By Mike London

Salisbury Post

LANDIS — South Rowan’s girls have racked up all five of their wins against struggling teams.

All coach Jim Brooks can do is play the schedule, so there’s no need to apologize.

“All I know is 5-2 is a whole lot better than 2-5,” Brooks said.

South got 20 points and 13 rebounds from junior forward Katherine Van Wieren and cruised past Mooresville 48-27 on Monday night.

It was South’s second win over the Blue Devils (0-7). South’s also beaten winless Carson twice and A.L. Brown (2-4) once, so the jury is still out on just how good the tall Raiders are.

They were definitely too big and aggressive for Mooresville, especially Van Wieren.

She was a road-grader inside, powering her way to just about every rebound and leading the Raiders in scoring for the second time this season.

Van Wieren had 17 points and 10 rebounds by halftime. In the second quarter, she shot 7-for-8 from the field — all on layups — and scored 14 of South’s 16 points.

“We’re always looking for Kat inside because she doesn’t let anything stop her,” said South point guard Kristen Brown, who had six assists and four steals. “Tonight, she just beasted up. Kat and Taylor (May) are real strong girls, and we were all pretty aggressive.”

With May scoring six points, South took a 15-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. Mooresville had a horrid period, shooting 1-for-9 and committing 10 turnovers.

Van Wieren was unstoppable in the second quarter, and South’s halftime edge climbed to a healthy 31-7.

“Sometimes you get mismatches, and you’ve got to recognize it and take advantage,” Brooks said. “We did a good job of doing that tonight. I’ve said all along these girls don’t mind passing the ball to each other. That makes it a joy to coach them.”

Things became disjointed in the second half as Brooks got everyone plenty of minutes, but there were still some highlights. Kim Wilson and Molly Garrett hit 3-pointers, Katie Wise blocked her fifth shot of the night, and Krista Haywood scored back-to-back buckets.

“We got scoring from a lot of people, and I think we’re going to have a lot of different people lead us in scoring on different nights,” Brooks said.

May, Wilson and Wise have also led the Raiders’ scoring this season.

Kelly Butner led the Blue Devils with 10 points. Half came in the fourth quarter, when Mooresville outscored South 13-9.

“We got by with some stuff tonight, and we’ve got to make more easy shots,” Brooks said. “But I liked the enthusiasm.”

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NOTES: Mooresville coach Preston Harris will face an uphill fight all season, but he liked the way his girls kept fighting. “We tried; we really did,” he said. “But South’s tall, we’re young, and we have some injuries. As we get more experience, I think we’ll get better and better.” … Van Wieren’s outburst was the second-highest scoring game of her career. She had 22 against North Davidson last season.

MOORESVILLE (27) — Butner 10, Turner 5, Delaughter 4, Drawdy 2, Sullivan 2, Howard 2, Martin 1, Powell 1, Stockton, Sturdivant.

SOUTH ROWAN (48) — Van Wieren 20, May 6, Haywood 6, Wilson 5, Wise 4, Garrett 3, Houston 2, Morton 2, Brown.

Mooresville 2 5 7 13 — 27

So. Rowan 15 16 8 9 — 48

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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com.