By Bret Strelow

Salisbury Post

WINSTON-SALEM — Another offensive rebound.

Another basket by Taylor May.

Mount Tabor girls coach Rick Anderson had seen enough.

The first-place Spartans remained unbeaten in CPC play thanks to a 61-40 victory against visiting South Rowan on Tuesday night, but the Raiders held a one-point lead at halftime courtesy of May’s 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“She had her way with us,” Anderson said.

May scored on a putback at the buzzer to give South (6-11, 1-5) a

25-24 edge, but Mount Tabor (14-4,

7-0) used a diamond-and-one defense in the third quarter.

The Spartans opened the period with a 16-0 run and outscored the Raiders 25-4 during that eight-minute stretch.

“Every pass we made, they had somebody flying to it,” South Rowan coach Jim Brooks said. “I don’t know if we played that bad or they were just playing that good. They stepped it up about 10 notches. For us to be successful, we have to step up with them.”

The first three minutes of the third quarter changed the complexion of the game. South committed turnovers on its first six possessions, and Mount Tabor scored 13 unanswered points.

A free throw by Krista Haywood with 4:35 left in the period ended South’s drought, and a 3-pointer by Kim Wilson cut the Spartans’ lead to 45-29.

Mount Tabor’s Mackenzie Wheaton chased May, who had no points and one rebound after the break. She missed her only second-half shot, which came with 2:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“First half, everything went right but little mental mistakes,” May said. “In the second half, it was like nothing could go right.”

Mount Tabor played without center Jennifer Penley, who injured a knee Monday, and the Raiders controlled the paint in the early going. They had 10 offensive rebounds in the first six minutes, and May finished the first quarter with eight points and eight boards.

South went 10-for-32 from the field and committed 17 turnovers in the first half but still held a lead thanks to a 7-for-12 shooting performance from May.

“We were playing hard,” Brooks said. “Once we decide to rebound and you give us second and third chances, we can hurt you. Taylor stepped up and played probably her best overall game.

“I told her at the half they’d do their best to shut her down and that she’d have to focus on defense and rebounding. I thought she did a good job with that.”

SOUTH ROWAN (40) — May 16, Van Wieren 8, Wilson 6, Garrett 4, Wise 3, Haywood 3, Brown, Morton, Houston.

Mount TABOR (61) — Sechrest 16, Rector 14, Meadows 10, Gordon 5, Carmen 4, Cameron-Fuller 4, Terry 4, Palmer 2, Wasowski 2, Wheaton, Crawford.

S. Rowan 10 15 4 11 — 40

Mt. Tabor 8 16 25 12 — 61

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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com.