By David Shaw

sports@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — It’s called late-game execution — and it cost the East Rowan girls basketball team a much-needed South Piedmont Conference victory on Friday.

Instead of wrapping their arms around a last-second lead and squeezing tight, the Mustangs relented and watched Robinson senior Destiney Johnson convert a short set shot as time expired, providing a 44-43 win for the visiting Bulldogs.

“It’s heart-wrenching,” East coach Danielle Porter said. “We knew they were going to get one more possession. We didn’t expect them to get three chances. You’ve got to contest that first shot and make that rebound yours.”

East (11-11, 6-10) was victimized by tissue-soft, weak-side rebounding that allowed Robinson to get off three shots in the final 12 seconds. The third one proved decisive.

“We gave them too many chances,” senior Jocelyn Lowe said. “That should never happen. That’s why this one hurts.”

It does. Robinson (9-11, 8-8) completed a sweep of East this season and may or may not have erased the Mustangs from the post-season picture.

“From quarter to quarter, you never know what’s going to change,” said winning coach Justin Thomas. “They were missing shots all game. In the fourth quarter, they didn’t, but we were absolutely lucky. We’ll take three attempts at a game-winning basket any day.”

Robinson was paced by 14-year old freshman Jada McMillan, who scored a game-high 19 points and put the guests ahead, 42-41, when she drove the lane for a layup with 46 seconds remaining. East answered 20 seconds later when 5-foot-11 senior Brittany Small clutched an offensive rebound and hit a put-back, pushing the Mustangs back in front and eliciting a lunatic roar from the crowd.

“(Small) is one that doesn’t quit,” Porter said. “That was big-time for her.”

East got the ball back with 12.6 seconds to go and set up an inbounds play under the Robinson basket. But a rotational mistake led to a turnover — East’s 23rd of the game — and the Bulldogs regained possession.

It set the stage for Johnson’s heroic finish. A guard who has played behind college-bound players the past three seasons, her only shot won the game.

“Go figure,” Thomas said. “She doesn’t shoot. She doesn’t score. Yet she finds herself with a rebound and makes a heady play.”

Statistically, the game was a nightmare for East. It shot 14-for 58 from the field and made only one field goal in both the both second and third quarters. From the foul line the Mustangs were jut 13-for-27. “That’s horrible,” Porter said.

There was more bad news for East. Senior Shenique Pharr — the team’s best weak-side rebounder — suffered a left eye injury with 2:50 remaining in the first half and never returned. Her sister, Shennell Pharr, led the Mustangs with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“What hurt us most,” Shennell said, “was our end of the game execution. I know there was whole game before it, with lots and lots of chances. But at the end, our guards and forwards just didn’t box out.”

Lowe already knew that. “Now we’ve got a weekend to think about it,” she said. “I hope we can go into next week and give it all we’ve got.”

ROBINSON (44) — McMillan 19, Koerner 6, Glass 5, Misenheimer 4, Jordan 4, Davis 2, Boulware 2, Johnson 2.

EAST ROWAN (43) — Shenell Pharr 16, Shenique Pharr 11, Small 7, J.Lowe 3, Harrison 2, Weisensel 2, S.Lowe 2, Wagner.

Robinson    11   9   13   11  — 44

East Rowan        18   5    4   16  — 43