By Nick Bowton

Salisbury Post

CLEMMONS — East Rowan point guard Katelynne Poole swore the basket was good. West Forsyth coach John Pinnix didn’t think so.

East coach Karen Garmon didn’t really care either way.

The Mustangs lost 52-50 on Friday when Poole’s game-tying shot at the buzzer was waved off after referees conferred for a moment. Poole called the decision to disallow the basket — one official initially signalled the shot beat the buzzer — “a heartbreaker.” Garmon, however, was just glad to see her Mustangs fight back from an 11-point deficit with five minutes remaining.

“I think if you have mixed messages, they should go ahead and send it to overtime and let us battle out,” Garmon said. “But I’m not worried about that last shot because tonight is the first time I have seen this young group of girls follow everything we’ve asked them to do. They did everything right in order for us to get back in it and have that last chance.

“I’m not gonna argue about that last shot. I was proud of ’em.”

In particular, Garmon was glad to see the Mustangs (5-10, 1-2 CPC) successfully employ their man-to-man defense in the fourth quarter. Players usually panic or leave an opponent wide open or foul at the wrong time.

Not last night, when East went on an 11-1 run to get within 49-48 with 50 seconds remaining. Ashley Collins scored six of her game-high 20 points during the run. She also had 11 rebounds.

“We followed the gameplan,” Garmon said. “That’s what I tell ’em all the time: Coaches give you the gameplan, and you follow it. They followed it all the way to the end. They did everything perfect. They did a great job of moving their feet and fouling when it was necessary.”

While the Mustangs did display some resiliency by rallying, they didn’t do it on their own. West Forsyth, which looked like a very good jump-shooting team in the first three quarters, couldn’t make a shot in the fourth. The Titans (8-7, 2-2) made only two field goals in the final quarter and went

7-of-16 from the free-throw line.

“I was praying for the clock to hurry up and run,” Pinnix said. “We couldn’t make a foul shot and they couldn’t miss a foul shot. I guess we made enough to win.”

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NOTES: West Forsyth went 15-of-30 from the foul line, while East was 21-of-33. East forward Rebecca Cooper was sidelined late in the third quarter with a gash on her chin and didn’t return.

East rowan (50) — Collins 20, Poole 11, Miller 6, Hill 3, Cooper 3, Cress 3, Barrier 2, K.Stout 2, Vanderford.

west forsyth (52) — Smith 15, Henderson 11, Maas 8, Bolar 8, Urban 4, Miller 2, Ricks 2, Lunsford 2, Foster, Griffen.

E. Rowan 9 14 12 15 — 50

W. Forsyth 15 14 12 11 — 52

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Contact Nick Bowton at 704-797-4256 or nbowton@salisburypost.com.