GRAHAM — River Mill Academy simply had no answer Tuesday night for Chatham Charter’s twin towers.
Rebecca McGaughnea and Morgan Lineberry, a pair of six-foot juniors, combined for 29 points and 28 rebounds while the Lady Knights held off their host down the stretch to capture a 47-42 Central Tar Heel 1A Conference victory on the losers’ court.
Snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Lady Jaguars, Chatham Charter lifted its CTHC record to 5-0 to remain atop the league standings while improving to 11-2 for the season, whereas River Mill fell to 4-1 in the conference and 8-6 overall.
McGaughnea registered 15 points and grabbed 15 boards while Lineberry notched 14 points and pulled down 13 caroms. Taylor Brewer added nine points for the winners, who connected on 20-of-59 (34 percent) of their field goal attempts and commanded a whopping 48-22 advantage on the glass to help offset 21 turnovers.
Kyleigha Loftin led the Lady Jaguars with 14 points while MiRonda Swepson and Trinity French chipped in nine apiece. River Mill shot 15-of-47 (32 percent) from the floor while turning the ball over 19 times.
“Our rebounding was the key to this win,” said Lady Knights’ coach Jennifer Dameron. “We boxed out really well as a team and our guards did a good job getting the ball into the post to Rebecca and Morgan, while they used their height advantage to score a lot of offensive put-backs besides limiting River Mill’s second-chance opportunities on the defensive end.”
Lady Jaguars’ coach Hamilton Perkins was unavailable for comments afterwards.
After French’s lane jumper and Swepson’s conventional three-point play gave River Mill a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes of play, Chatham Charter battled back to draw within 8-7 at the close of the initial stanza on McGaughnea’s layup with 21.8 seconds left in the period.
The Lady Knights fashioned their first advantage at 13-11 on Lineberry’s put-back in the paint with 5:17 remaining in the second quarter and proceeded to increase their lead to 26-17 on her three-point play with 17.4 seconds to go until halftime before Swepson’s jumper off the right baseline 11 seconds later trimmed the difference to seven at intermission.
With Loftin and French combining for all of the Lady Jaguars’ points in the third stanza, River Mill outscored the visitors from Siler City 11-5 in the frame to whittle its deficit down to one entering the fourth period.
Following three lead changes in the first two minutes of the final quarter, Chatham Charter eventually seized the advantage for good at 36-34 on MacKenzie Brooks’ jumper from the left wing with 5:17 to go in the contest.
After Lineberry’s jumper in the lane capped an 8-5 run that put the Lady Knights up 44-39 with 1:32 left, Chatham Charter then salted the game away with free throws in the time remaining.