By Mike London

Tuesday’s first NCPreps.com media poll of the season placed North Rowan’s boys atop the 2A rankings.
There was some justification for that lofty position, with standouts Jalen Sanders and Joe Scott returning to lead a team that reached the West Regional last year.
There also was a 5-0 start to this season that included three wins against 4As, two on the road, plus a solid home victory against Lake Norman Charter, a good 2A.
But that No. 1 ranking won’t last long. The Cavaliers lost 74-57 to North Surry on Friday in Mount Airy.
A lot of things went wrong for the Cavaliers.
Sanders is banged up, although he’s tough and still scored 21 points.
All-Rowan County forward Josh Handy didn’t play (he’s not injured) and Henderson Lentz, on the mend from his summer health issues, is about two weeks away from returning to action, according to coach Andrew Mitchell.
Handy and Lentz should give the Cavaliers strong No. 3 and No. 4 scorers and both are long defenders and good rebounders.
“We went up there as North Rowan, but we really didn’t go up there as a No. 1 team in the state,” Mitchell said. “But you also to give credit to North Surry. That’s a really good basketball team. They played a lot better than we did.”
North Surry (4-1) started fast. North Rowan (5-1) was down 17-9 after a quarter that included eight North personal fouls and two on the home team.
North Rowan caught up in the second quarter and used a 12-4 flurry to inch ahead 30-29 at halftime, but the Cavaliers were in desperate foul trouble. Forwards A.J. Shields and Alonzo Sirleaf, counted on to rebound with Handy out of the lineup, had three fouls apiece by the middle of the second quarter.
The foul situation grew more critical as the game wore on.
“They made more free throws than we shot,” Mitchell said. “They were 20-for-32. We were 10-for-17.”
North was up 35-30 in the third quarter when North Surry hit four 3-pointers in a flurry. Two were by leading scorer Mason Hawks. Kendal Tucker and Carter Phillips had one each.
“They made some NBA 3-pointers,” Mitchell said. “Big shots.”
North Surry made nine 3-pointers on the night. Hawks scored 23 points. Tucker had 20, and 6-foot-7 center Luke Cartwright had 13 points and nine rebounds. Phillips had 13 points and nine assists.
Sanders’ scoring help came from Scott, who had 17 points.
North Surry played 1-2-2 zone in the second half, and North Rowan didn’t shoot well. The Cavaliers made two 3-pointers in the game.
North Surry’s Greyhounds kept the momentum in the fourth quarter and made their foul shots, and the Cavaliers couldn’t make any sort of run.
“It’s tough, but I think this will prove to be a good game for us in the long run,” Mitchell said. “North Surry is good enough to make a long playoff run, and maybe we’ll see them again when we’ve got everybody. Right now, we’re not anywhere close to being a No. 1 team. But with Handy and Lentz, we’ll have a chance to live up to that kind of billing.”
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NOTES: The Cavaliers have a tough week in front of them. They play Charlotte’s Crossroads Charter at home on Tuesday. On Thursday and Friday, the Cavaliers will play in a tournament in Greensboro hosted by Northwest Guilford. They’ll play Davidson Day on Thursday and unbeaten Northwest Guilford (an 84-52 winner over Lexington) on Friday. “We’ve got to get ready to play or we could have an 0-3 week,” Mitchell said. … Sanders’ 21 points raised his career total to 1,271 points. Randy Hutchins (1,302) is fourth all-time at North, while Sanders is fifth.

NORTH ROWAN (57) — Sanders 21, Scott 17, Sirleaf 5, Clement 5, Shields 4, Harrison 3, Haley 2
NORTH SURRY (74) — Hawks 23, Tucker 20, Cartwright 13, Phillips 13

North Rowan 9 21 13 14 — 57
North Surry 17 12 24 21 — 74