By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

BOONVILLE — North Surry coach Shane Slate endured his share of frustrating moments against Starmount during the fall volleyball season.

His Greyhounds were bested by the Rams four times, including in a five-set thriller in the conference tournament championship game and again a few weekends later in the state quarterfinals.

But Slate and many of the same girls who played for him in volleyball have managed to turn the tables during basketball season.

North Surry beat Starmount for the second time this winter on Friday night, riding sharp shooting, crisp passing and stingy defense to a 69-53 victory in Boonville. The triumph all but locked up second place in the Mountain Valley 2A standings — assuring a home first-round state playoff game in a few weeks, provided the Rams (or another lower-seeded team) don’t win the conference tournament.

“It was a hard-fought, scrappy game and I didn’t expect anything less,” Slate said after Friday’s clash. “We have a pretty good rivalry. The girls know each other well. That makes it even better.”

Starmount played this rivalry meeting without one of its key cogs, starting center Julianna Prim. The senior two-sport standout was in Raleigh on Friday night getting ready for the next morning’s state swimming championships at NC State (where she won one state title and finished second in another race).

The Rams knew a strong outside game was paramount to their chances without Prim there to take charge of the paint. For awhile things were working according to plan.

Senior guard Jordan Raye hit a trio of three-pointers and sophomore point guard Kelli Bonner swished another trey in the first quarter, keeping the Rams within a deuce by the end of the period.

Bonner made one free throw early in the second quarter to pull the Rams within a point at 18-17. But North Surry went on a 7-0 run from there.

A 29-24 Greyhounds advantage at halftime quickly expanded out to 45-29 during the first 5:25 of the third period.

Starmount got as close as 10 points in the fourth quarter, 59-49 after a pair of Bonner free throws. A steal by Raye that led to a Bonner layup later made the score 62-53 Greyhounds with just over three minutes left.

But the Rams didn’t score again and North Surry closed things out on the free throw line. North Surry was 10 of 12 from the stripe in the fourth period and 19 of 23 for the game.

“We’ve been preparing for it for about a week,” Starmount coach Kyle Hutchens said of Prim’s absence. “I knew this would give us a chance to have another girl try to step up and fill the role. But we didn’t do a good job of rebounding tonight. We only had 15.

“And we didn’t shoot the ball well in the second half. My hats off to North Surry. They played really consistent. And they really shot the lights out.”

Neither head coach had North Surry’s final field goal percentage handy right after the game, but the ‘Hounds likely made more than half their shots.

Lindsey Payne worked inside for 17 points, including nine in the third period. Emily Culler (18 points) and Morgan Midkiff (11 points) did much of their damage from the outside. Kara Hodges added nine points and Nicole Rumplasch scored eight for the Greyhounds, who play a patient, pass-until-the-defense-breaks-down type of offense.

Midkiff also had nine rebounds, while Culler added seven boards — solid numbers for a pair of guards.

Culler proved equally as effective on the defensive end, where she drew the assignment of locking down Bonner, who is the Lady Rams version of Ty Lawson — a push-the-pace floor leader who can drive as well as shoot well from the outside.

Bonner rarely got off to the races until late in the game, with Culler usually staring her down as she brought the ball across half court.

Bonner ended up with 13 points but only had four at the half. Her early three-pointer was her only long-range jumper of the night.

“That was our point of emphasis, that we kept (Emily) in front of her,” Slate said. “When she wants to Emily can sit down and play good defense. She can be that kind of defender night in and night out.”

Olivia Gough, a freshman who plays on the wing for Starmount, probably had the best match-up for the home team. She took her defender to the hole several times and worked for 13 points.

But the Rams still needed a tough post presence, coach Hutchens said.

“We tried five guards some. We tried running four guards around one post,” Hutchens said. “We just didn’t do a very good job overall as far as getting the ball inside and establishing a post.

“When you can’t get going on the inside, the can kind of sit out there on the outside on your guards.”

Raye led Starmount — and all scorers — with 20 points. Becca Aplin’s four points and Mariah Fleming’s three rounded out Starmount’s tally.

Friday’s result left Starmount 16-6, 7-3 in the MVAC. North Surry improved to 9-2.

The Rams finish the regular season at home against Wilkes Central (6-4) on Tuesday and then at Surry Central (2-9) on Thursday.

“Hopefully we’ll have a chance to see (North Surry) again in the semifinals of the conference tournament,” Hutchens said. “They are a good, solid ball team. Night in and night out — they’ve got a good group of guards and they play really smart together. They are very consistent and they are very patient with everything.”

North Surry Girls 69, Starmount 53 Friday • at Boonville

North Surry 18 11 24 16 — 69

Starmount 16 8 13 16 — 53

NORTH SURRY — Morgan Midkiff 11, Emily Culler 18, Morgan Bunker 2, Kara Hodges 9, Courtney Campbell 4, Nicole Rumplasch 8, Lindsey Payne 17.

STARMOUNT — Kelli Bonner 13, Jordan Raye 20, Mariah Fleming 3, Becca Aplin 4, Olivia Gough 13.