By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
Salisbury’s Ashia Holmes faded away as she took a jumper from the right baseline in the final two minutes of the first half Tuesday.
The high-arching shot hit the top-right corner of the backboard before rattling through the rim for two improbable points.
Carson was still awaiting a field goal of any kind in the second Sam Moir Christmas Classic girls semifinal.
Salisbury, striving for its seventh consecutive Moir title, rolled to a 67-20 victory against the Cougars. The Hornets (10-0) led 32-0 before Carson (5-8) scored and 40-1 when Breckin Settlemyer converted a layup 5.6 seconds prior to halftime.
“We felt like if we could focus on defense and rebounding, we could have good team chemistry versus somebody coming out wanting it to be their breakout night on offense and struggle as a team,” Salisbury coach Andrew Mitchell said.
Holmes scored 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting to share the team lead with Bubbles Phifer (eight steals, five assists) and Olivia Rankin.
Carson trailed by double figures after a little more than two minutes against the Hornets, who hadn’t played since a 61-54 overtime win against Concord on Dec. 11. They advanced to a 6:30 p.m. final tonight against West Rowan (6-2).
“We haven’t played in like two weeks, and we had to come out with the intensity we usually come out with,” Holmes said. “Keep our heads in the game, less turnovers than we usually do. Seeing how everybody wanted to see us play since our break, we had to give a little show.”
With 2:47 left in the first quarter, Carson had as many called timeouts (three) as field-goal attempts. Salisbury scored 17 points off nine turnovers from the Cougars to build a 22-0 advantage.
The large crowd at Catawba’s Goodman Gym erupted into applause when Carson’s Beth Cloninger made a free throw with 3:37 remaining in the second quarter. The Cougars were 0-for-20 from the field until Kelly Dulkoski found Settlemyer on an inbounds play late in the half.
“They just suffocated us defensively,” Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer said.
“We tried to emphasize not looking at the scoreboard, having some pride in who we are. We’ve come a long way, and now’s not the time to backpedal. We wanted to go out, play hard, do the little things right, get up and down the floor and just compete.”
The Cougars posted their second field goal with 3:44 left in the third quarter, when Tyesha Phillips cut Salisbury’s lead to 58-7, and Jazzmin Brown connected on the team’s first 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.
All 12 of Salisbury’s players logged at least nine minutes and none had more than 17 against Carson, which won the fourth quarter 13-9.
“I want to give Carson credit,” Mitchell said. “I know we beat them pretty bad, but I saw them over the summer. Where they are right now, it’s a tremendous improvement. They’re doing a great job, it’s just a credit to our ladies the way we came out and hustled and got out in the passing lanes.”
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NOTE: Carson will play Davie in the third-place game today at 3 p.m. … Demya Heggins led the Cougars with six points. … Salisbury totaled 39 points off Carson’s 32 turnovers, and the Hornets had 30 fastbreak points.
CARSON (20) ó Heggins 6, Blackwell 3, Brown 3, Settlemyer 2, Phillips 2, Cloninger 2, M.Livengood 2, K.Livengood, Dulkoski, Holman, Alexander, Monroe.
SALISBURY (67) ó As.Holmes 12, Phifer 12, Rankin 12, Richardson 8, Ay.Holmes 7, Heilig 5, Woods 5, Allison, Miller 2, Young, Feamster, Lebowitz.
Carson 0 3 4 13 ó 20
Salisbury 26 14 18 9 ó 67