Carson girls 64, West Iredell 41

By Mike London

mlondon@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — Carson's girls took another step toward their first playoff appearance with a 64-41 home win against West Iredell on Thursday.

The NPC gets four playoff berths, and the Cougars (9-12, 5-4) are in firm possession of fourth place.

Carson will be an underdog in remaining games against West Rowan and Statesville, but it can secure fourth if it beats South Rowan, its closest pursuer, on Feb. 9.

"Being 5-4 feels pretty good compared to where we've been," Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer said.

Carson was 4-67 entering this season, so nine wins is serious progress.

It has won four in a row for the first time ever. The Cougars have won as many games in the last 13 days as they won in their first three seasons.

Sophomore Chloe Monroe led the Cougars with 13 points, her fifth straight game in double figures and 10th this season.

Freshman Kelly Dulkoski contributed her first double-figure game with 12 points.

Senior Kaylene Livengood scored 10 points. Allison Blackwell, Beth Cloninger and Breckin Settlemyer added six points apiece. Freshman Tyesha Phillips led the Cougars with eight rebounds.

"You never know, and I really was pretty worried about this game because we've been out of the gym and not able to practice all this week," Misenheimer said. "But we did OK. Everyone scored. It was a very good team win."

West Iredell, which trailed 31-18 at halftime, got nine points each from Sara Marshall, Jaclyn Gatton and Kayla Ijames. The Warriors fell to 0-9 in the NPC.

Carson's best offensive quarter was the third, when it put up 20 points. That bucked a trend.

"The third quarter has been when our intensity has dropped off," Misenheimer said. "That didn't happen tonight."

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NOTES: A decision was made Thursday afternoon to move the game up several hours because more weather issues were in the forecast. ... Carson plans to play West Rowan on Saturday afternoon, weather permitting. The varsity girls game is scheduled for 3 p.m. ... Carson has never beaten West. The Falcons have won all eight meetings between the schools. ... West guard Brittney Barber (broken hand) is expected to miss the rest of the season. ... Senior Jazzmin Brown scored two points and is Carson's career leader with 344. Livengood (316) and Settlemyer (272) aren't far behind. ... Carson junior Demya Heggins recently passed the 200-point milestone, and Monroe did so last night... Blackwell, a freshman, already has accounted for 171 points.

WEST IREDELL (41) — Ijames 9, Marshall 9, Gatton 9, Ellis 6, Sigmon 3, Fain 2, Moose 2, Tuttle 1.CARSON (64) — Monroe 13, Dulkoski 12, K. Livengood 10, Blackwell 6, Settlemyer 6, Cloninger 6, Phillips 4, Heggins 3, Brown 2, M. Livengood 2.

W. Iredell 7 11 15 8 — 41

Carson 16 15 20 13 — 64