By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
LANDIS ó A combination of box-and-ones and 1,000-point anxiety kept South Rowan senior Taylor May off-stride recently, but she was her old self Monday.May scored 22 points in a 51-44 win against Mooresville in the first round of the NPC tournament. She hit six field goals in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.
“I’ve been overdue,” May said. “The biggest thing was tonight Mooresville played me man-to-man. We haven’t seen a lot of that lately, and we were able to run our plays. Everyone had a good night.”
It was May’s highest scoring game in nearly a month and her best outing since Nikki Graham, who was South’s second option most of the season, went down with a torn ACL.
Kayla Morrow continued her recent flurry with 14 points. Molly Garrett scored 11. Whitney Haywood had six rebounds in a hurry.
Garrett’s seven first-quarter points put fourth-seeded South (15-10) up early, and the Raiders kept control until they went cold in the fourth and watched the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (8-15) surge to a 36-33 lead with 6:20 to play.May and Morrow turned the tide. May hit twice as South regained the lead. After Morrow made two free throws, she and May rejected a shot together. Then May nailed two bankers and drew a charge.
“It came down to rebounding, and our rebounding can get to you,” South coach Jim Brooks said. “They were only getting one shot, so there was pressure on them to hit it.”
South plays No. 1 seed Statesville in a semifinal at West Iredell at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. That’s one of two guaranteed games May has left. She has 964 career points.
“As far as 1,000 points, if I don’t get there, there’s no one to blame but myself,” May said. “I’ve missed plenty of layups and free throws.”
But not last night. She was on target in a game that likely will be her final one in the South gym.
mooresville (44) ó McLaughlin 13, Harris 8, Martin 8, Smith 5, Stockton 5, Berryman 3, Pridgen 2, Faulkner, Thomas. Holbrook, Sturdivant.
South Rowan (51) ó May 22, Morrow 14, Garrett 11, Sides 2, Goins 2, K. Haywood, W. Haywood, Roberts.
Mooresville 5 12 15 12 ó 44
S. Rowan 13 14 6 18 ó 51