By James W. Houston

Special to The Pilot

Tuesday's game pitting the North Moore girls' basketball team against North Rowan in Robbins was one of those affairs featuring "good news" and "bad news."

The good news was Lady Mustang senior Jalisa Davis may have set a new school individual game scoring record with 47 points. The bad news was her team lost in overtime, by an 85-81 score, after leading by eight points with 3:24 left in the contest.

The game was not without controversy in the final seconds of regulation, as Mustang senior Jessie Sheffield hit a pair of free throws to put her team up 78-77 with 3.8 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play by North Rowan, a long pass near midcourt resulted in a mad scramble for the loose ball and a foul was called on the Mustangs, sending North Rowan freshman Aliyah Farmer to the line for a pair of free throws with 2.8 seconds left on the game clock.

She made the first shot, but missed the second, tying the contest at 78 and sending the game into overtime. With new life created by the controversial call, North Rowan took control of the game in overtime, outscoring North Moore 7-3 for the four-point win.

"I knew we were in trouble when their (North Rowan) assistant coach and one of their players had to pull their (head) coach off the court, when he should have been ejected after having a technical foul (earlier in the game) called on him," said North Moore coach Sammy McNeill. "I knew then the officials' mindset had changed in their favor."

The first meeting between these two teams came down to a last-second shot that gave the Cavaliers a 65-63 victory. With the sweep of the Mustangs, the Cavaliers are now 7-2 in Yadkin Valley Conference play and 7-6 overall, while North Moore falls to 5-4 in league action and 10-6 overall.

The contest was tightly contested with neither team gaining more than an eight-point lead. At times it seemed the Mustangs were ready to break the game wide open, but the youthful Cavaliers fought their way back into the contest.

The first period ended with both teams scoring 16 points, with Davis scoring seven of her team's points and Sheffield adding a pair of three-pointers. At one point during the opening period, the Mustangs went up 15-10 on Sheffield's second trey and then the Cavaliers converted on three straight possessions, on fast breaks, giving them a 16-15 lead. Davis hit one of two foul shots to tie the contest at 16 going into the second period.

The Mustangs started fast in the second quarter, scoring the first six points on a driving bucket by Davis, a short jumper by Heather Dunmyer and a putback by Tyisha Horn. The Cavs came storming back to score the next seven points for a 23-22 lead with five minutes left in the half.

The game was back-and-forth from there, with North Rowan holding a 32-30 lead with 1:17 left in the period. Then Davis hit one of her five three-pointers for the game and Mustang freshman Carla Brown connected on four straight foul shots, staking her team to a 37-32 lead at the break. Davis had 17 points first-half points.

Buckets by Davis and Casey Turner sandwiched around a Cavalier free throw gave North Moore a 41-33 lead with 5:34 left in the third quarter. With 2:32 left in the period, the Mustangs held a 46-40 advantage when North Rowan surged back with five straight points, cutting the lead to one point.

Then North Rowan's coach was hit with a technical foul where Davis hit both shots for a 48-45 lead with 1:52 left in the quarter. The Mustangs pushed the lead to five points on a driving layup by Davis. North Rowan freshman Special Washington hit on back-to-back three-pointers, putting her team on top 51-50 with 1:24 left.

Davis gave her team the lead right back with a trey from the corner, followed by a three-pointer from Cavalier Fredejah Royer. The Mustangs grabbed the lead back when Sheffield converted all three foul shots after being fouled shooting a three-pointer with 18 seconds left in the third quarter. North Moore led 56-54 going into the fourth period

With Davis scoring the team's first 12 points to open the final frame, the Mustangs took a 68-60 lead with 4:49 left in the contest. The two teams swapped buckets, leaving North Moore on top 70-62 with 3:24 left in the game.

North Rowan got back-to-back three-pointers from senior Taylor Sells sandwiched around a foul shot by Davis, cutting the Mustangs' lead to three points. Washington made it a one-point game after stealing the ball and racing full court for a layup with 2:38 left in the game.

The two teams continued to swap buckets, with the Mustangs clinging to a 76-74 lead with 24 seconds left in the game. North Rowan's Royer hit her third three-pointer from right elbow, giving her team a 77-76 lead with 12 seconds left. With 3.8 seconds left, Sheffield was fouled and she hit both foul shots with the second one hitting the front of the rim and falling through the nets for a one-point lead and setting the stage for the controversial ending.

The Cavaliers controlled the overtime while the Mustangs had several opportunities to stay in the game but were dashed due to turnovers.

Following Davis in the Mustangs' scoring column was Sheffield with 13 points. The Cavaliers were paced by Washington with 24 points followed by Farmer with 14 points.

The Mustangs traveled to Chatham Central Thursday night and will host conference leader South Davidson Friday. The girls' game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. followed by the boys' game.

North Rowan 16 16 22 24 7 - 85

North Moore 16 21 19 22 3 - 81

North Rowan: Washington 6 9-12 24, Farmer 6 2-4 14, Robinson 3 6-14 13, Royer 4 2-4 13, Sells 4 0-0 11, Carter 2 1-3 5, Allen 0 2-2 2. Totals 25 22-39 85.

North Moore: Davis 15 12-15 47, Sheffield 3 5-5 13, Horn 3 0-0 6, Turner 1 2-2 4, Brown 0 4-4 4, Dunmyer 1 1-2 3, Brower 1 0-1 3, Little 0 1-2 1. Totals 24 25-31 81.

Three-point goals: NR 10 (Sells 3, Washington 3, Royer 3, Robinson); NM 8 (Davis 5, Sheffield 2, Brower).