Big second half carries Stevenson past Cary-Grove

It was a second half coach Rod Saffert and the Cary-Grove girls basketball team would like to totally wipe off the slate.

With the game tied 23-23 at halftime, powerful Stevenson dominated the final 16 minutes and outscored the Trojans 32-13 in cruising to a 55-36 win in nonconference action in Cary Friday night.

The Pats remain undefeated at 7-0 while the Trojans drop to .500 at 4-4.

'We did everything we wanted to in the first half," said Saffert. "We had a good pace and played very well. I was pleased with a 23-23 tie. The second half we had way too many turnovers and we gave them too many second-chance points. We had only four kids score. With our brutally tough schedule, we need to get more kids involved on offense. We need to do the little things better against good teams like Stevenson."

In the third quarter with the score tied at 30, the Patriots took control of the game by scoring the final 9 points of the quarter.

Butler-bound senior Taylor Buford scored 7 points and Ashley Richardson added a putback during the pivotal run as Stevenson led 39-30 after 3 quarters.

Early in the fourth quarter, Katie Barker scored on a 10-footer in the lane to cut the Trojans' deficit to 7, 3932. That would be as close as Cary-Grove, which committed 23 turnovers, would get.

Stevenson responded with a 7-0 run to ensure victory. A 3-pointer by Richardson along with a putback by Buford and a 12-footer from Melanie Despinich gave the Patriots a 46-32 advantage with 3:28 left in the game.

Richardson paced Stevenson with 19 points and Buford scored 18 with 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots.

"We played harder, smarter and much better in the second half," said Stevenson coach Tom Dineen. "We were able to dictate the tempo more in the second half. Our shot selection was better, We took the ball to the basket more. Taylor Buford played a great game offensively and defensively. She did a great job on Barker. Taylor made sure Barker worked for everything she got. This is a very good win against a good team in a hostile environment."

Barker paced the Trojans with 15 points, 11 in the first half, while Candace Cunningham tallied 9 points with 8 rebounds and Jen Pilut scored 8.