THOMASVILLE — North Rowan’s girls had handled East Davidson 10 straight times over the past five years, but their dominance came to a screeching halt on Tuesday night.
East Davidson (8-6, 4-3) cruised 57-45 in a 2A Central Carolina Conference matchup that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score.
North managed to finish with a ferocious 23-point fourth quarter — more points than they scored in the first three quarters combined. But long before the Cavs heated up, East Davidson coach Greg Fowler had led his horses to the barn.
The Cavs appeared to be mired in quicksand as East jumped out to a quick 14-2 lead. The Golden Eagles, who hadn’t scored more than 38 points against the Cavs (1-15, 1-6) the last five seasons, had things well in hand by halftime at 31-14.
“It’s like we were shellshocked,” said North coach Mike White. “We were making a lot of turnovers, throwing it around like it was our first game. That shouldn’t be. That’s frustrating.”
“Do we ever get started good?”wondered North junior Crystal Craige. “We’ve got get with it. Sometimes, it’s like we don’t realize how important the rest of these games are. Yeah, we’re trying, but not hard enough.”
The Golden Eagles were sailing along with a 29-point lead before North had an impressive closing burst that included three 3-pointers by Craige and another by Natalie Cameron. Craige scored a career-high 20, 14 of them in the final six minutes.
“Craige lit it up,” said Fowler. “Give her credit and give North credit. They never quit, and that says a lot for them.”
Still, until it no longer mattered, North couldn’t get anything going offensively, and its defense was torched by East senior Heather Honeycutt (16 points) and freshman guard Shaylen Cutshaw (13).
“Coach said we couldn’t let North hang in the game early, that we needed to put ’em away,” said Cutshaw. “That’s what we did. We executed and we ran the ball better than we have been.”
Cutshaw, whose father, Avery, coaches football and track for the Cavs, hit three 3s and shattered North’s press like a glass vase.
Cutshaw grinned when asked if she felt any remorse about beating up on Dad’s school. “Not at all,” she said. “In fact, it felt kind of good.”
It was a feel-good night for all the Eagles. East Davidson’s ridden a roller coaster all season, but on this night it was on its game.
“East Davidson’s a fundamental, sound team,” said White. “To beat them, you’ve got to play all four quarters, not just the last one. We’ve got to find some consistency.”
NORTHROWAN (45) — Craige 20, Jones 6, Hendrick 4, Hunter 4, Lipscomb 4, Cameron 3, Suber 2, Cuthbertson 2, Foxx, Purnell.
EASTDAVIDSON (57) — Honeycutt 16, Cutshaw 13, Freeman 10, Byerly 7, Watkins 5, Downing 2, Anthony 2, Sprinkle 2, Yates, Sullivan, Cline, Nance.
North Rowan 6 8 8 23 — 45
E. Davidson 14 17 14 12 — 57
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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