By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
CHINA GROVE ó Darius Moose, Josh Doby and Derrick Sewell took charges early, evidence that Carson’s boys basketball team is serious about a new commitment to defense.
Intense defense triggered a 15-0 run bridging the first and second quarters, and that was enough to knock out a young North Rowan squad.
The Cougars led 33-15 at halftime and cruised 61-36.
“Our intensity dropped after halftime, but we did a good job defensively in the first half and probably took more charges than we did all last season,” Carson coach Brian Perry said. “We set a tone early. That’s exactly what we wanted to do.”
Moose, Doby and Nick Houston scored 12 points apiece to lead Carson, which also benefited from point guard Brandon Ferrare’s savvy and energy, the inside presence of Salih Begic and the defense of Cody Clanton.
D.J. Hipps scored 12 points to lead the Cavaliers (0-1), who made only seven field goals the first three quarters.
“We didn’t do a good job running our offense,” North coach Kelly Everhart said. “Carson put a little pressure on us and we couldn’t even get started. That’s due to a lack of experience, but we’ve got to grow up in a hurry.”
Carson led 9-8 with two minutes left in the first quarter, but that’s when the Cougars (1-1) made their run. Doby made a steal and dunked to ignite the spurt. Houston followed with a steal and a layup.
Doby and Houston knocked down back-to-back 3s in a span of 30 seconds, and the Cavaliers were down 23-8 two minutes into the second quarter. As poorly as the Cavs were shooting, their wasn’t much chance of them climbing all the way back.
“We knew Moose and Doby were the guys we had to be most worried about, but Carson’s balance was fairly good,” Everhart said. “Their success was a combination of our failure to execute on offense and their defensive intensity. It’s hard to simulate that in tensity in practice.”
Moose scored 24 points in Carson’s opener, but he didn’t need to score much against the Cavs. He led the Cougars on the boards, blocked two shots and dished out five assists, so he was active.
“People will look at the box, see Moose scored 12 and figure he had a bad game,” Perry said. “But the kid had a great stat line.”Moose had only two points in the first quarter. That would have been fatal to Carson the past two seasons, but they were still in good shape Monday.
“I knew North was going to play hard on me, so I got my teammates involved,” Moose said. “The coaches have been preaching defense and telling me to take charges, and I took one.
Maybe I’ll get the Cougar Hustle Award.”
Or maybe not. Ferrare is going to be hard to beat out.
North Rowan (36) ó Hipps 12, Fortson 7, Hicks 7, Hargrave 2, Overstreet 2, Rhames 2, Bell 2, Blakeney 2, Rudisell, Sims, Smyre, Gill, Feezor,
Carson (61) ó Moose 12, Doby 12, Houston 12, Ferrare 9, Begic 6, Clanton 2, Walser 2, Britt 2, Heggins 2, Holloway 2, Jones, Sewell, Ramic, Harden.North 8 7 11 10 ó 36
Carson 13 20 22 6 ó 61