Staff report

STATESVILLE — Carson’s girls basketball team overcame a stumbling start and extended its season with a courageous comeback on the road.
Carson got 25 points from sophomore Olivia Gabriel and beat West Iredell, 56-53.
Carson, the No. 17 seed, trailed No. 16 West Iredell, 13-4 after a quarter.
“We missed layups and free throws, and that stifled us,” Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer said. “It was a very rough start.”
Carson (16-11) picked it up some in the second quarter and made it to halftime, down 26-22.
“We hadn’t played well, so we felt fortunate to only be down four points,” Misenheimer said.
Carson traded baskets with the Warriors (16-11) in the third quarter and finally pushed ahead in the fourth quarter.
“We played a strong fourth quarter,” Misenheimer said. “We got stops and we executed on offense down the stretch. We got the ball inside. We hit some big free throws.”
McKenzie Gadson scored nine points. Micah Furr made two 3-pointers and scored eight.
Gabriel went 9-for-11 on free throws and also made two 3-pointers.
Shimiah Oglesby scored 19 points for the Warriors. Tatum Boggs had 14, and Kelsi Summers had 12.
Carson plays Thursday at No. 1 seed Morganton Freedom (27-0). Freedom won 64-33 against Tuscola in the first round.

CARSON (56) — Gabriel 25, Gadson 9, Furr 8, Wiggins 5, Ketchie 3, Turney 2, Shumaker 2, Street 2, Taylor.
WEST IREDELL (53) — Oglesby 19, Boggs 14, Summers 12, McGee 8, LaClair, Zsarmani, Sturghill.

Carson 4 18 13 21 — 56
W.Iredell 13 131 13 14 — 53