LANDIS—Even without Elise Stanback, the A.L. Brown girls basketball team proved quick enough to beat South Rowan.
The Wonders grabbed a big first-half lead, then rallied in the final two minutes for a 50-44 victory in Wednesday night’s nonconference matchup between neighboring schools. They did it without senior leader Stanback, nursing a sore knee in the non-league game, but got plenty of help from others.
“Elise was hurt and I was really proud of the girls as a team to make up for it,”A.L. Brown head coach Doug Wilson said. “I thought little Marquita Clowney played great in that game. She was probably the difference.”
Stanback’s mate in the backcourt, Kesha Johnson, played the whole game and sparked the Wonders (13-2) with nine first-half points and 14 for the game. But Clowney came through in a big way with nine points and Crystal Buster came off the bench to score six.
And the Wonders still had more than enough quickness to cause problems for South (10-8). The Raiders, coming off a conference game Tuesday night, looked sluggish in the first half and trailed 25-16 at the break after turning the ball over 18 times.
“I don’t think we had the will to play, to do anything, when we came out,”Raiders head coach James Greene said. “At halftime we came in and talked, made a few adjustments and played hard the second half.”
South actually grabbed its first lead by opening the third quarter with a 10-0 run. Sophomore center Sade Jordan, who scored 16 points and added 23 rebounds, scored six points during that stretch and Katie Willett’s steal and layup made it 26-25 South with 4:35 remaining in the quarter.
The Wonders ended the third without a field goal over the final four minutes. A.L. Brown regained the lead thanks to a 6-for-8 stretch of free-throw shooting, which was its best of the game:TheWonders made just 19 of 44 foul shots (43 percent).
South’s comeback in the fourth quarter died at the free-throw line. Following a pair of Jordan putbacks, South owned a 44-41 lead with 2:58 remaining. But the Raiders missed their next four foul shots and the game turned on one final sequence.
Clowney forced a steal under the South basket and passed off to Johnson, who hit Tomekia Powell (10 points, 10 boards) for a layup and foul. The discouraged Raiders didn’t box out on the missed free throw, which Johnson corralled in the lane and put back for a 47-44 lead.
“We played very hard on defense, but we didn’t execute on offense,”Greene said. “We hit those free throws down the stretch and be patient and pass the ball and take good shots, I think we’re OK.”
“They’re a good team, they’re nice, I like James,”Wilson said. “It’s a good rivalry, looks like they made some money — now we’ve got to go home and rest and get ready for the (West Rowan) Lady Falcons.”
A.L. BROWN (50) — Buster 6, Hutchinson 5, Clowney 9, Powell 10, Johnson 14, Crosby 6, Summers, Smitherman, Thomas, Sturgis, Rice.
SOUTHROWAN (44) — Yost 3, Mack 6, Jordan 16, Willett 8, Russell 3, Blackwood 2, Rucker 6, Durrant, Parker, Littlejohn.
A.L. Brown 12 13 11 14 — 50
South Rowan 6 10 16 12 — 44
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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4256 or shanf@salisburypost.com
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