Staff report

CONCORD — East Rowan’s girls had a bad game at a bad time.

The Mustangs knew they needed 32 solid minutes to beat Robinson in Friday’s South Piedmont Conference Tournament championship game at Concord High and they only got about six. East showed signs of life in the third quarter, but the hole was way too deep by then.

The bottom line was a 57-33 victory for the talented Bulldogs.

Top-seeded Robinson (23-4) won its 15th game in a row. Third-seeded East (21-6) lost to the Bulldogs for the third time.

Robinson only shot 41 percent as a team, but the Bulldogs’ two key players were deadly. Camri Hobbs, a 6-foot-3 guard, shot 9-for-16 and scored 24 points. Destiny Chambers had an efficient 14-point night on 5-for-6 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds.

East was fortunate that Robinson shot only 9-for-22 on free throws, but that was the only thing the Bulldogs did below par.

The Mustangs shot 11-for-52 from the field – 21 percent. East was 4-for-30 at halftime but picked it up some in the second half.

Mary Church scored in the lane for the game’s first points, but 2-0 would be the Mustangs’ last lead.

With East down 6-2, Lily Kluttz and Sadie Featherstone teamed up for a fast-break two, with Featherstone finishing with her left hand.

East was down 10-4 when Featherstone was able to get a 15-foot shot up over Hobbs for 10-6, but the Bulldogs scored the last seven of the quarter to lead 17-6.

When the Bulldogs outscored East 8-1 to start the second quarter, it was 25-7, and there was little doubt about where the night was headed.

It was 33-11 at halftime.

“We didn’t play with any energy in the first half,” East head coach Bri Evans said. “I told the girls we were not going to get 22 points back on one possession. I told them to get a stop, get a score, try to get back in it one play at a time. I told them if they gave me everything they had I could live with the outcome, regardless of what the scoreboard said. And I was proud that they didn’t quit. We showed some fight in the second half.”

Kori Miller went down early in the second half — she got blindsided and just got leveled. She was down for several minutes. A common foul was called, although more than that appeared to be warranted. The closest official’s explanation to Evans was she was running the other way and didn’t get a great look at what happened.

Miller is OK. She participated in her softball scrimmage on Saturday and is expected to play in East’s playoff game on Tuesday.

After Miller was hurt, East played exceptionally hard.

Kady Collins made a 3-pointer off a pass from Kluttz. Church, who was being defended very tightly, used a pick by Ava Alderman to get free for a 3-pointer. When Featherstone handed off to Collins and screened for her, Collins drilled another 3-pointer, and East had cut the 22-point deficit down to 12.

Kluttz made a driving shot with her left hand for a 40-28 deficit with 1:58 left in the third quarter, but that’s where the Mustangs peaked. Hobbs took over and pushed Robinson’s lead back to 44-28 at the end of the quarter.

Church made another 3 in the fourth quarter — Kluttz set it up — but it came after Robinson had shoved the lead back to 22.

Featherstone followed her own miss for East’s last bucket. That may have been the only second-chance points the Mustangs scored all night. It was challenging for East to secure an offensive rebound.

“It was a tough night,” Evans said. “It’s hard to defend Hobbs. I thought Sadie did about as about as good a job as you can do guarding her, but when she drove, it was hard to keep her off the foul line.”

Robinson shot 22 free throws to East’s 12. Drives by Church and Isis Smith often drew contact, but they weren’t able to finish and they weren’t rewarded with free throws.

Church scored 13, but as is usually the case, she was the focus of the opposing defense and got nothing easy.

Smith didn’t score, but she blocked three shots.

East will find out its playoff opponent on Sunday.

“We’ve won 21 games and it’s been quite a ride after winning five, six and 11,” Evans said. “Hopefully, we can get some more.”

East Rowan   6     5    17    5    — 33

Robinson      17    16   11    13   — 57

East   — Church 13, Collins 8, Featherstone 6, Kluttz 6.

Robinson — Hobbs 24, Chambers 14, Young 6, O’Neal 5, Rucker 4, Forte 4.