By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — It’s early December, but it was a must-win for an East Rowan girls basketball team that’s been searching for a new identity.
The Mustangs may have found themselves. They got after it on Thursday, they got a career-high 23 points from senior Shenell Pharr, and they beat visiting Concord, 60-48, for their first South Piedmont Conference win.
“This was a redemption game for us,” said Pharr, after the Mustangs bounced back from Tuesday’s lop-sided home loss to Carson. “We’ve talked a lot since our late game. The mottoes tonight were communication and leadership. We did better at those things.”
It still wasn’t easy. Concord has improved, and the Spiders got 15 points and 13 rebounds from formidable post player Jada Black.
Shenell’s twin sister, Shenique, scored 12 for the Mustangs (3-2, 1-2 SPC). Jocelyn Lowe scored nine. Lauren Weisensel and Brittany Small ruled the boards, combining for 22 rebounds. East out-rebounded the Spiders, 45-32.
Fouls eventually beat the Spiders (1-1, 1-1 SPC) almost as much as the quickness of the Pharr twins. Concord was whistled for 22 personals, while East was called for nine. Two Spiders fouled out.
East was 44-8 the last two seasons with several championships, but even with three returning starters, this is a much shorter, much less experienced team. Small, a Liberty track (high jump) signee, is a senior but is playing basketball for the first time in three years. The other new starter, Weisensel, is a freshman.
“We’ve got a lot to learn and we’re just not there yet as far as some technical things that are going to take time,” East coach Danielle Porter said. “So we’ve got to do the non-negotiable things like communicating, sprinting back on defense and being disciplined on weakside rebounding. We did those things tonight.”
The first half was a dogfight. Down 21-16 in the second quarter and struggling to deal with Black in the post, the Mustangs suddenly put together a game-changing 10-0 run that included a big 3-pointer by Lowe.
East led 28-26 at halftime despite shooting 4-for-13 from the foul line.
The Mustangs were excellent at the foul line in the second half (10-for-12) and dominated the boards in the third quarter to build a double-digit lead. Weisensel had three inside buckets in the third quarter.
“Our focus was very good in the second half,” Shenell Pharr said. “We executed better and we made our free throws.”
The signature plays in the second half were a soaring rebound by Small, who fired an outlet pass that led to a layup by Shenell Pharr for a 40-33 lead — and a three-point play by Pharr when she aggressively darted into traffic to rebound her own missed 3-pointer. That play by Pharr pushed East’s lead to 50-38 early in the fourth quarter and got Makayla Davis, one of the key Spiders, out of the game with fouls.
“We’ve out-rebounded every team we’ve played,” Porter said. “But tonight, we had razor-sharp focus and leadership to go with the rebounds. It was a really good effort. I was proud of the girls.”

East Rowan 60, Concord 48

CONCORD (48) — Black 15, Patton 11, Houston 6, Gravely 6, Davis 5, Privette 2, Robinson 2, Cannady 1, Simpson, Stevenson.
EAST ROWAN (60) — Shenell Pharr 23, Shenique Pharr 12, J, Lowe 9, Small 8, Weisensel 6, Harrison 2, Wagner, S. Lowe, Loper.

Concord 11 15 10 12 — 48
East Rowan 12 16 18 14 — 60