by Marny Hendrick

sports@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Two games into the Dale Sporting Goods/Sam Moir Christmas Classic, East Rowan’s girls are still searching for their offensive mojo.

For the second day in a row, East started strong but faded as the game wore on, dropping a 59-40 consolation battle to Davie County. The recurring problem is simply a matter of getting shots to fall.

“We had something good going in the first quarter (a 16-13 lead),” said Mustangs’ head coach Kevin Holland. “But after that, we had such a tough time getting shots to go in.”

The War Eagles had a lot to do with changing the flow of the game as they started raining in long 3-point shots (eight total) and utilizing a defensive adjustment in the second half to take control. Davie went to a box-and-one with Rylea Carter bird-dogging East point guard Adalie Harrison everywhere she went. The strategy enabled Davie to turn a tenuous three-point halftime lead  into a 43-33 margin by the end of the third quarter.

“They had two big girls giving us a lot of problems plus we wanted to start pressuring the point,” noted Davie coach Kevin Revels, of the defensive change. ” We were just trying to come up with something that would take care of both issues.”

Holland agreed that the defensive switch by Davie was a key factor in the outcome. “It definitely bothered us putting that pressure on Adalie,” he said. “We had a hard time adjusting to it. Then they started hitting all those 3s”

Davie started their surge with a couple of steals by Maddie Bohannon to begin the second half, then an eight-point scoring outburst from forward Sha’Veh Martinez to build the lead to 52-37 in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Emma Slabach, who had three treys in the first half, added another and two foul shots to ice the contest.

Martinez led the winners with 19 points while Slabach added 17 and Carter had nine for the War Eagles, who won for just the second time this season. East (3-9) got scoring from all 11 players, topped by forward Courtney Wagner with eight points and eight rebounds. Adalie Harrison added seven points, as did center Anna Shafer.

The War Eagles also enjoyed a big advantage at the foul line as East hit just 1-of-4 free throws while Davie connected on 9-of-18.

Davie (2-8) advances to play in the fifth-place game of the tournament at 12 noon today against South Rowan. The Mustangs open the tournament’s final day at 9:00 this morning in the seventh-place game against winless North Rowan.

DAVIE CO. (59) — Slabach 19, Martinez 17, Carter 9, Bohannon 5, Lewis 4, Hayes 3, Oakes 2, Hartsell, Crenshaw, Tellup.

EAST ROWAN (40) — Wagner 8, Shafer 6, A. Harrison 7, Houpe 4, Coughenour 3, Trexler 2, Winford 2, Honeycutt 2, Graham 2, H. Harrison 2, McCall 2.

Davie Co.            15    14    16    16  — 59

East Rowan        16      8      9      7 — 40