By David Shaw

sports@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — It took some doing, but Carson’s girls basketball team has effectively marked its territory in the South Piedmont Conference.

The Cougars improved to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in league play Friday night when they muscled their way past host South Rowan, 49-37.

“The best thing about this game is it’s a win,” coach Brooke Misenheimer said after the sluggishly played foul-fest. “Because there wasn’t a whole lot of pretty out there tonight. We couldn’t get into any kind of flow whatsoever and just played passively.”

They were fierce enough when they had to be, beginning early in the second quarter. But first South (3-3, 2-2 SPC) went ahead, 14-9, when freshman Whitley Arnott extended for an offensive rebound and hit a layup with six minutes remaining in the first half.

“We were trying to keep them from driving, from running the floor,” explained sophomore Janiya Downs, one of two South scorers with 11 points. “That’s what they wanted to do.”

Instead, Carson was forced to play a half-court game and never achieved liftoff. “I think it was the defense they played,” said Carson guard Olivia Gabriel. “That 1-2-2 made it hard for us to run, but if I saw a gap I took it, and mostly got fouled.”

Gabriel — the team’s 5-foot-5 junior quarterback — poured in a season-high 27 points, largely from the free throw line. She converted 15 of 17 attempts, including her last 14 in succession, on a night when the Cougars went 23-for-31.

“It was a lot of fouls,” South coach John Davis said after the Raiders were whistled for 25 infractions. “Foul trouble hurt us. We had girls on the bench. I’m proud of the ones who went in the game and competed as hard as they could. They showed something tonight.”

Only one player fouled out — South’s Riley Corriher, who was sent to the bench with 7:07 to play. Two others played with four fouls, including junior guard Tziah Harden (11 points, 13 rebounds), who picked up her fourth personal with 3:39 remaining in the first half.

“That was a game-changer,” said Downs, who snagged 11 rebounds. “We tried not to let it get to us. We had to keep after it.”

The game’s momentum turned during a two-minute sequence in the second quarter, when Carson scored 10 straight points to go ahead 19-14. The flurry ended when Harden was called for reaching in against Gabriel. She then disputed the foul and was given a technical, sending Gabriel to the line for four straight conversions.

“That was a tremendous turning point,” said Misenheimer. “Right there we were struggling mightily just to put points on the board. So that was a huge turnaround.”

South spent the rest of the night playing catch-up, but never did. It inched as close as 39-32 when Downs sank the front end of a one-and-one with 6:11 to play. But forced to foul down the stretch, the Raiders watched Gabriel make eight of eight from the line to salt it away.

“It’s a conference win on the road,” Misenheimer concluded, “even though it shows we’ve got a lot of things to work on.”

CARSON (49) — Gabriel 27, Turney 6, Jackson 6, Gadson 5, Ketchie 3, Furr 2, Street, Wiggins, Fesperman, Shumaker.

SOUTH ROWAN (37) — Harden 11, Downs 11, Corriher 9, Lowery 3, Arnott 2, Wagner 1, McClary, Carlton, Rollins, Shell.

Carson             7   22   9   11 — 49

South Rowan  9   11   11   6 — 37