Staff report

Carson’s basketball teams play at East Rowan Tuesday in the featured games in Rowan County, although the biggest South Piedmont Conference matchup will be the first-place Hickory Ridge boys  (8-1) at second-place Cox Mill (7-2).

Hickory Ridge won 65-64 in the first matchup. A victory by the Ragin’ Bulls, who already have swept third-place Concord in two tight contests, would give them a two-game cushion in the race for the SPC title.

Other SPC doubleheaders Tuesday are Northwest Cabarrus at West Rowan and  South Rowan at Concord.

Boys

Only the top three finishers in the SPC are guaranteed state playoff berths, although a number of other teams are likely to qualify for spots in the bracket.

• Carson (7-8, 4-4) and East Rowan (7-8, 4-5) are as even as their records suggest. East Rowan won 62-59 at Carson when the Mustangs were playing their first game of the season.

Austin Love scored 20 to lead the Mustangs. Jamarius Hairston had 16 for Carson.

Keep in mind that Carson still has two games to play against last-place Northwest Cabarrus. The schools have a makeup scheduled at Northwest Cabarrus on Thursday.

• West Rowan (9-6, 5-3)  won 59-54 at Northwest Cabarrus (1-11, 0-8) early in the season. Celexus Long and Martavio Rankin combined for 27 points in that one.

West Rowan plays a non-conference game at Davie on Wednesday.

• South Rowan (4-11, 3-6) lost 88-62 to Concord  (11-5, 6-3) early this season despite a 33-point effort by Lavon Hill. South Rowan did not have Qwan Rhyne available for that game, so the Raiders could make things more interesting tonight.

CCC

Tuesday’s CCC doubleheaders are North Rowan at East Davidson;  Salisbury at Thomasville, and West Davidson at Lexington.

Boys

It figures to be a three-team fight for the CCC boys title between North Rowan, Lexington and Salisbury, with a fourth team in the six-team league, West Davidson, qualifying as dangerous.

North Rowan (9-4, 2-0) owns a 46-44 win at Lexington, so the  Cavaliers are the early frontrunners. Four teams are 1-1.

The Cavaliers aren’t expected to have much trouble Tuesday at East Davidson (2-12, 0-2), a team Salisbury beat by 51 points.

Salisbury (11-5, 5-1) lost 77-66  to Lexington at home on Friday despite shooting 53 percent and will try to bounce back at Thomasville (5-7, 1-1). Thomasville has lost to West Davidson but beat East Davidson.

Girls

Salisbury’s girls (2-14, 0-2) have lost eight in a row and will be underdogs at Thomasville (10-3, 1-1).

North Rowan’s girls (7-4, 2-0)  are tied for first in the CCC with East Davidson (15-0, 2-0), but the Cavaliers will be underdogs against one of the state’s top-ranked teams.

North Rowan senior Demeria Robinson goes into that road game with 979 career points.

Wonders

In the MECKA, A.L. Brown is at home Tuesday against Hopewell.

The boys teams are tied for sixth with 1-5 records.

The A.L. Brown  girls (9-3, 3-3)  have played well, but they’ll be up against the league’s first-place team. Hopewell is 14-1 and 6-0 in the league.