By Bill Kiser

Salisbury Post

OLIN — Carson’s girls basketball team took several steps forward in playing West Iredell close in a 12-point loss two days ago.

The Cougars took several big steps backward Thursday night, suffering a 67-31 pummeling at the hands of North Iredell to remain winless this season.

Carson (0-8, 0-2 NPC) struggled to deal with the Raiders’ pressure defense. It committed 44 turnovers, 23 coming off North steals.

North Iredell (4-4, 2-0 NPC) outshot the Cougars by a 2-to-1 ratio despite turning the ball over 33 times. The Raiders hit 26-for-67 from the field (38.8 percent), while Carson went 10-of-34 (29.4 percent).

“Defensively they put a lot of pressure on us, but it wasn’t anything that we weren’t capable of handling,” Carson head coach Brooke Misenheimer said.

“There are a bunch of things we know how to do (to handle the pressure) that we just didn’t do.”

Charlena Lynn and Mack White each had 11 points for Carson, but four other players combined for the Cougars’ remaining nine points.

All nine of North Iredell’s players scored, and its bench did most of the damage. Reserves Santana Morrison and Candace Lunsford each had 14 points.

“We weren’t very comfortable tonight, not comfortable at all,” Misenheimer said. “We drew things out and talked about it, but we didn’t do them. … There’s not much nice that I can say about this game.”

Carson actually put the first points on the scoreboard — Lynn’s free throw with 7:18 left in the first quarter gave the Cougars the lead.

But North, which missed its first four shots, moved ahead on Haley Arning’s layup with 5:34 remaining. Morrison hit a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to put the Raiders comfortably in the lead.

North Iredell took its first double-digit lead in the second quarter when Morrison scored five points during a 10-3 run that put the Raiders ahead 26-10.

Arning scored North’s first five points to open the third quarter as the Raiders pushed their lead to 20 points with 4:43 left. North then blew the game open in the fourth quarter, going on a 20-2 run to pull ahead 65-27 with 1:34 remaining.

“We had no composure,” Misenheimer said. “We didn’t show any confidence, and after we’d make mistakes we didn’t adjust. It was the same thing happening over and over again.

“That will come with experience, but there comes a point when you have to decide for yourself if you’re going to do the right things.”

CARSON (31) — White 11, Lynn 11, Howell 3, Curtindale 2, Brown 2, Whitley 2, Hough, Bell, Cress, Marshallo, Beaty.

NORTH IREDELL (67) — Morrison 14, Lunsford 14, Orner 8, LaK.Thompson 8, LaS.Thompson 7, Arning 7, Carter 4, Pierce 3, Hoots 2.

Carson 7 8 10 6 — 31

N. Iredell 16 16 13 22 — 67