By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
GRANITE QUARRY — South Davidson girls coach Fonda Jackson arrived at the East Rowan gym shorthanded, so a 50-41 by her 1A squad against 3A East Rowan was a notable achievement.
Only one of Jackson’s dazzling Sigmon triplets was good to go.
Larsen Sigmon, the healthy Sigmon sibling, made up for it. She played like she had six arms and six legs and led the Wildcats with 18 points and a truckload of steals.
A limited Hunter Sigmon played about a minute. Madison Sigmon was out with an ankle injury.
“We had just eight bodies, seven healthy ones,” Jackson said. “So I was very proud of how they battled against a tough team with a whole lot of size.”
East’s 6-foot-3 sophomore Karleigh Wike showed that she didn’t spend the offseason sitting on the couch watching TV. She displayed an improved set of skills and scored 16 points on 8-for-12 shooting. She made forceful blocks and pulled down surprisingly aggressive rebounds.
The negatives? She didn’t get the ball enough and she never visited the foul line.
“It doesn’t take rocket science to see where the ball needs to go on our team,” East coach Danielle Porter said. “We’re working on it.”
South Davidson won the game at the foul line, which is not a critique of the officiating crew. The Wildcats were more aggressive. They drove and got fouled. East was outscored from the line 17-2.
“They got nine points on free throws in the first half while we got none,” Porter said. “That’s because we didn’t move our feet, and then we had to hack at ’em.”
South Davidson overcame dismal 1-for-12 shooting in the first quarter to lead 24-18 at halftime.
“Whenever we played uptempo, we seemed to get things going,” Jackson said. “If you can be either big or fast, I’ll take fast.”
East trailed by 10 midway through the third quarter, but back-to-back 3s by Steffi Sides and Caroline Fry sparked an East comeback.
“Sides gave us that 100-percent effort we’re looking for,” Porter said. “She brought energy. That’s why she went in and stayed in.”
Wike fouled out, but Sides hit another 3 with 1:04 left to play to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 42-39.
With East trailing 44-41, Fry had a chance to tie it with a 3 from the right corner with 33 seconds left, but the decent look wouldn’t fall.
Addie Grubb then sealed victory for the Wildcats by sinking two clutch free throws and making a steal and a three-point play.
SOUTH DAVIDSON (50) — L. Sigmon 18, Beeson 13, Apple 9, Grubb 7, Wall 2, Fee 1, Strother, H. Sigmon.
EAST ROWAN (41) — Wike 16, Sides 8, Poole 6, Fry 3, L. Thomas 2, B. Thomas 2, Fisher 2, Lowe 2, Gobble, Brown, Rummage, Gullett,
S. David. 5 19 12 14 — 50
E. Rowan 8 10 14 9 — 41