Staff report

SPENCER — Salisbury’s girls basketball team won a struggle at North Rowan on Friday.

“Not our best,” Salisbury head coach Lakai Brice said. “But we played together and we made enough shots.”

The final score was 49-37, exactly the same score as it was when the teams squared off in the first round in the Dale’s Sporting Goods Sam Moir Christmas Classic.

The difference is this win counts in the Central Carolina Conference standings. The Hornets (8-5, 4-1) are second behind Lexington, which won in overtime recently at Salisbury.

“It was a very physical game, with both teams shooting 27 free throws,” Brice said. “This is a rivalry game, so you know it’s going to be tough and physical. North Rowan’s strength is rebounding, so we emphasized rebounding going into the game, and we were able to hold our own on the boards. We need to get more points off our offensive rebounds, but we did get the rebounds.”

Keaira Spuill had a big game for the Hornets in the paint with nine points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. She also played very well against North in the Christmas tournament. Janiyah Fomond pulled down nine rebounds, while Jaliyah McNeely had eight.

Torese Evans usually leads the Hornets in scoring and did so again. She had 11 points and five steals.

“We got some steals for easy transition points when we really needed them,” Brice said.

Gabbi Fatovic (9), Mariana Zapata (8) and Tristian Myers (5) made shots, and Salisbury did enough to earn Brice’s 217th career win at the helm of the Hornets.

Dasia Elder led the Cavaliers (2-10, 1-3)  again. She had 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

“She’s a great player,” Brice said. “She made some shots where you look up and wonder how in the world did that go in.”

Allanah McArthur bounced back from a scoreless game on Thursday with 10 points and six rebounds. Krisstyle Stockton had five points and six rebounds. Za’Kiya Oglesby was North’s rebounding leader with eight.

North is more competitive than its record sounds. The Cavaliers lost three games that went down to the last possession.

North led 7-5 after a quarter. Salisbury tied it 7-all on a layup by Myers, and Fatovic made several plays as the Hornets surged ahead 17-11 at halftime. Fomond made a post move for the last two of the half.

Zapata gave the Hornets their first double-digit lead in the third quarter with a layup, and she finished that decisive quarter with an outside shot for a 35-18 lead.

North had a 19-point fourth quarter to shave the final margin to a dozen points.

Salisbury has MLK event action scheduled for Monday. The Hornets will play Parkland at TW Andrews High in High Point.

 

Salisbury              5    12  18    14   — 49

North Rowan      7    4     7     19    — 37

Salisbury — Evans 11, Spruill 9, Fatovic 9, Zapata 8, Myers 5, Fomond 3, McNeely 3, Pearson-Hasty 1.

North — Elder 16, McArthur 10, Stockton 5, Oglesby-Peck 4, Cowan 2.