Jeff Linville | The News
North Surry’s Malaya Johnson, seen scoring over Sarah Bruce, nearly posted a triple-double against the Lady Eagles Tuesday.
DOBSON — The Lady Greyhounds used a 12-3 run to get some breathing room on the way to defeating Surry Central 50-35.
North Surry led 16-10 in the second quarter, but the Lady Eagles scored the last five points to pull within one point.
In the third quarter it was 20-19 when the Hounds ran off three straight buckets and pulled ahead 32-22 near the end of the quarter.
The 12-3 run grew to a 29-9 push before Coach Shane Slate called a timeout with 1:38 left to put some reserves on the floor. At that time it was 49-28.
The Eagles left their key players in and finished the game with a 7-1 spurt to pull closer.
“We didn’t have that third person today,” said Central Coach Mandy Holt.
Cassidy Joyner (15 points) and Courtney Hegler (10 points) were in double figures, but no other Eagle scored in the first half. And the next-highest point total was four by Sarah Bruce and Brittany Lewis.
Because the Eagles do such a good job of pressuring guards, Slate had his post players bring the ball up the floor much of the night.
Hegler had five steals and Joyner two. The defensive pressure seemed to affect North’s offense in the second quarter when the Hounds scored only two buckets. Both of those came in transition for guard Maddison Hawks, who had eight points in the first three quarters.
Holt said she wanted to force the tempo faster, but North was able to walk the ball up the floor too often because of center Malaya Johnson and forward Kristina Rumplasch handling the ball.
The girls definitely played with effort, but they just didn’t seem to move crisply, Holt said. When the Eagles tried to challenge passing lanes or trap ballhandlers, the defender just seemed a step slow, she noted.
In the first half, the Hounds ran the offense through Rumplasch, finding teammates going to the basket.
Rumplasch had just two free throws at halftime, but Johnson and Hawks had six each.
At the half, Slate said he made an adjustment to have Malaya initiate the offense and let Kristina move without the ball.
Johnson found Rumplasch several times in the second half. Johnson finished with seven assists and Rumplasch scored 16 of her 18 after the break.
Johnson also had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Rumplasch added eight boards and four assists. Erin March had four points and nine boards.
The execution was much better in the second half, said Slate. “We were more patient in finding the right people in the right places.”
He said he makes adjustments by the game or on the fly and the kids have done a great job of adapting to the changes and taking advantage of matchups.
Hawks also jump-started the transition attack with eight steals to go with eight points.
For the Eagles, Hegler nearly had another double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.
North Surry travels to South Stokes on Friday, while Surry Central hosts West Stokes.
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