By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
Matchups with rivals comprised South Rowan’s three-game run in the Sam Moir Christmas Classic, and the Raiders closed the tournament with a pair of disappointing setbacks.
South’s girls, who opened the event by beating Carson and then dropped a hard-fought semifinal against East Rowan, fell 43-25 to Davie County in the third-place contest Tuesday afternoon.
“We didn’t do anywhere near what we wanted to do in this tournament,” South coach Jim Brooks said. “You have to credit East Rowan and Davie for that.”
Kayla Morrow posted 10 points and six rebounds to lead the Raiders (7-5). Taylor May had six points and six boards before fouling out in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter.
Sarah Evans contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Davie, which broke free from a 15-all tie by scoring the final six points of the second quarter. It established a double-digit lead in the first three minutes of the second half.
The War Eagles (6-7) started the Moir Classic with a narrow win against West Rowan and bounced back from a lopsided loss to top-seeded Salisbury. Kellie Brown averaged a team-best 11.3 points per game in the tournament.
“We had a well-balanced attack tonight, and we did the job we needed to do defensively,” Davie coach Debbie Evans said. “We feel pretty good about getting two wins. We still have a ways to go to be where we want to be, but we’re going in the right direction.”
A 3-pointer from May pulled the Raiders within 33-23 with 6:31 left, but she committed her fifth foul as Mechel Gadson made a layup on the next possession.
The Raiders had missed 21 of 24 second-half shots before Morrow scored to cut into a 39-23 deficit in the closing minutes.
May, who had a double-double in the win over Carson but struggled against East, didn’t start the second half Tuesday. She sat out the first four minutes, and Davie’s lead increased slightly from six points to nine.
“What East did shut Taylor down, and what Davie did shut her down,” Brooks said. “We kind of knew what was coming, and I didn’t do a good job of switching things up to get us in position to win. We have to have different schemes to get other people in position to take some of the burden off.
“What we tried to do was just give her a little bit of a breather. It was nothing Taylor did; let’s let her sit and rest. You play as hard as she does every night, she’s a kid that just busts it every play. She was wore out, and if we’re going to sit her, we’re going to sit her at the start of the half.”
DAVIE COUNTY (43) ó Evans 10, Gadson 9, Stewart 8, Brown 6, Smoot 2, Turner 2, K.Dixon 2, Keiser 2, Stevenson 2, J.Dixon.
SOUTH ROWAN (25) ó Morrow 10, May 6, Garrett 3, K.Haywood 2, Graham 2, Goins 2, W.Haywood, Sides, Barringer, Roberts.
Davie Co. 8 13 9 13 ó 43
S. Rowan 7 8 4 6 ó 25