Statesville girls 67, East Rowan 51

By Bret Strelow

bstrelow@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan's girls started early — and effectively.

A rough second quarter spoiled an otherwise solid effort from the Mustangs.

Olivia Sabo scored 13 points to lead East, which fell 67-51 against visiting Statesville on Thursday in a game that tipped off at 4:30 p.m.

"Nobody's touched a ball because of all this snow, so I expected it to be really ugly," East coach Karen Garmon said. "We played pretty well."

Alaina Vanderford, Mackenzie Holshouser and Tempest Means scored 10 points apiece to give East (3-15, 1-7 NPC) four players in double figures.

The Mustangs lost the first meeting by 28 points but held a 17-14 lead after one quarter of the rematch. They were outscored by 18 points in the next quarter and trailed 39-24 at halftime.

East outscored Statesville (10-6, 6-2) by a point in the third quarter and was outscored by two in the final period.

"I felt like we did a good job of playing man-to-man defense, which is something new for us," Garmon said. "We've always been a zone team. My kids are being much more mature defensively on the floor."

Sabo eclipsed her previous career high of 12 points, a total she posted two games earlier.

"She was a huge presence on the inside for us," Garmon said. "She did a great job. She led us offensively and defensively.

"She has become a warrior on the inside. She works non-stop, and we didn't bring her off the floor at all."

STATESVILLE (67) — Parker 17, Williams 16, Bradley 9, Watts 8, Jones 7, Harvey 6, McCord 2, Brenwick 2.

East ROWAN (51) — Sabo 13, Vanderford 10, Holshouser 10, Means 10, Corpening 4, Drew 3, Honeycutt 1.

Statesville 14 25 9 19 — 67

East Rowan 17 7 10 17 — 51