Staff report

LEXINGTON — Follow your shot.

Basketball coaches preach and teach that basic fundamental, starting when players are knee-high, and somewhere along the way Central Davidson freshman guard Raegan McCarn got the message.

McCarn followed her shot and won her team a ballgame on Monday. Central Davidson 51, North Rowan 50 was the non-conference final score in Central’s red and black gym.

If North is at full strength, it’s not close. If North is at full strength, Bailee Goodlett turns up the heat, scores 25 or 30 and the Cavaliers win pretty easily.

But North (4-2) was down five players, could only dress seven, and Goodlett, a 1,500-point scorer who averages 28 per game, wasn’t one of those seven.

So it was a toss-up.

Central (6-3) had the home crowd, played hard and together, battled on the boards against the bouncier Cavaliers, and knocked down an occasional 3-pointer.

Without Goodlett to run the show, North Rowan’s No. 2 scoring option Brittany Ellis had to try to score almost every time she touched the ball. The senior took a lot of tough shots and made some of them. She also had to bring the ball down the floor, so she was worn down by the end of the night.

Ellis scored 16 of North’s first 19 points, keeping the Cavaliers in the game almost single-handedly with driving bank shots and a couple of 3-pointers.

When Kristyle Stockton made a layup for the Cavaliers, swooping straight down the lane, it briefly was 21-all, but Riley Elliott’s 3-pointer gave the Spartans a 26-21 lead at the half.

North got a boost in the third quarter from Zakiya Oglesby. Her six-point flurry kept the Cavaliers close. Central Davidson took a 39-35 lead to the fourth quarter.

That’s when North had its best run of the night. Alanna McArthur scored on a rebound and on a steal. When Dasia Elder nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner, her first bonus ball of the night, North had a 45-41 lead and appeared to be headed for victory.

It didn’t happen. Central fought back. It was 47-all with 1:12 remaining.

Clutch free throws by McCarn put the Spartans ahead 49-48. Ellis answered with a full-court drive with three Spartans chasing her all the way to the hoop. That was her last bucket, points No. 26 and No. 27, and the Cavaliers led 50-49.

McCarn, who led the scoring for the Spartans, had a look at a 3-pointer from the right wing. She missed, but the rebound caromed off to the right side. McCarn hadn’t been boxed out and followed her shot. She had a clear path to the rebound, scooped it up on the run and laid in the go-ahead points.

There was still time for Ellis to make another drive, and she drew a foul when a Spartan tried to take a charge. Ellis was awarded two free throws, but the first found the front of the rim, and she back-rimmed the second. Central got possession and was able to exhaust the clock.

North Rowan    14    7    14    15    — 50

C. Davidson      16    5    18    12   — 51

NORTH — Ellis 27, Elder 6, Oglesby 6, McArthur 6, Stockton 5.