GRANITE QUARRY — If the East Rowan girls basketball team was feeling any heat Tuesday, it hardly showed.

The Mustangs got 27 points from Kelli Fisher and kept pace in the South Piedmont Conference championship race with a 60-54 senior night victory against visiting Central Cabarrus.

“You’ve got to win the battle to win the war,” coach Danielle Porter said after East Rowan (20-2, 13-2) won its ninth straight game and set the stage for Friday’s winner-take-all, regular-season finale at South Rowan.

“We’ve emphasized all week not to look past this team. We’ll be ready for South but we had to take care of business here first.”

Central Cabarrus (10-12, 7-8 SPC), which outscored the Mustangs 69-65 on Jan. 6, received 22 points from Kasey Rowden and 20 from Mahaley Holit — its dynamic 1-2 backcourt punch. Both sophomores, they combined for 18 points and five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, when the Vikings cut into a double-digit deficit.

“Hey, they’re battling for their spot (in the upcoming conference tournament) as well,” East junior Joclyn Lowe said. “They were gonna play us hard right until the end.”

East Rowan quickly established its inside game, feeding the 6-foot-3 Fisher for four layups in the first period. The Mustangs jumped to a 10-0 lead before the game was seven-minutes old.

“It’s just a maturity thing,” said Fisher, one of five East seniors recognized afterward. “Sometimes you get ahead of yourself. But making layups is just a matter of calming down and gathering yourself.”

It seemed everything Fisher threw up was caught by the net. She shot 11-for-14 from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Teammate Amani Ajayi had 10 second-half points and has converted 10 straight free throw attempts over the past three games. Then there was senior Shelby Benge (8 points, 10 rebounds), who missed out on a double-double after missing four consecutive free throws in the waning seconds.

“That’s all right,” she said. “We got the win even though they came alive in the fourth quarter. They got their energy. We came together as one and focused. Now we’ve got to keep pushing and working hard, doing our thing.”

Benge’s layup with 3:48 to play gave East a 53-40 lead. Moments later it was down to 57-51 — following back-to-back 3-pointers by Holit.

East didn’t secure the decision until Ajayi converted both ends of a one-and-one with 47.3 seconds remaining.

“They went on a run in the fourth quarter but we eventually shut them down,” she said. “We did everything we needed to do to get the win. Now there’s no time to relax.”

With the Vikings dismissed, the Mustangs can now focus on capturing their second straight conference championship. They beat South Rowan (also 13-2 SPC) 58-54 in a Jan. 9 matchup, but both teams have improved since then.

“It’s always been a rivalry,” said Fisher. “But with both teams being at the top of the conference, it’s an even bigger one this year.”

CENTRAL CABARRUS (54): Rowden 22, Holit 20, McFarlane 6, Van Dyke 4, Breedlove 2.

EAST ROWAN (60): Fisher 27, Ajayi 12, Benge 8, Shenell Pharr 5, Shenique Pharr 4, Troutman 4, Drew, J.Lowe, Eller.

Central Cabarrus  7  14  12  21 — 54

East Rowan  15  14  16  15 — 60