By Mike London

Salisbury Post

NORWOOD — Carson’s Mack White crashed into the home team’s bench in pursuit of a third-quarter loose ball and found a temporary vacant seat between two South Stanly coaches.

The coaches welcomed White with grins and pats on the back, and White welcomed the two seconds worth of rest she got. It was the senior’s only break on Tuesday night.

White had a nice game with 16 points, eight steals, eight rebounds and four assists, but fatigue and her teammates’ foul troubles caused her numbers to dwindle as the evening wore on.

South Stanly pounded Carson 79-37, outscoring the first-year team 36-12 in the second half.

“It was like we just faded away,” White said.

South Stanly won the first meeting at Carson 71-46, but the Cougars (0-4) looked as if they wanted revenge.

When White passed to Kendra Bell for an open jumper, Carson led 13-8 with 3:50 left in the first quarter.

“We were breaking the press just like we’re supposed to,” Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer said. “We were patient, we were hitting the open man, and we were making some shots.”

It was 17-17 when White fed Charlena Lynn for a layup with 50 seconds left in the quarter, but the Rebel Bulls ruled after that. South Stanly finished the first quarter on a 6-0 run and opened a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter. By halftime, it was 43-25.

Swift guard Myriah Carpenter, who came off the bench, scored 27 points for South Stanly, including 12 in the decisive second quarter. Bouncy post player Christa Smith had 15 points and nine blocks.

“I don’t know, maybe we got the bigheads from the way we started out,” White said with a sigh.

Carpenter’s three old-fashioned three-point plays did the most to separate the two teams.

“They’d steal it, we’d make a touch foul, and then the three-point play was automatic,” Misenheimer said. “It just got away from us.”

Fatigue and foul woes piled up for Carson, which lost three starters — Lynn, Bell and Jennifer Hough — to five personals in a stretch of 47 seconds in the middle of the fourth quarter.

It was a tough night for the Cougars, but Misenheimer managed a few postgame smiles. She got her coaching start with the South Stanly jayvees, so some of the players and coaches that trampled her last night were friends.

“We didn’t go a good job of getting back on defense the second half and our boxing out was just horrible,” she said. “But I’m going to stress the positives. What we did in the first quarter, I was very proud of, and we can build on it.”

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NOTES: Carson post player Bronwynne Curtindale dislocated her jaw in a sideline collision early in the second quarter. She was in pain, but the jaw was “popped back in” and she returned to the court in the second half.

Carson (37) –White 16, Bell 9, Lynn 9, Marshall 2, Curtindale 1, Hough, Cress, Beaty, Howell.

south stanly (79) — Carpenter 27, C. Smith 15, Edwards 8, Whitley 6, Harward 6, J. Starnes 5, Farlow 4, K. Smith 4, H. Starnes 3, Davis 1, Baldwin, Shankle.

Carson 17 8 4 8 — 37

S. Stanly 23 20 22 14 — 79