By Marny Hendrick

sports@salisburypost.com

South girls win 7th-place game

SALISBURY — The South Rowan girls brought an emphatic end to its nine-game losing streak Saturday morning by blowing past Davie County, 45-30, in the 7th place game of the Dale’s/Sam Moir Christmas Classic at Catawba’s Goodman Gym.

Trailing by four points, entering the final quarter, the Raiders (2-9) played lock down defense and cranked up the offense to outscore the War Eagles, 22-2, to win going away. Davie (0-12) managed just a pair of free throws midway in the final period, while South was hitting some key 3-pointers and making the critical free throws down the stretch.

South took the lead for good on a three-point play and then a short jumper by MacKenzie Chabala. Chabala added another three followed by one by Danielle Redmon to go up by double digits.

“That’s what I have been talking to this team about all along,” said first-year head coach Alex Allen. “We started lackadaisical, but we had a really great fourth quarter and that is what we want.”

Sophomore guard Bethany Rymer provided the consistent scoring punch for South throughout the game with 20 points while Chabala added 7. The War Eagles were topped by Liz Johnson with 13 points and Somer Johnson with 9.

DAVIE COUNTY (30) — L. Johnson 13, S. Johnson 9, Devericks 3, Nuckols 2, Tatum 2, Dontrell 1, Dirks, Allen, Oakes.

SOUTH ROWAN (45) — Rymer 20, M Chabala 7, Cherry 5, McGuire 5, P. Chabala 5, Moore 3, Redmon.

Davie County      1   15   12     2  — 30

South Rowan      6   11   6     22 — 45

•••

West Rowan rallies to win boys 7th-place game

After playing most of the game in catch-up mode, the West Rowan Falcons pushed past South Rowan in the fourth quarter to win, 59-55, and claim 7th place in the Dale’s/Moir Basketball classic Saturday morning.

Big man Chaz McCombs, a 6-5 senior forward, provided the winning edge as he scored seven of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter  to lead the comeback. South (1-10) broke a 27-27 deadlock at half by pulling ahead 40-35 after three quarters. The score was tied three different times in the final quarter, the last at 50-50 with 1:35 left.

The Falcons (5-4) went ahead for good on a steal and layup by Jalen Moss with 1:16 left. The team then connected on 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to secure the tight win.

Following McCombs in the scoring for West was 6-7 center Zeek Biggers with 12 points and 10 boards while Moss had 11 points. South placed three players in double figures, led by Brenden Finger with 17 points, plus 10 reb0unds. Guard Barrett Thompson added 14 points and Braden Graham scored 12.

SOUTH ROWAN (55) — Finger 17, Thompson 14, Graham 12, Stanley 4, Dextraze 4, Ritchie 4, Woodman, Holloman, Hubbard.

WEST ROWAN (59) — McCombs 15, Biggers 12, Moss 11, Warren 5, Allison 4, Joseph 4, Cooper 3, Wood 3, Weeks 2, Hassard.

South Rowan     18     9   13   15 — 55

West Rowan       12   15     8   24 — 59

•••

North girls hold off Wonders for 5th place

North Rowan got 19 points from sophomore guard Hannah Wilkerson, including eight in the decisive final quarter to hold off A.L Brown, 54-49, Saturday afternoon.

The win gave the Cavaliers (8-3) 5th place in the 48th annual Dale’s/Moir Basketball Classic at Goodman Gymnasium. North could not put the Wonders away in the game, despite leading most of the contest. The score stood at 37-33, North leading, entering the fourth period. Back-to-back baskets by Wilkerson midway in the quarter provided a 10-point lead and breathing room.

The Cavaliers offset a couple of 3-pointers by Brown in the final three minutes by connecting on 8-of-10 foul shots to preserve the win. North also benefited from a 13-point effort by freshman Kamora Cannie, including a trio of 3-pointers. Guard Natavia Taborn added 8 points.

The Wonders placed three in double figures led by Jaliah Smoutherson with 16, plus 15 from Jillian Brim and 13 from center Jaliyah Simmons.

A.L. BROWN (49) — Smoutherson 16, Brim 15, Simmons 13, Campbell 5, Yow, Green, Moore.

NORTH ROWAN (54) — Wilkerson 19, Cannie 13, Taborn 8, McDaniel 6, Lynch 4, Stoner 2, Robbins 2, Elder.

A.L. Brown         10   14    9   16 — 49

North Rowan     13   15     9   17 — 54

•••

Carson claims 5th place in a rout of North Rowan

There is no way to sugar-coat Saturday afternoon’s boys’ fifth place game in the Dale’s/Sam Moir Christmas Classic at Catawba College. It was a trip to the wood shed.

The Carson Cougars (7-6) drained 11 3-pointers, while holding North Rowan to single field goals in the middle two quarters en route to a 63-36 victory.

A five-point game after one quarter turned into a Cougars’ flash flood as EJ Clark and AJ Mauldin took turns draining threes to build a 46-20 halftime lead. Mauldin hit four long bombs and Clark had three more in a 26-5 run.

North got a layup from Brandon Jefferson with six minutes left in the first half but the team would not score another field goal until just over six minutes remained in the third period. By then, the game was essentially over, as Carson went up by as many as 31 points in the second half.

Mauldin capped a stellar three-day tournament with 25 points, including an amazing seven 3-pointers. Clark was close behind with 22 points, 17 in the first half. Smith scored 11 for the winners.

For the cold-shooting and top-seeded Cavaliers (6-3), Quashawn Carpenter was the bright spot with 14 points. Jefferson added 8.

CARSON (63) — Mauldin 25, Clark 22, J. Smith 11, Harris 3, Neely 2, Zuniga, Burleyson, Taylor, Burris, K. Smith.

NORTH ROWAN (36) — Carpenter 14, Jefferson 8, Davis 7, White 4, Goodes 2, Sims 1, Hailey, Mitchell, Gladden, Robinson.

Carson                20   26   11    6 — 63

North Rowan     15     5     6   10 — 36