By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
SPENCER ó North Rowan girls coach Tony Hillian watched his team outscore Gray Stone 23-6 in the fourth quarter Friday night and he was nowhere near being satisfied.
That’s because his team still lost by five, 49-44.
“We just never got into the game,” Hillian said. “We were not attacking the basket. We were being too timid.”
Molly Peele wasn’t timid. She led Gray Stone (7-3, 3-1 YVC) with all 12 points in the first quarter as the Knights led 12-3. The only Cavalier basket came on a 3-pointer by Brittany Davis.
Gray Stone upped the margin to 27-13 at the half.
“We were playing defense OK,” Hillian said. “We just didn’t hit our shots.”
That is, until the fourth quarter.
“We decided we wanted to play,” Hillian said.
After being down by as many as 22, a basket by Sabrina Vann cut the lead to 47-37 and a Teaunna Cuthbertson bank shot from 10 feet made it an 8-point deficit.
Cree Turner made a steal and converted two free throws and suddenly, the Cavs were within six and got the crowd into it.
But Peele, who didn’t hit a basket in the second half, added two free throws for a 49-41 lead. North (3-2, 2-1) then committed a turnover, followed by two missed free throws.
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NOTES: Cuthbertson led North with 19 points. … Symphony Roberts is still out with a knee injury. … Peele led Gray Stone with 23.
gray stone (49) ó Peele 23, Broussard 8, Sandy 6, Evans 4, Burns 3, Broadway 3, Culp 2.
north rowan (44) ó Cuthbertson 19, Brown 7, Vann 7, Davis 5, J. Turner 4, Bush 2, Berry, E. Turner, Sells.
Gray Stone 12 15 16 6 ó 49
N. Rowan 3 10 8 23 ó 44