By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
SPENCER ó North Rowan’s girls finished the regular season with only four wins, but they’re 1-0 wearing pink shoelaces.
The Cavaliers had a good Friday night, helping raise $366.37 for the American Cancer Society and sending their seniors out with a victory.
North got a solid National Anthem from senior guard Victoria Rhinehart and beat Lexington 57-54 in a back-and-forth struggle. It was the Cavaliers’ first victory since they beat the winless Yellow Jackets 50-37 on Jan. 22.
“We really needed this,” said North junior Symphony Roberts, who shot 12-for-14 from the line and scored 19 points. “I still can’t believe Lexington came back on us the way they did, but we pulled it out.”
Freshman Teaunna Cuthbertson, who will show off her jumping ability in today’s state indoor track meet, yanked down 19 rebounds, including nine in the third quarter alone.
Senior Quon Cuthbertson contributed 11 points to the CCC victory.
Keosha Roberts led Lexington (0-22, 0-14) with 13 points, including eight in a furious fourth-quarter in which two desperate teams competed like a title was up for grabs.
“As a coach, I have to be satisfied with our effort,” Lexington’s Ann Hoffman said. “Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and our girls showed how big their hearts are. They did everything they could do, but sometimes it seems like it’s just not supposed to happen.”
North (4-19, 2-12) led 24-18 at halftime and appeared to have things under control with a 32-23 lead midway through the third quarter.
But Lexington kept coming, tied the game at 39-all on a 3-pointer by Brittany Jones and seized a 46-42 lead with 3:46 left to play.
Then it was North’s turn to rally, and the Cavs got key points from Abril Ellis, Joyce Smyre and Quon Cuthbertson, who connected on a swooping, driving lefty layup.
“Coach (Tony Hillian) kept telling us this was the seniors’ last game here and we had to fight through it,” Cuthbertson said.
North trailed 54-53 with 30 seconds left when a stumbling Quon Cuthbertson passed to Teaunna Cuthbertson for a layup. After a steal, Tiffany Brown hit a free throw for a 56-54 edge, and Roberts made it a three-point lead with a free throw with 6.1 seconds left.
Lexington couldn’t get off a final shot.
“Sometimes we’ve given up at the end so it was great to see the girls keep it together and fight to hang on,” Hillian said.
lexington (54) ó Roberts 13, Murphy 11, Jones 11, Richards 7, Robinson 5, Chisholm 4, Kelly 3, Morris .
North rowan (57) ó Roberts 19, T. Cuthbertson 13, Q. Cuthbertson 11, Brown 4, Smyre 4, Ellis 4, Gregory 1, Turner 1, Rhinehart, Bethea.
Lexington 10 8 14 22 ó 54
N. Rowan 8 16 12 21 ó 57