By Nick Bowton

Salisbury Post

WINSTON-SALEM — East Rowan would have trouble competing with CPC leader Mount Tabor regardless of circumstances.

Given the circumstances Friday night, the Mustangs had no chance.

Starters Ashley Collins and Haley Miller picked up three fouls apiece in the first quarter and sat out the entire second quarter, and East stumbled to a 67-35 loss that secured a second straight conference title for the Spartans.

“It really just happened so quickly,” East coach Karen Garmon said of the fouls. “My assistants are smacking me in the back telling me, ‘That’s three! That’s three!’ And it’s what, first quarter, already they have three fouls each? They’re two of our go-to players.

“That killed us.”

It led to East’s second-worst defeat of the season. The Mustangs lost to Salisbury by 33 points in December.

Before Miller and Collins got into foul trouble, the Mustangs (9-13, 5-5 CPC) stayed fairly competitive. Point guard Katelynne Poole scored seven of her team-high 14 points during the first quarter, and East trailed 19-13 going into the second.

Then the Mustangs came out with a lineup that didn’t include their foul-plagued starters and went into halftime with a 42-19 deficit.

“The deficit was so much we couldn’t really get back in it,” Garmon said. “Mount Tabor’s awesome. They’re the best in the conference by far.

“I don’t see a weak point for them.”

Tabor coach Rick Anderson wouldn’t go that far — he said the Spartans didn’t push the tempo as much as they wanted to early. But he couldn’t complain too much on Senior Night.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” said Anderson, whose Spartans are 17-5 overall, 10-0 in the CPC. “The strange thing is last year down at East Rowan is when we clinched it, and then this year it just happens to fall on the East Rowan game.

“That’s tough for them because they have a good team, but we were happy to do it on Senior Night.”

EAST rowan (35) — Poole 14, Vanderford 5, Miller 4, Hill 4, Collins 3, Cooper 2, K.Stout 2, Barrier 1, Cress, S.Stout, Smith.

MOUNT TABOR (67) — Rector 19, Sechrest 17, Meadows 13, Penley 5, Wasowski 3, Wheaton 3, Palmer 2, Terry 2, Fuller 2, Gordon 1, Carmen, Crawford.

E. Rowan 13 6 12 4 — 35

Mt. Tabor 19 23 13 12 — 67