Maddy Elkins came off the bench to tally six straight points at the start of the fourth quarter to spark a 10-0 Chatham Central run as the Lady Bears pulled away from Eastern Randolph down the stretch to nab a 68-54 non-conference victory on the road Monday evening in Ramseur.
Defeating the Lady Wildcats for the second time in their last five meetings, Chatham Central lifted its record to 2-0 for the year while dealing Eastern Randolph a setback in its season-opener.
Mary Grace Murchison led the winners with 16 points and Taylor Hughes added a dozen, while Cami Hughes and Abby Elkins collected nine points apiece. The Lady Bears shot 38% (26-of-68) from the floor while turning the ball over 16 times.
Tehya Jordan poured in a game-high 20 points while Ellen Moore chipped in nine for the Lady Wildcats, who connected on 39% (23-of-59) of their field goad attempts and held a 38-34 advantage on the boards but committed 28 turnovers.
With Murchison and Taylor Hughes both canning a pair of free throws in the opening 29 seconds of play, Chatham Central seized a quick 4-0 lead before back-to-back rebound buckets in the lane by Jordan forged the night’s only tie with 6:36 left in the initial period.
An Abby Elkins layup 18 seconds later put the Lady Bears ahead for good and ignited a 17-6 burst that gave Chatham Central a 21-10 advantage after one quarter.
Eliana Phillips’ bank shot from the right wing with 4:13 to go in the second stanza allowed the Lady Bears to equal their biggest lead of the first half at 28-12 prior to Moore sandwiching a pair of hoops around two Courtnee Carter foul shots as Eastern Randolph trimmed the margin to 10 with 2:15 remaining in the frame.
Following Olivia Hudson’s charity toss two minutes later that capped a 5-0 Chatham Central spurt, Carter buried a three-pointer from the right wing with 8.7 seconds to go until intermission as the Lady Wildcats drew within 33-21 at the break.
The Lady Bears expanded their advantage to as many as 17 points (44-27) on Abby Elkins’ inbounds layup with 4:37 left in the third period before Eastern Randolph put together a 17-7 quarter-ending run, culminating with Jordan’s trey from the left wing with 25.8 seconds showing on the clock, to pull the Lady Wildcats within seven entering the last eight minutes.
But after two Cami Hughes free throws three minutes into the fourth stanza helped Chatham Central rebuild a 17-point cushion at 61-44, the Lady Bears then proceeded to fashion their biggest lead of the contest at 66-45 following Murchison’s fast break layup with 3:25 remaining to play prior to Eastern Randolph closing out the game with a 9-2 run to account for the final spread.
CC 21 12 18 17 – 68
ER 10 11 23 10 – 54
Chatham Central (2-0) – Collins 0 0-2 0 CHughes 3 3-6 9 AElkins 4 1-3 9 THughes 5 2-2 12 Murchison 5 3-4 16 Hudson 3 1-2 7 Oldham 1 0-2 2 Phillips 2 1-2 5 Fields 0 0-0 0 Nava 0 0-1 0 MElkins 3 2-2 8. Totals 26 13-26 68.
Eastern Randolph (0-1) – Rush 1 0-0 2 Snider 2 0-0 4 Jordan 9 0-1 20 Carter 2 3-4 8 Whitaker 2 0-0 5 Faulkner 0 0-0 0 Moore 4 1-2 9 Christian 3 0-0 6 Abrams 0 0-0 0 Lineberry 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 4-7 54.
Halftime-Chatham Central, 33-21. Three-point goals-Chatham Central 3-7 (Murchison 3-5, MElkins 0-1, THughes 0-1); Eastern Randolph 4-8 (Jordan 2-4, Carter 1-2, Whitaker 1-2). Fouled out-Carter. Rebounds-Chatham Central 34 (Phillips 6); Eastern 38 (Jordan 9). Turnovers-Chatham Central 16; Eastern Randolph 28. Total fouls-Chatham Central 11; Eastern Randolph 17.