By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
CHINA GROVE — Carson point guard Kelly Dulkoski temporarily misplaced her shooting touch in the recent Sam Moir Christmas Classic, so every Cougar fan was relieved to see the first rainbow she launched on Tuesday night swish for three points.
“I didn’t shoot well in the tournament, but I always work on my shot and I know I can make them,” Dulkoski said. “When that first one went in, it was a relief.”
Dulkoski scored all 16 of her points in the first half as the Cougars rolled over rival South Rowan 75-40 in the Carson gym. The sophomore hit three 3s before halftime, including a running 32-footer at the horn, as the Cougars (10-4, 4-1 NPC) easily put away the Raiders.
South (4-8, 1-2) led 2-0 after Sam Goins passed to Nicole Barringer for a layup, but the Raiders didn’t change the scoreboard again for nine minutes, allowing the Cougars to score 23 unanswered points.
Dulkoski keyed that 23-0 spree by making a 3-pointer, stealing the inbounds pass and driving for a three-point play.
“I thought we had a very nice first quarter, but I thought we kinda coasted after that,” Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer said. “There were some stretches where South outrebounded us and outhustled us, and that was a little disappointing. We’ve talked about raising the bar, about elevating our level of play. We need to play four quarters like we did the first.”
Kayla Corriher led South with eight points. Nicole Barringer had seven. Chelsea McManus and Lynsey Corriher scored five each.
“You’re not going to win missing the number of free throws (20) and layups (too many to count) that we did, and you’re probably going to be in trouble anytime you don’t have anyone scoring in double figures,” South coach Jarrod Smith said.
“Defensively, we’ve got a lot to work on. When a team that doesn’t have ‘Salisbury’ across its chest puts up 75 on you, you have to get to work.”
Chloe Monroe still had a hot left hand for the Cougars. She hit a 3-pointer in every quarter and scored 18 points.
“It was great to see Kelly get her shot back tonight,” Misenheimer said. “And Chloe is playing with a tremendous amount of confidence.”
Allison Blackwell scored nine points, and Tyesha Phillips, who sat out the first half, contributed eight.
SOUTH ROWAN (40) — K. Corriher 8, N. Barringer 7, McManus 5, L. Corriher 5, Miller 4, Gaddy 3, Allison 2, Goins 2, Register 2, Jones 2, Swartz.
CARSON (75) — Monroe 18, Dulkoski 16, Blackwell 9, Phillips 8, K. Barringer 7, Holman 6, Cloninger 5, Heggins 3, White 2, Stirewalt 1, Ruby, Clark.
S. Rowan 2 9 16 13 — 40
Carson 20 14 19 22 — 75