By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — The future is very bright and the present isn’t all that bad for Carson’s girls basketball team.
The Cougars got 21 points each from freshman McKenzie Gadson and sophomore Olivia Gabriel and rolled 59-37 at East Rowan on Tuesday.
Carson (2-1) is off to a 2-0 start in the 3A South Piedmont Conference. East (2-2) is 0-2 in the league.
“We’re not doing the things you have to do to win, not doing the things that have been the backbone of this program,” said East Coach Danielle Porter. “We’re not communicating on the floor, and until we do communicate better, there are going to be a lot of long nights.”
This was a very long one for an East team that went 13-3 in league play last season and tied for second place.
Gabriel, who set a Carson freshman scoring record last season, was in attack mode all night, avoided foul trouble and had seven rebounds and four steals in addition to her points. Gadson, who moved to North Carolina from Florida in June, was a smooth and efficient scoring machine — 8-for-11 from the field — and never launched a bad shot.
Carson didn’t get a lot of points from the supporting cast, but Taylor Wiggins, Anne Marie Turney, Alijuandra Street and Kailie Ketchie all scored as the Cougars battled to a 32-25 halftime lead.
“We showed our youth at times and really played in spurts,” Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer said. “But we did most of the things we want to do. We forced some turnovers, ran the floor hard, and in the second half, we really shared the ball.”
After freshman Lauren Weisensel scored for East midway through the third quarter, Carson’s lead was only 40-32, but that’s when the Cougars had another spurt. Siera Fesperman scored inside, Gadson got two more, and then Gabriel made a jumper and a free throw to push the lead to 15 points.
“I’m sure they got 60 percent of their points in transition,” Porter said. “Getting back on defense, that’s just focus and determination, and we lacked those things.”
Ice-cold East didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter as Carson pulled away.
Carson forced 20 turnovers.
Mostly because of Gadson’s accuracy, the Cougars shot a solid 47.8 percent from the floor.
“It was a good effort,” Misenheimer said. “We’re growing as a team.”
East shot only 26.8 percent. That negated the Mustangs’ rebounding advantage.
Weinsensel had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Brittany Small had 10 rebounds. Shenell Pharr had 12 points, including 10 in the second quarter.
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NOTES: Carson’s 11-person roster was down to 10, with Destiny Jackson out with a knee injury.

Carson 59, East Rowan 37

CARSON (59) — Gadson 21, Gabriel 21, Turney 4, Street 4, Ketchie 3, Fesperman 2, Furr 2, Wiggins 2, Shumaker, Taylor.
EAST ROWAN (37) — Weisensel 13, Shenell Pharr 12, Shenique Pharr 5, J. Lowe 5, S. Lowe 2, Small, Loper, Harrison, Werner.

Carson 17 15 15 12 — 59
East Rowan 9 16 10 2 — 37