Staff report
North Rowan’s boys survived their longest YVC road trip and produced a 59-44 win against Chatham Central in Bear Creek on Wednesday night.
North, which rested guard Jordan Kimber (leg), maintained the perfect record in YVC road games that it began last season.
Sam Starks hit two 3-pointers and led North with 21 points.
“Sam played an all-round game, scored in a lot of different ways,” North coach Andrew Mitchell said.
North, ranked eighth in 1A, got a lot of production from the inside duo of Javon Hargrave and Malik Ford. Hargrave had 11 points and 12 rebounds while Ford had eight points, eight boards and three blocks.
Mitchell also praised the work of Amani Bates, who had four steals and five rebounds.
“He did a really god job defensively,” Mitchell said.
North and Chatham Central were tied 20-20, but the Cavs had a 13-0 run late in the first half to take control.
“We started sluggishly after that long layoff,” Mitchell said. “But then we made a nice run.”
Steven Clark tried to keep the Bears in the game. He hit five 3s and scored 17 points.
The bus carrying the Cavaliers returned to Spencer around midnight.
North (10-3, 6-0) will be at home against YVC foe South Davidson on Saturday night.
South Davidson nearly upset the Cavaliers in Denton, losing 52-50 very early in the season.
Freshmen twins Austin and Taylor Hatfield usually lead the Wildcats (6-6, 3-4 YVC), who recently knocked off West Montgomery.
“They’re a very good team, and we know we have a stiff challenge ahead of us,” Mitchell said. “But it will be nice to be at home.”
NORTH (59) — Starks 21, Hargrave 11, Ford 8, Givens 7, Chambers 4, Connor 3, Bowman 2, T. Bates 2, A. Bates 1, Witherspoon, Barber.
CHATHAM CENTRAL (44) — Clark 17, Cheek 10, Edwards 8, Burke 3, DeGraffenreidt 2, Seawell 2, Fewell 2.
North 13 22 16 8 — 59
Chatham 13 9 13 9 — 44