By Marny Hendrick

sports@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — Two of Rowan County’s shining young offensive stars were on full display Friday night at South Rowan as the Carson girls pulled out a tense, 69-62 overtime win.

Sophomore point guard Olivia Gabriel scored a school record 39 points for the Cougars as she proved to be equally deadly from the foul line and three-point line. Raiders’ freshman Janiya Downs almost matched Gabriel with a career-high 30 points in a losing effort.

The two teams matched each other point-for-point throughout the rough and tumble game, especially in the fourth period, which featured four lead changes and two ties. South (3-16, 2-11 SPC) took a 53-51 lead with 28 seconds left on a running scoop by Downs. Forward Kalie Ketchie responded for Carson (11-9, 7-7 SPC) with  a drive to tie the game with just 20 seconds left.

The Raiders had the ball with a chance to win in regulation but the sneaky Gabriel stole ball inside for Carson with three seconds left to send the game into overtime. Gabriel then took control down the stretch in the extra period, despite being saddled with four fouls. Her long three with 1:18 left gave the Cougars the lead for good at 60-57, then she nailed five of six foul shots in the final minute to seal it.

“I knew I had foul trouble but I still tried to play good defense and move my feet,” Gabriel said. She did foul out with about two seconds left in the overtime but by then the damage was done. “We were able to put it together tonight and play as a team and get the win.”

The win was especially significant for Carson because after starting the season 10-2 they were mired in a seven-game losing skid, dating back to their loss in the championship game of the Dale’s/Sam Moir Christmas Classic.

“We were just so desperate for a win and this was a great one to get,” Cougar coach Brooke Misenheimer said, with a look of relief and satisfaction afterwards. “It was such a hard fought game, it was a shame anybody had to lose a game like that.”

Outside the home locker room, South coach John Davis noted it was a matter of a play here or a play there that made the difference. “It is always the little things in a game like a free throw, a rebound or a big stop”, he said. ” It was a very good ball game and our girls are really getting better. They are growing and maturing. The wins will come.”

In their last five games, the Raiders have lost four, including two by three points and two in overtime. South led through much of the first half by a point or two then took advantage in the third quarter when Gabriel and fellow guard Taylor Wiggins were on the Carson bench with four fouls each.

A follow shot by South’s T’ziah Hardin, then a 3-pointer by Downs suddenly had the home team up, 41-36, as their pressure defense produced results. But a pair of inside buckets by Ketchie closed out the third period to bring Carson to within 41-40. That set the stage for  the dramatic fourth period and overtime.

Gabriel’s 39 broke the previous school record of 36 set by Kelly Dulkoski in 2013. Ketchie added 14 to the cause. Following Downs in the South scoring was Malaysia Williams with 14, including a couple of her patented long three-pointers. In a game that featured 47 fouls, Carson held the advantage hitting 30 of 43 free throws, while South connected on 18 of 34.

Carson  (69) — Gabriel 39, Ketchie 15, Shumaker 8, Wiggins 4, Turney 3, Taylor, Street.

S. Rowan (62) — Downs 30, Williams 14, Hardin 7, Smith 6, Corriher 5, Stamey, Rollins, Chabala, Car. Carlton, Samples, Kimmer.

Carson   12  17    11    13  16 — 69

S. Rowan   17  13   11   12  9 — 62