By Mike London

Salisbury Post

KANNAPOLIS — A career game by A.L. Brown’s Jasmine Lowery buried South Rowan on Thursday night.

Lowery accumulated 20 points, nine rebounds and five steals, and the towering Raiders (5-5) had zero answers for the tiny, jet-propelled junior guard who could pass for a middle schooler. Lowery turned every long rebound into a track meet and sprinted away from all pursuers on the long Bullock Gymnasium floor.

“I’ve always been able to get to the basket, and now I’m getting more comfortable with my shot,” Lowery said.

A.L. Brown (4-6) weathered an early shooting spree by Kim Wilson, motored away for a 46-32 non-conference win and avenged an early-season loss in Landis.

“Overall, they’re the fastest team we’ve played all year,” South coach Jim Brooks said. “You figure you hold Marla (Powell) to eight points, you should beat them, but we just couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”

Wilson did put the ball in the hole early, hitting three 3-pointers from the corners and scoring all 11 of her points in the first six minutes to push the Raiders to a 15-12 lead.

But once A.L. Brown coach Tosha Robinson switched to a box-and-one defense with Lowery hounding Wilson, South couldn’t score.

“Once we shut the shooter down, they didn’t have anything else,” Lowery said. “Their post players, we shut them down good.”

South’s tall trio of Katie Wise, Katherine Van Wieren and Tayor May combined for only seven field goals. An injury limited Wise’s minutes and production. Van Wieren battled foul trouble.

South shot 1-for-13 in the second quarter to fall behind 20-19 at halftime and 1-for-8 in the third quarter as the Wonders went ahead

31-21.

“I thought we were still getting good looks, getting the ball where we wanted it, but we couldn’t make a shot,” Brooks said. “Good shooting can hide a lot of deficiencies.”

Powell didn’t score in the first half but had two key 3-pointers in the second half. Both handed her team double-digit leads.

There were statistical reasons why the Wonders won the rematch. They had a

27-17 edge in turnovers. They also seriously out-fought South on the boards and for loose balls during the middle two quarters.

Brown junior Brandie Ross, didn’t play in the first meeting, but she’s recovered from ACL surgery on her left knee. She contributed eight points and five rebounds.

“Brandie means a lot to us, and she was a huge factor tonight,” Lowery said. “She gives us another big threat.”

South ROWAN (32) — Wilson 11, Van Wieren 7, May 6, Wise 4, Morton 3, Garrett 1, Brown, Houston, Haywood.

A.L. BROWN (46) — Lowery 20, Powell 8, Ross 8, Bennett 6, Brawley 2, McCorkle 2, Jordan, Harvey, Cunningham, McCauley.

S. Rowan 15 4 2 11 — 32

A.L. Brown 14 6 11 15 — 46

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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com.