By Bret Strelow

Salisbury Post

WINSTON-SALEM — South Rowan’s boys have impressed their coach throughout the last week of practices, but they don’t have much to show for it.

Visiting South lost to CPC foe Mount Tabor by a 74-47 score on Tuesday night. The Raiders, who led East Rowan at halftime of their matchup last Friday, have lost seven of their last eight games.

“We’ve had some pretty good practices,” South coach John Davis said. “As a coach, when you see kids making progress in practice, you want to see that progression take place on the court, too.”

Wesley Honeycutt led South Rowan (6-11, 1-5) with 10 points. Four different Mount Tabor players finished the third quarter with 13 points, and Ryan Delapp added four in the fourth quarter to end up with a game-high 17.

South point guard David Wolford’s third driving layup, followed by James Daugherty’s reverse layup on a feed from Honeycutt, gave the Raiders a 10-9 lead at the midway point of the opening period.

The Spartans closed the quarter with a 17-3 run and took a 49-30 lead into halftime.

“Fundamentally we have to do a better job of knowing who we are guarding,” Davis said. “Mount Tabor has some good shooters on the perimeter. If you give them good looks, they’re going to knock down some 3s. Defensively we have to get a whole lot better.”

Mount Tabor’s first-quarter run included a pair of 3-pointers from John MacDonald and another from Delapp. He made two more in the second quarter to leave the Raiders facing a 39-20 deficit.

The Spartans (10-8, 4-3) were shooting layups when they weren’t spotting up behind the 3-point arc.

Mount Tabor’s defensive pressure forced turnovers and led to transition baskets.

“Our defense got after it, and we got a lot of points off our break,” Mount Tabor coach Andy Muse said. “We didn’t have to play against their halfcourt defense.”

Mount Tabor took a 66-38 lead into the fourth quarter, and South reserve guard Chris Charles made three steals in the first few minutes. In the final minute, Hunter Morrison made a pair of midcourt steals and converted two uncontested layups.

The outcome wasn’t in question at that point, and the win came at a key time for the Spartans.

They started last week with a 3-1 league record but suffered setbacks against first-place East Rowan and second-place R.J. Reynolds. North Davidson defeated them earlier in the season.

“We knew that this game was very important as far as the playoffs,” Muse said. “We didn’t want to have a lapse, especially on our home court.”

SOUTH ROWAN (47) — Honeycutt 10, Davis 8, Wolford 8, Morrison 6, Hagerty 6, Charles 4, Morgan 3, Daugherty 2, Caldwell, Shaver, Bettis.

Mount TABOR (74) — Delapp 17, Griffith 13, Harris 13, MacDonald 13, Macon 10, McIntire 3, Downey 3, Godwin 2, Hardin, Grace.

S. Rowan 13 17 8 9 — 47

Mt. Tabor 26 23 17 8 — 74

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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com.