By David Shaw

sports@salisburypost.com

LEXINGTON — It was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Salisbury’s girls basketball team spent Friday night stumbling down the stairs at Lexington, yet somehow landed safely on its feet.

“What a feeling,” coach Lakai Brice said after the Hornets prevailed in a molar-grinding 52-47 victory. “The way we fought to finish that game, I am so proud of my girls. That took guts.”

It took more than that. By game’s end, all five Salisbury starters were on the bench and two reserves — sophomore Ka’Shaia Daniels and junior Heavenly Robinson — remained on the court. Four Hornets had fouled out and junior guard Tyzarea Alexander was ejected following a flagrant foul with 4:24 remaining.

“(Alexander) had come to the bench and said, ‘Coach, they’re grabbing my jersey,'” Brice reported after Salisbury (9-6) evened its CCC record at 1-1. “I said, ‘You’ve got to push their hands off you.’ So she reacted and it’s always like that. They always catch the second person. She’s not a dirty player, that’s not her character. She’s just aggressive.”

Without Alexander, teammate Tacorra Robinson became Salisbury’s workhorse. But when the freshman was called for her fifth personal with 2:21 to play, the Hornets were down to five players.

“At that time I think we had like a six- or seven-point lead,” Brice said. “You could hear me calling ‘Be patient.’ I didn’t want them taking early shots, long-distance shots because that can lead to fast breaks the other way. But we weren’t patient. We thought we were quicker than we were.”

They lost two more players when both Bryannna Troutman (15 points, 15 rebounds) and Maria Capito fouled out with 1:11 to go. Then with just 24.4 seconds remaining Mariah Glenn (11 rebounds) was finished, leaving just Daniels and Robinson to fend out off Lexington’s swarming Yellow Jackets (4-9, 0-2) — and Daniels played with four fouls.

Salisbury’s last field goal came with 1:52 to play and it converted only one of seven free throws down the stretch. But Lexington’s missed its final eight shots in a frantic rush to capitalize.

“It’s a memorable win,” Brice said afterward. “I’ll remember this one forever.”

NOTES: Brice believes Troutman, a 5-8 guard, is “going to be a special player.” … Salisbury was called for 27 personal fouls and the technical…Alexander made four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points.

SALISBURY (52) — Troutman 15, Capito 12, Alexander 12, T.Robinson 9, Glenn 3, H.Robinson 1, Daniels.

LEXINGTON (47) — Hayes 11, Sanders 9, Bush 9, Peoples 8, Nichols 4, Moore 4, Vaughan 2.

Salisbury    15   13   12   12  — 52

Lexington    5    13    5   24  — 47