WALLBURG — North Rowan’s Crystal Craige scored the first bucket of the Cavs’ game against Ledford on a pretty baseline jumper.
Craige scored the last basket of the game on an even prettier fallaway jumper.
It was the in-between that did in the Cavalier girls.
In between Craige’s first and last swishes, Ledford simply annihilated North with precision passing, deadly outside shooting and an unbeatable tradition to roll to an easy 73-24 Central Carolina Conference victory.
North (1-13, 1-4) was coming off its first win of the season, so the blowout was not exactly what coach Mike White envisioned when he walked into the hallowed Panther palace of so many girls basketball wins.
“Scoring the first two points on a good team like that should get you excited,” he said. “But we were like, ‘This shouldn’t happen.’ They came out saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to beat this team.’ ”
That shouldn’t have been any big surprise. Ledford (15-0, 5-0) always feels that way. John Ralls’ Panthers are ranked first in the state’s 2A poll.
And after Craige’s bucket opened the scoring, they proved why, scoring the next 27 points. Twelve minutes after Craige hit, Ashley Hendrick finally scored the Cavs’ next basket at 4:10 in the second quarter.
And Ledford responded with 11 straight for a whopping 38-4 lead at halftime.
“Four points in the first half for North Rowan is the lowest total — ever!” White said, amazed at what he had just said. “Ledford moved the ball great, made great bounce passes, cut to the basket like they should ... we just played mechanically.”
Ledford placed three players in double figures, led by Ralls’ daughter Katie, who had 14. The Panthers had nine players score, eight of whom finished with at least six.
White was happy that his team didn’t fold completely. North scored 20 points after halftime.
“We played with more heart,” he said. “If we score 20 points in the first half and eliminate some of their baskets, you’ve got a game going.”
Ralls said his team played hard, overlooking the Cavs’ record.
“We have a healthy respect for North Rowan and what they’ve done in the past,” said Ralls. “They’re always quick and fairly athletic. So we have to be ready to play. We try to play to the level we want — not points, but intensity.”
White never once thought Ralls was running up the score, even when the bulge reached 51.
That’s because Ledford played three freshmen and two sophomores the entire fourth quarter.
“You can’t go triangle-and-two,” White sighed. “They all can shoot. You can’t go box-and-one. They all can shoot.”
NORTH ROWAN (24) — Craige 13, Jones 6, Hendrick 4, Hunter 1, Cameron, Peterson, Foxx.
LEDFORD (73) — Ralls 14, Stokes 13, Hinkle 11, Fitzgerald 7, Pietsch 6, Reece 6, Homsley 6, Rogers 6, Taylor 4.
N. Rowan 2 2 12 8 — 24
Davie County 17 21 21 14 — 73
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