GRANITE QUARRY — The final game of Tuesday’s 3A North Piedmont Conference Tournament girls tripleheader moved slower than a tortoise wearing ankle weights.
Mooresville, the undersized and under-aged No. 7 seed, did a bang-up job of controlling tempo. But East controlled the scoreboard 52-38 against the don’t-hurry-be-happy Blue Devils.
East (19-5) advanced to a semifinal against No. 3 Statesville on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Statesville High. Mooresville — mercifully, some might say — ended its season at 2-21.
“Mooresville’s real, real pesky,” said East coach Randy Bingham, who certainly meant it as a compliment.
East didn’t trail after Jordan Huffman fed Maggie Rich for a layup and a 6-5 lead with 4:25 left in the first quarter.
When a five-point spree by Tiffany Ingold gave East its first double-digit lead at 17-7, a massacre seemed certain. But Mooresville displayed the patience of five teen-aged Jobs. Hurricane Hugo could not have blown the Devils out.
With less than three minutes left in the first half, the Devils, trailing 19-10, went to a full-fledged stall, casually massaging the ball at midcourt while the Mustangs stared at them like they were a circus act.
“We were up 19-10, so we were saying, ‘If you wanna lose 19-10, well, that’s OK with us,’ ” said Rich. “A win’s a win, so we kept back. We weren’t going to go out and foul them.”
At the half, it was still 19-10. East had two points (a Kelly Kluttz stickback) to show for its last 6 minutes, 40 seconds of toil.
When the teams returned to the floor for the second half, Bingham playfully grabbed Mooresville coach Craig Stewart and told him, “I knew you’d pull some crap like this.”
Actually Bingham did know. He had anticipated a slowdown, and in the second half, his girls forced the issue. East played man-to-man defense for the first time all year and did a decent job. Mooresville finished with 27 turnovers.
East got an accidental spark when assistant coach Stan Honeycutt was called for a technical for asking why the Blue Devils were being allowed to put two hands on Ingold’s back when she was dribbling upcourt. East surged 13-5 after the T.
Rich finished with 20 points, her average, despite a scoreless (0-for-1) second quarter.
Huffman, who’d averaged just five ppg in her previous four games, got back on track. She dominated inside and missed only one shot. Huffman finished with 14 points, scoring several times off inbounds plays triggered by Rich.
“We hound Jordan to shoot the ball,” said Bingham. “She’s too unselfish. It was good to see her being aggressive.”
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NOTES:Bingham says he’ll need a good night from everyone when the Mustangs play Statesville, a big winner over Northwest. “Statesville looked good, really impressive,” he said. ... Michelle Haynes had two baskets and Christal MacLamroc scored seven for the Mustangs.
MOORESVILLE (38) — Welborn 13, Adams 6, Andrews 5, Duquette 4, Alexander 3, Davis 3, Broach 2, McIntyre 2, Moon, Arounerangsy.
EAST ROWAN (52) — Rich 20, Huffman 14, MacLamroc 7, Ingold 5, Haynes 4, Kluttz 2, Shaw, Brown, Hall, Mundy, Wood, Ludwig.
Mooresville 7 3 13 15 — 38
East Rowan 14 5 16 17 — 52
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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