Staff report

LANDIS —  South Rowan’s girls basketball pulled out an exciting 55-51 win against West Rowan on Wednesday in South Piedmont Conference action.

The Raiders (3-1, 1-0) ended the program’s 14-game losing streak against West (0-3, 0-1).

South had not beaten the Falcons since the 2016-17 season. South’s 77-63 win that night included 31 points by Janiya Downs, a career night (17 points) by Brooke Lowery and double-figure efforts by Riley Corriher and Tazah Hardin.

West utterly annihilated South four times last season on its way to its second straight 3A state championship, with a 72-24 margin being the closest of the four. One of those scores was 105-23.

West is just about starting over this season with a new team, while South has a lot of players back, so the Raiders were favored to win the latest meeting, especially after the Falcons lost by 75 points — 90-15 — at Lake Norman on Monday. West was down 72-4 at halftime in that one.

But Wednesday’s contest turned out to be a much more interesting game than anyone could have anticipated. South’s edge in experience was negated by West’s aggressiveness, and it became a serious struggle.

South jumped out 12-2 when Kynlee Dextraze scored in the paint, but Jayden Carter’s three-point play energized the Falcons. They fought back to an 18-14 deficit after a quarter.

West caught up and surged ahead in the second quarter after Dextraze got in foul trouble. A jump shot by Jamelia Allen put the Falcons ahead 27-25 at the half.

With five minutes left, Katie Hoffner, one of West’s returners from last season, scored inside to give the Falcons a 47-39 lead, but that’s when South mounted a comeback. Avery Fisher made a steal that led to two free throws to cut West’s lead to four with 3:37 left. A bucket by Dextraze made it a two-point game, and Day Pharr tied it at 47-all with two free throws.

South went up by four when Dextraze made four straight free throws to cap a 12-0 South run, but Allen made a driving layup and two free throws for the Falcons for a 51-all tie with 1:02 left.

Pharr’s tie-breaking free throws with 36 seconds left proved decisive for the Raiders. Pharr added a layup for the final four-point margin.

“We feel like we should have won by more, but any win over West is a big win, especially the way they beat us last year,” South coach Alex Allen said. “The biggest thing was we held our composure after we got behind, and our experience made the difference for us. We made our free throws in clutch situations, and Day Pharr had a fantastic game.”

Pharr, an undersized post player with a quick first step and a soft touch, scored a career-best 21 to lead the Raiders. She also had 11 rebounds and six steals.

Dextraze helped out with 14 points. South played without experienced guard Hannah Atwell, but five more Raiders were able to chip in points.

Pharr, Dextraze and Fisher went 21-for-26 from the foul line.

Allen scored 22 for the Falcons. Hoffner and Sydney Smith scored seven each.

“After the way we played Monday, I was proud of the way we responded and fought for this game tonight,” West coach Ashley Poole said.

 

West Rowan    14    13    16   8    — 51

South Rowan   18     7     11   19     — 55

West — Allen 22, Smith 7, Hoffner 7, Carter 6, Hurd 4, Everhart 3, Clawson 2.

South — Pharr 21, Dextraze 14, Fisher 8, Morgan 6, Eagle 2, Menius 2, Krieg 2.