South Rowan boys 64, Carson 57

South Rowan's Steven Dessasore (33) in game with Carson. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

South Rowan's Blake Houston (21) and Carson's Cody Clanton (4). Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

By Bret Strelow

bstrelow@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — Deep-voiced Steven Dessasore assumed the role of lead singer as South Rowan's boys team gathered in the visiting locker room at Carson and belted out the lyrics to 1970s funk hit "Love Rollercoaster."

Both squads have recently endured a run of ups and downs.

Blake Houston scored a career-high 25 points as South, which had lost four of its previous five games, picked up a 64-57 victory that knocked Carson out of first place in the NPC for the first time all season. The Cougars (18-4, 9-2) suffered their second straight defeat, and the outcome put the fourth-place Raiders (10-12, 6-5) in a celebratory mood.

"Steven Dessasore, when I had him in class, if they had a bad quiz, he'd joke, 'Coach, don't count that one,' " South coach John Davis said. "I'd say, 'Let's sing a little Rollercoaster.' He's got the deepest voice ever, and people love to hear him sing.

"When we'd get into the locker room and we had won a basketball game, he'd say, 'All right, baby, we gotta get to it. One, two, three, Rollercoaster.' We've been doing it ever since, and he brought it back tonight. You have to remember this is basketball, and it's supposed to be fun."

Davis declared that he turns into a "41-year-old kid" when his players start singing. He had more reasons to smile one night after the Raiders lost by 14 points at home against Statesville.

Houston scored 11 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday, and guard Mark McDaniel finished with a double-double (11 points, 14 rebounds). Darius Moose carried Carson with 27 points and 18 rebounds.

The Cougars led only once — when a 3-pointer from Devon Heggins produced a 5-4 edge. They didn't make another 3 against South's 1-3-1 zone until 4:52 remained in the third quarter, missed 24 of their first 26 attempts from long range and finished 5-for-30.

"I thought we got a couple of good looks early," Carson coach Brian Perry said. "After we clanged a few on the rim, I thought we should have drove a little more. We never were really consistent getting the ball to the paint. We let their zone dictate what kind of shots we took, and tonight those shots we took weren't falling."Derrick Sewell, who was scoreless in the first three quarters, gave Carson a chance by accounting for eight of his team's first nine points in the fourth quarter.

He drew a foul on a made layup, rebounded his missed free throw and hit a short jumper to pull the Cougars within 44-40 with seven minutes left. Nick Houston missed a 3-pointer after Carson regained possession, and a reverse layup by South's Brad Akers halted the threat.

The Cougars were 9-0 in the NPC before falling at home to West Rowan on Saturday.

"The disappointment is tremendous right now," Perry said. "Hopefully tomorrow we can go back in the gym and get back to work. I have to figure out a way to get these guys ready to play and prepare them for a game like this where we'll come out and bring the game energy we need to win a game like this."

The closing minutes included some odd moments.

South guard John Davis, who played despite breaking his right index finger a day earlier, went 2-for-4 on left-handed free throws to give the Raiders a 52-45 lead. Houston followed with a pair of game-sealing layups.

Diminutive guard Johnathan Gaddy missed a free throw but grabbed the rebound even though the other four players on that end of the court were wearing a Carson uniform.

Houston was alone at the line after an intentional foul, and he broke out some subtle dance moves as South's student section chanted about the impending result.

"It's a big rivalry game, and we knew it'd be tough to come in here and play them," Houston said. "We talked about battling adversity. We knew everything wasn't going well, but we came in here and we fought hard. We got a lead, and we kept it really."

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NOTE: A story on the ambidextrous display by South's Davis will appear Thursday.

SOUTH ROWAN (64) — Houston 25, McDaniel 11, Grant 9, Davis 8, Akers 6, Glaspy 4, Gaddy 1, Dessasore, Honeycutt, Sharpe, Boulware.

CARSON (57) — Moose 27, Clanton 11, Sewell 8, Ferrare 5, Heggins 3, Wagner 2, Houston 1, Long, Raper, Crossen.

S. Rowan 12 16 14 22 — 64

Carson 8 15 13 21 — 57