By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
OLIN ó South Rowan senior Molly Garrett blocked a 3-point try from the left corner and took off toward the other end.
Ahead of the pack, she caught a pass and dribbled in for an uncontested layup.
North Iredell made a pair of fourth-quarter pushes, but they came before and after Garrett’s run-ending basket that helped South secure a 58-52 road victory Tuesday night.
“They came back quick after we made some bad defensive plays and did some stupid stuff,” said Garrett, who scored a career-high 13 points. “We got back into it and brought it right back where we wanted it and where it should have been the whole game.”
Nikki Graham had 19 points to pace fourth-place South (11-8, 8-5 NPC), and Taylor May added 11. The Raiders took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter, and Krista Haywood’s field goal with 6:23 remaining left North Iredell (6-11, 3-10) facing a 42-29 deficit.
North answered with a 12-0 run, and the first eight points were scored in 25 seconds. It pulled within 42-41 with 3:46 left, and South put together 10-0 burst.
Sam Goins started it with two free throws, and Graham made the first of two tries. May rebounded the miss, and her follow shot sailed over the rim. Garrett scored on a mid-air putback from the right block.
The sequence with Garrett’s swat and score gave South a 52-41 lead with 1:58 remaining.
“I thought it was Molly’s best game of the year,” South coach Jim Brooks said. “She played really well on defense and worked hard to get in position for rebounds. She ran the floor like a demon, just up and down the floor, and when we’d miss a shot she’d sprint back on defense.”
North Iredell’s Taylor Cook hit three 3-pointers in 58 seconds to cut South’s lead to three with a minute left, and Graham responded with two clinching free throws.
South went ahead for good in the second quarter even though May and Kayla Morrow were on the bench in foul trouble.
“I thought Sam came in and sparked us about as much as anybody has all year,” Brooks said. “We kind of made up our mind that we were going to outrebound them. We weren’t trying to fastbreak and weren’t trying not to fastbreak, but we’d just beat them down the floor.”
SOUTH ROWAN (58) ó Graham 19, Garrett 13, May 11, Sides 5, K.Haywood 4, Goins 4, Morrow 2.NORTH IREDELL (52) ó Johnson 19, Cook 17, Haynes 14, Harkey 2, Haneline, E.Singletery, Branch.
S. Rowan 13 13 14 18 ó 58
N. Iredell 14 7 8 23 ó 52