By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

CONCORD — East Rowan’s girls basketball team was in charge for most of Friday’s game at Central Cabarrus and led by as many as a dozen points.

But spurred by senior Kyra Lewis the Vikings came back and pulled out a 45-42 South Piedmont Conference victory. It would have been East’s biggest victory of the season so far, but it slipped away and Central (10-7, 6-3) was able to sweep the season series.

“We’re playing better,” said East coach Bri Evans, who stayed upbeat despite the disappointment. “If we can play like we did the last two games, we’ll be all right. Just have to finish games.”

Foul trouble hurt the Mustangs, as they tried to finish. Leading scorer Mary Church exited with 17 points and three assists after a touch foul 15 feet from the hoop with 4:57 remaining and with East leading by six. Jayden Featherstone, who provided eight points and lots of energy while battling people six inches taller, was whistled for her fifth foul trying to stop a shot in the paint with 2:11 left, and with the Mustangs still on top.

East (7-8, 3-5) played mostly small lineups and used a lot of 1-3-1 zone. East’s speed advantage neutralized Central Cabarrus’ major size advantage, and East looked like the better team by quite a bit in the first half.

East passed the ball for two minutes on its first possession, not a stall, but showing serious patience. Kori Miller got a layup off a pass by Church to get the scoring started, and a 3-pointer by Church gave the Mustangs a 7-0 lead and a dream start on the road.

The Vikings failed to score for nearly five minutes at the outset, but they finally got it going and cut East’s lead to 7-4 at the end of the quarter.

Hannah Waddell made two 3-pointers as the Mustangs expanded their lead in the second quarter. Church made two free throws to close the half with East leading 23-11. That’s where the Mustangs peaked.

The start of the second half was critical. If East had scored the first five or six, Central may well have been knocked out, but Central coach Brandon Blalock got his team rejuvenated in the locker room. When the second half began, East couldn’t score, and the determined Vikings slowly chewed into that double-digit deficit. With 1:35 left in the third quarter, Lewis tied the game at 23-all.

The Mustangs went almost seven minutes without registering a single point. Church finally ended that dreary drought with a layup. Her two free throws put East ahead 27-25 going to the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, East had regrouped and appeared to have survived its dry spell. Lily Kluttz and Featherstone made hustle plays, and when Church swished a 3-pointer from deep on the right wing, East was back on top by seven at 37-30 with 5:45 left.

A steal and layup by Daniyah Burton got Central’s comeback started. Then Lewis, who scored 18 of her 19 points in the second half and made three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, caught fire. She made a 3-pointer to cut East’s lead to three points. After Klutz made a free throw, Lewis made another 3, and East’s lead was down to one — 39-38 — with the clocking ticking under two minutes.

Burton scored on an offensive rebound with 1:40 left to put Central ahead for the first time all night at 40-39. After Jahnae Duncan somehow banked in a remarkable floater with 1:10 left, the Mustangs trailed by three points.

With 20 seconds left, Waddell tied it at 42-all with the straight-on bomb that was her third 3-pointer. Savannah Wise got the ball to her.

In the hectic moments that followed Waddell’s shot, Shelby Cruz scored on a put-back for the Vikings as she was fouled with 8.3 seconds left. That was the game-decider. Cruz missed the free throw, but the Mustangs couldn’t secure the rebound, and Central tacked on another free throw with 1.2 seconds left.

Central Cabarrus shot only 30 percent from the field, but 17 offensive rebounds helped the Vikings survive. Cruz and Burton got six apiece.

“That was a tough, hard-fought game,” Blalock said. “It won’t surprise me to see East Rowan for a third time in the conference tournament.”

That’s a potential 4 vs. 5 matchup, but there’s some work for both teams to do between now and then.

East Rowan   7     16      4    15    — 42

Central Cab.   4      7     14   20   — 45

EAST — Church 17, Waddell 9, J. Featherstone 8, Kluttz 4, Miller 2, Collins 2.

CENTRAL — Lewis 19, Cruz 8, Burton 8, Duncan 6, Arevalo 4.