LANDIS — South Rowan’s fourth-place girls are under the radar, but they still could be a factor in the SPC race.
South breezed 62-41 against Concord on Tuesday for its fourth straight victory and third straight conference win, and the Raiders still have games remaining against East Rowan, Central Cabarrus and Hickory — the three teams above them in the SPC standings.
South (9-7, 6-3) hasn’t won a league title since 1999, so just being a contender this late in the season is noteworthy.
“We’ve had everybody healthy for just one game all season,” said South coach Jarrod Smith, whose team continues to play without Caroline Hubbard and added Beth Ann Martin to the wounded list this week. “But people keep stepping up.”
Avery Locklear scored 20 points to lead the onslaught against the Spiders. Cassidy Chipman had 15, Lynsey Corriher put in 12, and Sylvetta Bost added nine.
Locklear had seven points in the first two minutes, and Chipman nailed a 3-pointer for a 12-2 lead.
“We all came out on fire,” Corriher said. “We had a lot of good team play and we just didn’t miss much in the first half.”
It was over at halftime. By then, South led 38-17. A 2-2-1 press fueled the Raiders against a shorthanded Concord team that is missing two guards due to injury. Locklear, Chipman and Bost piled up steals that led to easy buckets.
“We worked on it, but we just didn’t handle their zone press,” Concord coach Angela Morton said. “We knew what to do and where to go, we just didn’t do it.”
Locklear has played in nine games. South is 7-2 in those. She’s scored at least 20 six times.
Chipman has topped 20 four times and 30 twice, so that’s a lot of firepower to contend with.
“We thought if we just contain 21 (Chipman) we had a chance,” Morton said. “But we got down so far early.”
When Locklear grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-cast midway in the third quarter, South led 48-19. Smith backed off the pressure after that.
“We fouled too much late in the game,” Smith said. “But we were solid for the most part. We made layups, we made free throws, and we did the job on the boards.”
CONCORD (41) — Cannady 11, Black 8, Clay 8, Thomas 5, Patton 4, Vinson 4, Williams 1.
S. ROWAN (62) — Locklear 20, Chipman 15, Corriher 12, Bost 9, Stamey 4, McLendon 2, Smith, Waters, Figueroa.
Concord 8 9 9 15 — 41
S. Rowan 23 15 13 11 — 62