BY DAVID SHAW
SALISBURY POST

NEW LONDON — North Rowan’s girls basketball team forgot how to throw a knockout punch Friday night.

The Lady Cavaliers’ failure to hold a second-half lead cost them a 54-51 overtime loss at North Stanly and damaged their hope for a state playoff berth.

“It’s a tough game to lose,” sophomore Amber Hill said after fourth-place NR (13-6, 4-5 CCC) suffered its second straight loss. “We could have guaranteed ourselves the fourth spot. Now it’s going to be a struggle.”

You don’t have to be a math major to figure this one out. The Cavs, who led 40-35 late in the third period, made only one basket in the fourth quarter as the Lady Comets (8-10, 3-6 CCC) rallied to tie the score 48-48 at the end of regulation. Then in overtime North Rowan missed all six of its field goal attempts and turned the ball over four times.

“We didn’t execute at the end,” said coach Gary Atwell. “We went to what I call a Special 2-1-2 and we lost our aggressiveness toward the basket. That’s not what it was set up to do. It’s supposed to spread things out and create chances to go to the basket. For some reason we decided to pull it up and not go to the basket.”

North Stanly’s defense may have had something to do with that. The Cavs shot only 28 percent from the field (12-for-43), rarely set up a play and often had trouble locating an open shooter.

“We weren’t getting squared up to make good passes,” senior guard Joyce Hipps explained. “Even when we did, there was always a (North Stanly) girl in the passing lane.”

The Cavs took a two-point lead, their last of the night, when Hill converted two free throws in the first minute of OT. The Comets pulled even on Laura Watson’s short bank shot from the right side with 2:10 left, then went ahead for keeps 15 seconds later when Ashley Lowder stole the ball near midcourt and raced in for a layup.

Watson’s wide-open putback with 20 seconds to play made it a 54-50 ballgame before the Cavs’ Moriah Jones made the first of two free throws with 10 seconds to go. A turnover and a timeout gave North Rowan a chance to force a second overtime, but its fate was sealed with a miss when Hipps launched a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the right corner that clanked off the near side of the rim.

Atwell’s post-game address was almost apologetic. “I told the girls, ‘Each of us can look in our hearts and find something we did wrong that cost the team three points. Even the coach,’” he said. “We all make mistakes. That’s what happens in a close ballgame. It’s just a shame that this one had such big implications. Now it gets tough for the playoffs.”

Senior Courtney Hill agreed. “It would have been a whole lot easier if we had beaten them,” she said. “Now we’ll have to fight our way in.”

NOTES: North Rowan had only seven players in uniform. ... Hipps led the Cavs with 13 points while Amber Hill checked in with 11 points and 14 rebounds. She played with four personal fouls the last quarter-and-a-half.

NORTH ROWAN (51) — Hipps 13, C.Hill 12, A.Hill 11, Craig 6, Jones 5, Bowie 3, Hendrick 1.

NORTH STANLY (54) — Coley 14, Watson 11, Lowder 7, Hayes 6, Noll 4, Cunningham 4, A.Burleson 4, Isenhour 3, Hinkle 1.

North Rowan 6 17 17 8 3 — 51

North Stanly 14 10 12 12 6 — 54