Carson boys 73, West Iredell 49

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By Mike London

mlondon@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — Carson guard Derrick Sewell quietly took another charge, but this one said a lot.

Sewell sacrificed his body with his team leading by 31 points in the fourth quarter.

That's the sort of tenacity the Cougars have displayed all season and helps explain why they're in first place. The state's sixth-ranked 3A team rolled 73-49 against West Iredell on Thursday.

Carson (18-2, 9-0 NPC) has average quickness and no one bigger than 6-foot-3, but the willingness to take a charge up 31 makes up for physical limits."That was a good thing — a very good thing," Carson coach Brian Perry said. "Sewell took that charge, and Clifford Long came in and took a charge."

Carson has never scored more than 83 points in a game. It had 46 at halftime in this one. Fans were starting to think about 90 or even 100, but the starters sat down early.

Perry was apprehensive about the matchup, mostly because wretched weather has kept the Cougars out of school and away from the gym.

"Sure, I was nervous because you don't know what to expect after a layoff like we had," he said. "But once we made some shots and got out running, we got confidence. We got those easy baskets, and then we had some separation."

Darius Moose scored 21 points for Carson — 17 in the first half. He sat down shortly after converting a third-quarter layup for a 57-27 lead.

Devon Heggins knocked down back-to-back 3s from the left corner and scored a career-best 15 points. Cody Clanton had seven of his 15 points during Carson's second-quarter flurry. Brandon Ferrare contributed nine points and a solid floor game.

"I thought we'd play bad, but instead we played very good," Heggins said. "We played tough defense from the start. That got us going."

West Iredell (3-15, 1-8) hasn't been the same since early January, when it dropped three heartbreakers in one week.

The Warriors hung with Carson for a quarter behind strong starts by Jalen Gray and Keith Gray, but the Cougars crushed them 26-5 in the second quarter. It was all over by halftime.

"We came in here flat, and Carson came out with intensity," West Iredell coach Ben Johnson said. "With that combination, that's the result you're going to get."

It would've gotten really ugly for West Iredell, but point guard Drew Alford went crazy in a three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter. He buried four straight shots — three of them 3s — and personally outscored Carson 11-0 to trim a 33-point margin to 22.

"We try to get Drew to shoot," Johnson said. "He decided that was the opportune moment."n

NOTES: A decision was made Thursday afternoon to move the games up several hours to beat the next wave of foul weather. ... Carson plans to play West Rowan, which has one NPC loss, this Saturday at Carson. The varsity girls game is set for 3 p.m., with the boys to follow. ... Moose, a Brevard signee, has 391 points this season and 1,620 for his career.WEST IREDELL (49) — K. Gray 15, Alford 11, J. Gray 6, Harris 5, Stevenson 5, Follrod 3, Summers 2, Davidson 2, Scott, Blohm.

CARSON (73) — Moose 21, Heggins 15, Clanton 15, Ferrare 9, Houston 5, Sewell 4, Wagner 4, Long, Raper, Eagle, Barringer, Crossen.

W. Iredell 16 5 10 18 — 49

Carson 20 26 17 10 — 73