High school basketball: North girls lose to Draughn
Published 12:00 am Sunday, February 26, 2023
North's Bailee Goodlett drives past Draughn defenders Saturday. Photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
North's Brittany Ellis goes under the arms of Draughn's Ella Abernathy (22) and Aubrie Snyder (45). photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Staff report
SPENCER – Aubrie Snyder had a size advantage and powered for 27 points in the paint on Saturday afternoon.
Snyder led Draughn to a 52-45 win over North Rowan’s girls in the third round of the 1A state playoffs.
The eight-seeded Cavaliers (20-9) stayed in the game all the way, but got down early and never could get all the way back.
The 16th-seeded Valdese girls (17-12) came to the North gym following Thursday’s humongous upset of No. 1 seed Mountain Heritage and proved it was no fluke by ending North’s season.
Draughn jumped out 12-4 on the slow-starting Cavaliers and had a 19-11 edge after a quarter.
North surged briefly in the second quarter and got as close as 20-17, but Draughn pushed back ahead by 10 at halftime,
North reduced its deficit to six points by the end of the third quarter at 40-34 and pushed hard right down to the final seconds.
North made it a one possession game at 48-45 in the last minute, but Snyder scored her final bucket to clinch the win for Draughn.
Bailee Goodlett scored 17 points and had three steals to lead North. She bumped her school-record points total for the season to 793.
Bloom Goodlett had nine points, nine rebounds and three steals.
Brittany Ellis scored nine. Chloee Stoner and Krisstyle Stockton had nine rebounds each.
Despite the loss, it was quite a season for North. Six of the Cavaliers’ losses were to county rivals West Rowan and Salisbury, teams that made it to the fourth round on Saturday.
Draughn 19 9 12 12 — 52
North 11 7 16 11 — 45
North — Bailee Goodlett 17, Ellis 9, Bloom Goodlett 9, Stoner 6, Stockton 2, D. Elder 2.
See photo gallery from the game here: https://www.salisburypost.com/2023/02/25/photo-gallery-north-rowan-girls-come-up-just-short/
• Ninth-seeded Ashe County stayed close to West Rowan’s girls for a half, but the top-seeded unbeaten Falcons (28-0) pulled away in the third quarter and won 80-55 in the third round of the 3A playoffs.
• Salisbury’s sixth-seeded boys won an overtime battle at third-seeded West Caldwell late Saturday, taking a 76-71 decision in the 2A playoffs. It was 68-all at the end of regulation.
The Hornets (22-5) have won 15 in a row.
