The Mathews High School varsity girls’ basketball team avenged an earlier loss to the rival Middlesex Lady Chargers, traveling to Saluda Monday and defeating the hosts, 46-28.

Both teams played evenly throughout the first half, with Middlesex taking a 19-16 lead into halftime with a three-pointer at the buzzer. Mathews returned in the second half and played a much more aggressive defense and pushed the ball up the court for easy fast-break points.

Coach Tommy Eriksen said that the third and fourth quarters represented the most complete half his team has played all year on both ends of the court. In the second half, Mathews outplayed the host Chargers by a 30-9 margin. Taylor South led the Blue Devils with 15 points, followed by Maria Spadaccini with 10 and Savannah Wooten with eight. Madison Owens added four points while Veronica Cosby contributed three.

Rounding out the scoring were Madison South with three, Emily Brown with two, Whitney Erikse...