Rosewood girls improve to 8-2

By Steve Roush
Published in Sports on January 5, 2006 2:07 PM

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The Rosewood Lady Eagles kicked off the 2006 portion of their schedule well-rested -- and a bit rusty.

Playing for the first time since Dec. 20, Rosewood saw a double-digit, first-half lead against visiting Parrott Academy melt to just three points early in the third quarter. But the Eagles were finally able to shake off the rust and pull away late in the game, outscoring the Patriots 22-8 over the final seven minutes Wednesday night to win 65-43.

"We haven't played in over two weeks and it showed," Rosewood coach Jerry Narron said. "We were very rusty."

Stephanie Rhodes scored a game-high 16 points to lead four Rosewood players in double figures. Clare Narron and Courtney Hill added 12 points each for Rosewood (8-2), while Kasie Braswell finished with 10.

"We have a very balanced team," coach Narron said. "An opponent can't key on any one girl -- all of them are capable of scoring, especially our first six."

Coming out in a full-court press, the Eagles forced several backcourt turnovers by Parrott (9-3) as Rosewood jumped out to a 16-4 lead just four minutes into the game.

"Our press is outstanding when the girls play smart and don't make unintelligent fouls," Narron said.

The Patriots, however, were able to shave Rosewood's lead to 20-13 after one quarter, and later reduced the home team's advantage to just 30-27 early in the third period.

Jaclyn Ervin, Parrott's leading scorer, finished with 14 points, but was held to only six points during the final two quarters.

"With (Ervin), you have to get back quickly because she's so fast," Rhodes said. "We put a box-and-one on her, and in the end, it turned out well."

It sure did.

The Eagles outscored the Pats 12-5 to finish the quarter as Braswell hit two consecutive layups in the final 20 seconds as Rosewood grabbed the lead for good.

Clare Narron, who was in foul trouble for much of the night, scored eight points in the final period. She pulled off a traditional three-point play with 1:37 to play that pushed Rosewood's lead to 61-39 -- its largest of the night to that point.

Rosewood returns to action Friday as the Eagles open conference play at Ayden-Grifton.

Parrott 13 11 8 11 -- 43

Rosewood 20 10 12 23 -- 65

PARROTT (9-3)

Jaclyn Ervin 5 0 4-7 14; Rebecca Hill 2 0 0-1 4; Charlotte Goins 2 0 0-1 4; Julie Rawl 1 3 2-3 13; Carmen Bright 2 0 0-0 4; Mila Maheuska 2 0 0-1 4. TOTALS -- 14 3 6-13 43.

ROSEWOOD (8-2)

Courtney Hill 4 0 4-7 12; Shanita Monroe 2 0 2-3 7; Stephanie Rhodes 8 0 0-1 16; Clare Narron 5 0 2-3 12; Shantal Johnson 1 0 0-0 2; Kasie Braswell 4 0 2-5 10; Kasey Grey 2 0 2-2 6. TOTALS -- 26 0 13-26 65.

3-point goals -- Parrott (Rawl 3); Rosewood, none. Team fouls -- Parrott 22; Rosewood 19. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- Hill.