in the Northwestern Conference, advanced to the second round with a convincing 92-53 victory at Central Piedmont No. 3 South Rowan.
The Titans improved to 20-6 for the year and were seeded third only because they tied for the league title with Freedom and East Burke, then had an unlucky draw for the conference tournament. McDowell scored more than 100 points in two games this season and handed Freedom — the No. 1 squad in the state for much of the year — its first loss, in double overtime, after losing in a single-OTbattle in the first meeting.
McDowell would’ve shattered the 100-point mark with ease again Monday except for 20 missed free throws and 24 turnovers, nearly all of which came long after the outcome had been decided.
“The only asset they had tonight was that they play in a tremendous conference,”Raider head coach James Greene said. “They played good games every night, difficult games night in and night out, and you could tell that.
“The kids were fundamentally sound to a ‘T,’ and they were a little bit more experienced than we are.”
While teams in the CPC occasionally struggled to contain the Raiders’ big inside trio of Brittney Gaddy, Alexius Blackwood and Sade Jordan, McDowell did it with ease.
Gaddy scored 10 points and had nine rebounds, Jordan added six points and eight boards and Blackwood, limited with foul trouble, finished with just two points and one rebound.
“We did a good job of keeping their big people off the boards,”McDowell head coach Mike Silver said. “They’re quite a bit bigger than we are, but I think we have a little experience on them, and that means a lot.”
The Titans out-rebounded South 51-36 thanks to a combination of good position under the boards and the Raiders’ willingness to shoot early and often.
South (##-##) sent up an amazing 85 field-goal attempts, connecting just 18 times for a 21-percent shooting night. Included in that was a 7-for-39 (18 percent) showing from the 3-point line.
“They got kind of content just to take a lot of outside shots, and they weren’t making very many of them,”Silver said. “If you can get a team to shoot a lot of outside shots, they’re not making them and they’re not doing a good job offensive rebounding, you’re going to be in good shape.”
South led 5-1 in the early going after a Gaddy bucket in the post and Mandy Yost’s 3-pointer. McDowell then reeled off 11 straight points, 10 of those from senior Laura Jimison, to take the lead for good.
Jimison scored 14 points in the first quarter, getting a pair of steals for fast-break opportunities as the Raiders committed eight turnovers in the opening period.
South also struggled defensively against the quicker Titans and got in early foul trouble. McDowell was fouled twice on jump shots in the opening minutes — including Laura Snider’s four-point play — and found itself in the bonus with 3:14 to play in the first quarter.
For the half, McDowell was 18-for-32 from the foul line. The Titans finished 31-for-51, while South was 10-for-27.
McDowell’s free-throw advantage and South’s shooting woes prevented any kind of Raider comeback. South shot 5-for-19 in the second and third quarters, falling behind 49-24 at halftime and 71-37 entering the final quarter. The Raiders then closed the game hitting 5-of-30 shots in the fourth.
“It’s difficult to lose a game like this; somebody comes into your gym and smacks you in the mouth,”Greene said. “This was a very good team.
“But they’re playing well together,” he added of his young Raiders. “I think the kids are going to be OK.”
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Notes: Jimison finished with 23 points to lead all scorers. Yost scored nine points in the fourth quarter to lead South with 12. … The Titans will meet Southeast Guilford in Wednesday’s second round.
MCDOWELL(92) — Owinby 6, Seagle, Snider 12, Galler 6, Jimison 23, Whittington 3, Gragg 9, Guzman 11, May 7, Morris 4, Watring 11.
SOUTHROWAN(53) — Russell 1, Yost 12, Khan 3, Jordan 6, Parker 4, Raper 5, Willett 4, Efird 1, Gaddy 10, Neely, Culbertson 5, Blackwood 2.
McDowell 24 25 22 21 — 92
S. Rowan 9 15 13 16 — 53
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