West Rowan’s boys have beaten A.L. Brown 14 straight times and blown the Wonders away in their last eight meetings. Still, tonight’s game in Kannapolis may be worth watching.
The Wonders, who start five seniors, have shooters in the backcourt and size up front. Marksmen Brandon Thomas and Timmy Allison are small, but fill it up. In the paint, 6-foot-6 leaper Justin Robinson and 6-6 banger Josh Barrier should at least make Falcon superstar Donte Minter break a sweat.
Coach Shelwyn Klutz’s Wonders aren’t the equal of unbeaten West (16-0, 5-0), but may still match up better than anyone the monsters from Mount Ulla will see prior to the sectionals. The Wonders (12-3, 3-2) have owned the lead in the fourth quarter of every one of their games. Subtract a few ill-timed turnovers and add a few clutch foul shots and this could be a dream matchup of a 16-0 vs. 15-0.
The girls game, like most every 3A North Piedmont Conference girls clash, is huge. West’s victory at North Iredell (a team that won at A.L. Brown) propelled them back into the scrap for a state playoff berth. Both teams have 3-2 league records, but more pressure is on the Wonders. It will be difficult for them to make the playoffs if they drop another home game tonight.
Elsewhere in the NPC, the surging East girls (14-2, 4-1) need a home win against a dangerous Northwest Cabarrus team (9-7, 1-4) that is better than its record. The Trojans’ terrific guard Chrissy Killian should return after serving a two-game suspension for her involvement in an altercation during her team’s loss to Statesville.
Without star Matt Belk, East’s boys (2-14, 0-5) will have a tough time snapping a 12-game losing streak against the Trojans (4-12, 2-3), who are still in the playoff mix.
In the 2A Central Carolina Conference, teams begin their second tour of the league tonight.
That’s not good news for North Rowan, which travels to Lexington for rematches of games that were ugly in Spencer. The Cav boys lost by 16 the first time, while the girls fell to the Jackets by 27.
Salisbury just made the journey to West Stokes nine days ago, but the Wildcats, who swept that doubleheader in King, are in town tonight.
It’s pretty much a must-win for the Salisbury girls (5-11, 3-4) as far as making the state playoffs. If they’re swept, they’ll lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with fellow middle-of-the-packer West Stokes, and that could prove disastrous.
Salisbury’s girls dropped the first meeting 43-36. The boys were blown out by 35 in their original meeting with the second-place Wildcats.
In the 4A Central Piedmont Conference, the Davie-North Davidson girls battle in Mocksville features two teams that are part of a three-way tie at the top. Davie’s boys (10-4, 2-2) are favored and can’t afford a slip-up against the Black Knights, one of the teams they must beat out to secure the league’s No.3 playoff slot.
At Landis, South Rowan’s wildly inconsistent girls (10-8, 2-2) are still very much in the race and will try to bounce back against South Iredell (5-11, 1-3). The Raider boys (9-9, 1-3) have a great chance to get their second league win and keep the pressure on Davie. South Iredell’s boys are winless in the league.
Best game of the night? That’s at R.J. Reynolds. The Demon boys host West Forsyth in a clash of CPC
unbeatens.
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