By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
LANDIS ó A.L. Brown’s Jasmine Parker shot and missed twice during a third-quarter flurry in the lane, but her third offensive rebound of the possession finally resulted in two points.
And so it went in a girls basketball opener on Thursday at the South Rowan gym.
Any South defensive rebound was a pretty good reason for a standing ovation. The Wonders won the battle on the boards 46-15 ó if 46-15 can be called a battle ó and buried the Raiders 76-34.
It was the varsity debut for South coach Jarrod Smith.”A lot of our girls are young and they have to grow up quick,” he said. “We were pretty nervous, but I don’t think we’ll let this game define who we are. We’ll get better, and we’ll fight back.”
South lost four starters from last season, but a blowout wasn’t expected.
It happened. Brown got eight early points from Sara Tuttle, led 20-6 after eight minutes and wasn’t threatened. It was 39-14 at halftime.
“I was looking at the names in their scorebook before the game, and I recognized a lot of them,” Smith said. “They have a lot of veterans, and they’ve obviously worked hard. They’re very much improved, the best Brown team I’ve seen in years.”
Briana McGuine had 20 points for the Wonders, scoring with a variety of shots, including one old-school hook straight out of the 1950s.
Jasmine McCauley contributed 15 points. Tuttle had 14. Parker powered in 10.
Smith praised the play of Taylor Lookabill and Kayla Corriher, who scored five points each. Asia Caple had six to lead the Raiders.
South’s most experienced and tallest player is senior post Kayla Morrow, but she got in foul trouble and was limited to four points.
“We’ve got to do a better job of getting her involved,” Smith said. “It’s hard for us to win if she takes five shots.”
Morrow rarely touched the ball mostly because South turned it over frequently in the midcourt area. Brown’s Zebresha Blakeney, Jayana Lott and Aaliyah Spears created havoc with quickness.
“We’re starting to settle into some maturity,” Brown coach Tosha Robinson said. “We’ve learned a lot about playing together as a team.”
nNOTES: South lost guard Lauren Miller to an ankle injury and played without Chelsea McManus (concussion). … Brown won the jayvee girls game 41-31.
A.L. Brown (76) ó McGuine 20, McCauley 15, Tuttle 14, Parker 10, Blakeney 7, Lott 6, Spears 4, Cannon, Blackwelder, Forrest. SOUTH ROWAN (34) ó Caple 6, Corriher 5, Lookabill 5, Sides 4, Barringer 4, Morrow 4, Goins 3, Waldroup 2, Bost 1, Weber, Stancil, Miller, Swartz, Mabry.
A.L. Brown 20 19 14 23 ó 76
S. Rowan 6 8 11 9 ó 34