LANDIS — South Rowan won running away from Cox Mill. It was an easy win, but that doesn’t mean it was pretty.

The Raiders held the Chargers without scoring for the first 6 minutes, 3 seconds of the game. South Rowan was already ahead by 12. The Raiders went on to win 49-27, their 10th conference win of 2014-15.

“I don’t think we played well offensively, especially in the first half,” South Rowan head coach Jarrod Smith said. “We didn’t make many shots. I think we did a good job in the first half defensively and a poor job offensively. And in the second half we did a better job offensively, and then we let up on our defense.

“…Overall, you get the win. It’s a conference win. They’re all important.”

The Raiders (13-5, 10-2 SPC) are locked in a three-way tie with East Rowan and Hickory Ridge for the lead in the South Piedmont Conference. The Mustangs (16-2, 10-2 SPC) defeated the Ragin’ Bulls (15-4, 10-2 SPC) on Tuesday to create the logjam.

South Rowan got 10 points in the first quarter Tuesday from Avery Locklear. Her 3-pointer with 2:19 left in the second quarter followed by a pair of layups from Caroline Hubbard put South Rowan ahead 25-3. Three free throws by Christa Hill, who shoots free throws one handed, made it 25-6 at halftime.

Locklear led all scorers with 19 points. Cassidy Chipman pitched in with 12 points of her own.

“Last time we played Cox Mill, it was closer than we wanted to be, so tonight we focused on jumping on them early and getting the lead, and I think we did that really well,” Locklear said.

The teams came out of the locker rooms with a touch more fire. The pace of the game picked up, and so did the scoring. The Chargers opened with a 7-2 run to cut their deficit to 14 points. That was as close as they got the rest of the game.

Sylvetta Bost converted two turnovers into two layups in the third quarter. Chipman scored six straight for the Raiders near the end of the third and right after the start of the fourth quarters to make it a 44-21 ballgame.

That erased what little doubt there was about a victory for the home team.

Madison Lewis, Rachel Barker and Hill netted five points apiece for Cox Mill.

Next up for the Raiders are the Carson Cougars, who defeated West Rowan 62-48 behind Sydney Huffman’s career-high 22 points.

“We just need to play hard and know that we’re going to go in there and know there’s going to be a fight, especially with us they are always going to bring it,” Locklear said. “We need go in there focused, ready to play and play hard.”

 

Cox Mill (27): Lewis 5, Surratt 3, Pippa 2, Sondrini 4, Barker 5, Stafford, Morphey, Hill 5, Rickus 3.

South Rowan (49): Figueroa 2, Hubbard 7, Martin, Waters, Locklear 19, Chipman 12, Williams, Bost 8, McClendon, Smith 1, Chabala, Bunn.

Cox Mill 3 3 12 9 — 27

South Rowan 12 13 15 9 — 49