High school girls basketball roundup: Big road win for South girls
Published 11:00 pm Friday, January 18, 2019
From staff reports
Friday’s games …
SOUTH ROWAN
THOMASVILLE — Janiya Downs scored 33 points, but South Rowan’s 57-55 road win at East Davidson was mostly about defense.
East Davidson shot the ball really well in the third quarter and had sprinted to a double-digit lead when South coach Stacy Ellis called timeout.
“That’s when Janiya spoke up,” Ellis said. “We weren’t that worried about our offense, we felt like we could score, but we had to get some stops. Janiya told everyone we had to play better defense.”
Downs practiced what she preached. She took a charge. Lauren Shell took a charge. Those defensive plays helped turn the game around for the Raiders.
In the fourth quarter, South outscored East Davidson 16-8 and pulled it out.
Freshman Bethany Rymer had a tough night until the fourth quarter, but she had seven of her nine points down the stretch. Madison McGuire hit three 3-pointers, including two in the third quarter that helped South stay in it.
The victory gave South (8-7, 7-2) a season sweep of the Golden Eagles (12-4, 7-4). East Davidson only team in the Central Carolina Conference that’s been able to beat Salisbury.
“We are so up and down it’s unbelievable,” Ellis said with a sigh. “We played really well early in the game, found a good rhythm and built a nice lead, but then we started turning it over. And then they got hot.”
But South finished strong.
Downs made two 3-pointers and five free throws to go with 11 field goals. She’s averaging 30 points per game — a county-record pace — and has scored 1,983 points in her career.
Carli Moore returned from an ankle injury and scored two points for the Raiders.
Bailey Grimsley led East Davidson with 22 points, while Alli Ray had 13.
South held Skylar Grubb to seven.
“We did a good job against her,” Ellis said. “She makes them go.”
South plays at home against Oak Grove on Monday.
SOUTH (57) — Downs 33, McGuire 9, Rymer 9, Moore 2, Shell 2, Butler 2, P. Chabala, A. Chabala, Harrington, Littlejohn.
E. DAVIDSON (55) — Grimsley 22, Ray 13, Hill 7, Grubb 7, Kinely 4, Warrick 2.
S. Rowan 16 14 11 16 — 57
E. Davidson 16 13 18 8 — 55
CARSON
STATESVILLE — Statesville’s girls made five 3-pointers in the first quarter and were on their way to a 51-41 North Piedmont Conference win against second-ranked Carson.
“They got off to a great start and we were never really able to recover after that,” Carson coach Brooke Stouder said.
The Greyhounds (12-3, 2-1) got 20 points from Aasia McNeill and handed the Cougars (16-1, 2-1) their first setback.
“Tonight was a rough night, to say the least,” Stouder said. “We struggled to score and were extremely timid offensively, which then led to turnovers.”
McKenzie Gadson scored 17 to lead Carson. Maci Cooper had eight, while Carleigh Perry and Colbie Perry scored six each.
Carson, West Rowan, North Iredell and Statesville are tied for first in the NPC.
“Our league is a tough league, and we’ve got to be ready to play every night,” Stouder said. “Some nights our offense isn’t going to come easily, and we’ve got to be prepared to grind it out. Great effort by Statesville tonight. They outplayed us and deserved to win. We’ve got to learn from this loss, get better from it, and get prepared to play West Rowan next Friday.”
CARSON (41) — Gadson 17, Cooper 8, Ca. Perry 6, Co. Perry 6, Conrad 2, Wilhelm 2, Isley, Post.
STATESVILLE (51) — McNeill 20, Gray 13, Sharpe 12, Keaton 4, Bowman 2.
Carson 9 7 13 12 — 41
Statesville 17 9 11 14 — 51
SALISBURY
SALISBURY — Salisbury’s girls crushed Thomasville 47-10 to stay on top in the Central Carolina Conference.
Salisbury’s offense was up-and-down, but tight man-to-man defense was a constant. Thomasville (3-9, 2-7) didn’t get on the scoreboard until the game was more than 11 minutes old. The Hornets led 16-0 when Raven Lee made a bucket for the Bulldogs with 4:36 left in the second quarter.
Rachel McCullough got the Hornets started with a 3-pointer. Bryanna Troutman drained a 3-pointer and sliced to the rim for a driving layup to make it 10-0.
Anayia Fulson pushed the lead to 16-0, turning a steal into a layup, before Thomasville could get on the scoreboard.
By halftime, Fulson had 12 points and Troutman had 11, and the Hornets were in control, 28-8.
The eighth-ranked Hornets (13-2, 9-1) played reserves most of the second half, but they kept playing defense. Thomasville was shut out in the fourth quarter just as it had been in the opening stanza.
Carolina Harrell’s 3-pointer made it 41-10, and Jinika Glenn’s nice bounce pass to Tacorra Robinson for a layup made it 44-10. Even with Troutman, Fulson and McCullough sitting, Salisbury finished the game on a 17-0 run.
Thomasville’s 10 points was one of the lowest totals ever allowed by Salisbury. The Hornets had a 56-10 win against North Rowan last season and a 54-10 win over North’s Cavaliers in 2016-17 .
The Hornets set the school defensive record in the 2008-09 season in a 42-8 win against Central Davidson. That was a state championship team that also ran over South Meck, 100-9.
Mahkayla Hart, a 6-foot-1 junior, was the most impressive player for the Bulldogs, scoring six points and rejecting several shots.
THOMASVILLE (10) — Hart 6, Lee 2, Little 2, Gales, Gainey.
SALISBURY (47) — Fulson 16, Troutman 11, McCullough 5, Brown 4, T. Robinson 3, Harrell 3, C. Robinson 2, Evans 2, Horton 1, Oats, Mashore, MeEntyre, Gibson.
Thomasville 0 8 2 0 — 10
Salisbury 12 16 13 6 — 47
NORTH ROWAN
ALBEMARLE — North Rowan’s girls lost at league-leading Albemarle in a Yadkin Valley Conference contest, 54-39.
Deshada Wall scored 20 points to lead fourth-ranked Albemarle (15-1, 8-0. The Bulldogs finished a season sweep of the Cavaliers (7-9, 5-3).
Freshman Hannah Wilkerson scored 12 for North. Mikiya McDaniel had 11, and Natavia Taborn scored 10.
Neither team scored for the first 5:17. Wilkerson hit a free throw to put the Cavaliers up 1-0.
“We came out flat, started very slow,” North coach Lamar Wilkerson said.
Combined turnovers (10) exceeded points (9) in the first quarter.
North didn’t make a field goal until McDaniel connected on a turn-around jumper with 6:10 remaining in the second quarter.
North had a fourth-quarter run and got within 10 points before the Bulldogs put the game away.
“Just too many turnovers and too many missed free throws,” Wilkerson said.
NORTH (39) — Wilkerson 12, McDaniel 11, Taborn 10, Shoaf 2, Robbins 2, Sherrill 1, McDonald 1.
ALBEMARLE (54) — Wall 20, Ridley 11, McLendon 11, Baldwin 5, Little 4, Newton 3.
N. Rowan 2 10 7 20 — 39
Albemarle 7 20 12 15 — 54
Others
LEXINGTON — Mikenzie Harvin scored 20 points and reached 1,000 for her career in Lexington’s 67-35 CCC romp against Central Davidson.
The Yellow Jackets (10-6, 5-6) got 21 points from Danasia Bray.
Lexington led 28-2 at the outset.
Lexington is home against Salisbury next Friday.
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WELCOME — Freshman Emily Hege had 21 points and five steals as North Davidson topped Oak Grove, 60-35, in CCC action.
Courtney McMillan had another huge game with 17 points, 17 rebounds, five steals and four blocks. Tiana Elam scored nine.
Gillian Hinkle scored 12 for the Grizzlies.
•••
CONCORD — In the South Piedmont Conference, Central Cabarrus stayed unbeaten in the league with a 75-31 pummeling of Concord.
Demi Case led the Vikings with 21 points. Jael Miller scored 18. Aniyah Tate had 13.
Miriam Stevenson led the Spiders with 16.
Central led 24-7 after the first quarter and by 40-15 at halftime.
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•••
SCORES
West Forsyth 70, Davie County 28 (CPC)
Northwest Cabarrus 57, A.L. Brown 45 (SPC)
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JV
Carson’s jayvees won against Statesville, 25-20.
Hannah Isley scored 10, while Makayla Johnson had nine for the Cougars. Maddie Morgan was a defensive standout.
Kanesha Turner scored seven for the Greyhounds.
•••
West Rowan’s jayvees lost to North Iredell, 30-20.
Dreamah Mason scored six for the Falcons. Megyn Spicer and Maddie McDaniel scored five each.
