Roaming the county getting ready for tonight …

CHINA GROVE — Bryan Withers kept saying it over and over after his South Rowan boys’ 66-44 loss to Carson.

I’m not mad,” he told reporters. “I’m not mad.”

Frustrated? Heck yeah. In fact, we tried to figure out who the most frustrated boys basketball coach is in Rowan County going into tonight’s full slate of action.

Let’s see here. The four schools in the North Piedmont 3A Conference has Brian Perry at Carson and Withers with the best record at 8-7. West Rowan won on Tuesday and improved to only 4-10. East Rowan lost to North Iredell and is 4-10.

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How have things changed? Hall of Famer Howard Platt of WSTP 1490-AM has hinted that when Carson plays West later in the season, he might broadcast the girls game instead of the boys.

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In the Central Carolina 2A, Jason Causby has watched his perennial champion Salisbury Hornets droop to 4-9. Causby’s head is drooping. He knows they should be better.

The only coach who is happy is Andrew Mitchell of 1A-ranked North Rowan. And you wonder if he isn’t frustrated as well. He has a lot of talent on the Cavaliers and wants to showcase them for colleges. But when you’re winning by 50 every game, starters usually sit and backups get time.

But remember, we’re not even halfway through the conference season. In high school, things can turn around quickly.

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Maybe a turnaround begins tonight for one of the teams.

South Rowan plays at East, Carson goes to West Iredell, North Iredell is at West, Central Davidson visits Salisbury and North is at home against West Montgomery.

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It’s easy to see who the most frustrated girls coach in the county is: East’s Danielle Porter, who will be having a joyous moment very soon when she gives birth to her first child. She’s eight months along. Right now, nothing’s joyous after a 27-point effort in a loss to North Iredell. You can almost hear that baby in her tummy yelling, “Mommy, get it inside. Get it inside. You’ve got girls who are 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-2. Why won’t you get it inside, Mommy?”

Well, East has trouble with turnovers and screens and cuts, according to Mommy, er, I mean, Porter, who knows her team can beat anybody in the league when the number of turnovers are kept at a minimum.

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A team who has beaten everybody is West Rowan and the Falcon girls get a test tonight as North Iredell comes in. Both teams are tied with Carson, whose coach, Brooke Misenheimer, had Porter beat on the frustration meter after the Christmas tournament, but the Cougars have regrouped and haven’t lost since.

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The wackiness isn’t confined to Rowan County.

On Tuesday, Randleman came over to play West Davidson. The game wasn’t concluded. Why?

With West up 24-21, the game was suspended at halftime due to a protective screen around a light in the rafters being knocked loose by a wild full-court shot at the end of the first quarter by a Randleman player.

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On the air …
Platt and WSTP will call North Rowan’s home game. Shouldn’t be much frustration, only another impressive performance for the county’s best basketball team.

Go to a game tonight, folks. And be nice.

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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com.