By Mike London
Salisbury Post
JAMESTOWN ó South Rowan’s girls had the advantage of surprise, but Ragsdale had the horses and rolled over the Raiders 51-32 in a 3A first-round playoff game Monday.
The NPC reversed seeds for South Rowan (No. 6) and West Rowan (No. 5) when it reported the league’s playoff entries to the NCHSAA. Ragsdale coach Jerry Fuqua had no clue his Tigers were playing the Raiders until a red team got off the bus on Monday afternoon instead of the blue team he was waiting to greet.”I was expecting to play West Rowan and had watched some film of our playoff game with West two years ago, figuring that would give us a little bit to go on,” Fuqua said. “Then I see this other team walking up, and I’m thinking, ‘Gee whiz, what’s happening here?’ ”
Having no scouting report proved to be no issue. Mid-Piedmont Conference champion Ragsdale (23-3) had such a quickness edge that the outcome was decided very quickly. The Tigers led 17-3 right off the bat against a South squad that played without 6-foot-3 Katie Wise. Wise suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in South’s regular-season finale.
“It was really hard to run our offense against their man-to-man defense,” South senior Kim Wilson said. “They were so fast. They reminded me of Salisbury or Statesville.”
Ragsdale held South’s Taylor May to a single field goal and got balanced scoring that included 11 points from 6-foot-2 Lisa Archie, a junior who is getting ACC attention.
South couldn’t get decent looks and shot 3-for-19 in the first half. The three field goals were two stickbacks by Katherine Van Wieren and a H.O.R.S.E. shot by Nikki Graham. On the other end, Ragsdale shot transition layups. Had it been a football game, South coach Jim Brooks would have started quick-kicking on third down. It was 36-13 at halftime.
“Ragsdale has quickness and makes you pay for every bad pass,” he said. “They get it and go. They’re a No. 1 seed for a reason.”
Van Wieren had one last double-double. She scrapped for 13 points and 11 rebounds and finished her career with 818 points, 12th on the school’s all-time list.
“When the ball got inside, there was a lot of contact,” said Brooks, who picked up a rare technical in the second half. “Our kids got after it.”
Wilson, who made many corner 3-pointers for South the last two seasons, smiled after nailing her final one with 2:45 remaining.”It did feel good,” Wilson said. “But I was only able to shoot twice.”
Wise, Wilson, Van Wieren and Lauren Houston are South’s seniors. Houston, one of Brooks’ top reserves, made a basket in the fourth quarter.
Kayla Morrow, the standout for a stout 17-5 jayvee team, made her varsity debut with three points.
South (13-13) more than matched the Tigers’ aggressiveness in the second half, outscored the home team 19-15 and left the gym feeling OK. South’s record is its best since 2002, and Brooks said he’ll be back.
“This was a fun year with a fun group,” he said. “Next year, we’ll get more athletic.”
SOUTH ROWAN (32) ó Van Wieren 13, May 6, Wilson 3, Morrow 3, K. Haywood 3, Graham 2, Houston 2, Garrett, W. Haywood, Gray, Roberts.
RAGSDALE (51) ó McInnis 11, Ingram 11, Archie 11, Williams 7, Carrington 4, Pressley 2, Jackson 2, Harrison 2, Lee 1, Smith, Nelson, Fulmore.
S. Rowan 4 9 8 11 ó 32
Ragsdale 19 17 8 7 ó 51n
Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com.