CONCORD — It took a quarter, but the Carson girls finally found their rhythm.
After a two-point opening frame littered with turnovers and foul trouble, the Cougars settled in and battled to a 44-36 road victory over Cox Mill Friday night.
“It was not pretty, but I’ll take an ugly win over a pretty loss anyday,” Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer said. “I thought we fought through a lot of real ugly streaks,” she continued. “We came out in the second half and made our defense really lead into some offensive opportunities for us. That worked for us. We put some pressure on them and caused some turnovers.”
It took nearly six minutes for either team to score when Kate Cole hit a jumper late in the first quarter. But after regrouping between quarters, the Cougars came out firing in the second behind Alex Allen.
Allen checked in midway through the period after sitting with two early fouls and found her stroke. The junior hit a pair of free throws before knocking down two jumpers to give Carson a 9-6 lead.
Cole drilled a corner trey to give the Cougars a 15-14 edge heading into the locker room.
Cox Mill answered in the third, reeling off nine straight points to pull ahead by seven (26-19) late before Allen and Carson responded. Allen converted an and-1 and hit a turnaround jumper as the Cougars went to the fourth down by just two at 28-26.
Carson clicked in the final frame, suffocating the Chargers in a full-court press, while pouring in 18 points to pull away for the SPC victory.
“We changed our defense almost every possession to keep them on their toes,” Misenheimer said. “I thought we were able to get stops at key times and finally get some shots in. We capitalized on some opportunities.
“For us to be able to come out and get a win when we did not play our best is a good sign. It’s a good sign that we are moving in the right direction and have been able to find ways to win. We just want to keep getting better.”

CARSON (44) — Allen 20, Cole 12, Roberson 4, Clark 4, Hunsucker 2, Jackson 1, Gray 1, McClary.
COX MILL (75) — Sehm-Crowley 15, Davis 7, McLamb 5, Elmore 4, Lewis 3, Rinkus 2.
Carson 2 13 11 18 — 44
Cox Mill 6 8 14 8 — 36