SALISBURY — It had been a long time since Salisbury had looked this defeated against a CCC squad.
The Hornets took their lumps in a 78-43 defeat to Central Davidson at home Friday. Salisbury dropped a regular season conference game for the first time in 37 games, a streak spanning since 2009.
“Very flat tonight,” Salisbury coach Tony Hillian said. “Not a lot of energy from us. Defensively, we didn’t play at all.”
Central got season-highs in points from Paige Chavis (22) and McKenzie Burkhart (20) and hit seven three-pointers to rout a team it hadn’t beaten since the 2002-2003 season. Central (7-5, 1-1) snapped a three-game skid by compiling a 39-24 lead at halftime and hitting 17 of 35 field goals in the first half. Conversely, the Hornets shot 31 percent (9 of 29) in the first half.
“We were in complete control of this game from the tip,” Central coach Kevin Hudson said.
“This felt like our most complete game of the year.”
Central jumped out to an 11-2 lead after scoring the night’s first seven points. Salisbury got buckets from Patreece Lattimore and Ashley Blaire to cut its deficit to 15-12 and trailed 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Salisbury was contending, down 18-14, but Central started a 15-0 run that included consecutive 3’s from Burkhart. Paige Chavis canned a trey after a timeout and then got a steal and ensuing layup to push the Spartans’ edge to 33-14. The Hornets (7-7, 1-1) got two baskets in the final minute of the half to bring its deficit to within 15, but the message was clear. The Spartans extended their edge to 62-35 at the end of the third quarter.
Salisbury’s Brielle Blaire scored a team-best 14 points.
“You got to look forward and shake it off,” Hillian said. “It’s a long season so we have to turn it around right here.”

CENTRAL DAVIDSON (78) — P. Chavis 22, Burkhart 20, J. Chavis 15, Hedrick 8, Young 7, McMath 4, Briggs 2, Johnson, Shoaf.
SALISBURY (43) —B. Blaire 14, Connor 6, Harmon 6, Lattimore 5, Harris 5, A. Wolfe 3, Blaire 2, Usry 2, Caldwell, Richie, Gloster.

C. Davidson 18 21 23 16 — 78
Salisbury 12 12 11 8 — 43