|
MOCKSVILLE — When you can shoot the basketball the way Davie County senior Shelby Michael can, the bank stays open 365 days a year.
Michael kissed one off the glass almost from the dead corner last night at a crucial moment in the fourth quarter. It was the biggest shot of a wild game and proved the kiss of death for South Rowan’s girls, who fell to Michael and the War Eagles 58-54.
In the first half, it looked like a day at the 4A Central Piedmont Conference beach for Davie (12-7, 2-2), which rolled to a 12-point lead behind the strong all-round play of sophomore reserve Sarah Williams. But South (4-15, 2-2) got a lift right before halftime when Aisha Khan dropped in a 3-pointer to cut its deficit to 24-15.
The Raiders came screaming out of the chute in the third quarter. South ripped Davie 22-10 over the next eight minutes with Brittney Gaddy scoring three times inside and Khan making two more 3-pointers. Gaddy and youngster Alexis Blackwood pounded Davie on the boards, enabling the Raiders to get off 20 shots to Davie’s 10. When Nicole Parker sank a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer, the Raiders owned a 37-34 lead and the War Eagles owned dazed expressions.
“I think we kind of let up on South and were taking them for granted because we had beaten them by about 20 (62-44 in the Christmas Tournament) the first time,” said Michael. “But South’s gotten a lot better.”
South led 40-36 when Gaddy got her fourth foul when she caught a pass in the lane and cleared some space with 6:49 left in the game.
That was the cue to take charge for Michael, who had been silent for the first nine minutes of the second half while coach Carol Cozart’s four super sophomores (Brittany Walker, Ashley Williams, Sarah Williams and Dawn Singleton) carried the load. Michael exploded for an offensive board, got fouled and made two free throws to cut Davie’s deficit to 40-38. Then she took the ball to the hole on Gaddy, drawing the fifth foul on Rowan County’s scoring leader.
Michael made both foul shots to tie the game at 40-all with 5:40 remaining. More importantly, Gaddy was now sitting next to South coach James Greene.
“She’s a real key player for them,” said Michael. “Once she went out, I knew if we kept playing hard, we were gonna win.”
“That fifth foul was big,” said Greene. “I thought we kept playing tough and my freshman (Blackwood) stepped it up, but you could see that Davie got some big momentum from Gaddy fouling out.”
Walker, the Christmas tourney MVP who had suffered through an 0-for-7 first half, made a jumper to put Davie in front 42-40. Then she dished to Ashley Williams for a layup. Angela Efird hit from outside to get South back within two, but at the 4:09 mark, Michael lofted in that amazing banker that left nine other players, three officials and two head coaches shaking their heads.
“Uh, that one wasn’t really supposed to bank,” admitted a sheepish Michael, who reached double figures for the 15th game in a row. “That one surprised me.”
Walker, who was now on a roll, followed with slick feeds to Singleton and Ashley Williams and the War Eagles had control at 50-42.
South kept fighting, slicing the lead down to three on two occasions, the last time on Mandy Yost’s 3-pointer with 19 seconds left. But a dozen War Eagle free throws in the fourth quarter and that one fortunate fling by Michael left the Raiders with a bank that was too steep to climb.
“It was a tough one to lose,” said Greene “We started cold, but then we showed we could score. The problem was our defense. It was very mediocre and defense is still the name of the game.”
n
NOTES:South’s Katie Willett scored seven of her nine in the second half. ... Blackwood led all rebounders with 15. She sank a short bank shot late that would have pulled South within two, but was called for steps. ... Ashley Williams led Davie’s rebounding with nine. ... South’s at Mount Tabor Friday. Davie’s at R.J. Reynolds.
SOUTHROWAN (54) — Gaddy 15, Khan 9, Willett 9, Parker 8, Blackwood 6, Efird 4, Yost 3, Culbertson, Raper.
DAVIECOUNTY (58) — Michael 15, Walker 12, A. Williams 10, Singleton 9, S. Williams 8, Morton 4, Cornatzer, H. McDaniel.
South Rowan 6 9 22 17 — 54
Davie County 11 13 10 24 — 58
|
Today's News