From staff reports
Carson’s girl basketball team had a strong effort on Tuesday but lost at Hickory Ridge in South Piedmont Conference play.
The game was tied at halftime and the Cougars led after three quarters, but Hickory Ridge produced a big fourth quarter.
Hickory Ridge (11-0, 8-0 SPC) was led by Gabby Smith with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Nia Daniels had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Jiera Shears scored 16 points. Shears was 7-for-8 at the foul line in the fourth quarter.
Carson got 12 points each from McKenzie Gadson and Olivia Gabriel.
Anne Marie Turney added eight points, while Kailie Ketchie had seven.

Hickory Ridge 60, Carson 51

CARSON (9-2, 6-2 SPC)
Gadson 12, Gabriel 12, Turney 8, Ketchie 7, Shumaker 4, Jackson 3, Cooper 3, Wiggins 2.
HICKORY RIDGE (11-0, 8-0 SPC)
Smith 19, Daniels 17, Shears 16, Jones 8.

Carson 14 11 16 10 — 51
Hickory Ridge 11 14 14 21 — 60

East girls lose

Central Cabarrus’ strong girls shut out East Rowan in the second quarter and easily beat the Mustangs, 66-21, on Tuesday in SPC play to take over second place.
“We were pretty solid in the first quarter, but we could not withstand their pressure in the second quarter,” East coach Kevin Holland said.
Mahaley Holit led the Vikings (10-1, 7-1) with 20 points. Kasey Rowdon scored 12, and Elanna Peay had 10.
Courtney Wagner scored six points for East (3-7, 1-7 SPC). Caroline Houpe had five.

C. Cabarrus 66, E. Rowan 21

EAST (3-7, 1-7 SPC)
Wagner 6, Houpe 5, McCall 3, Shafer 3, A. Harrison 2, H. Harrison 2, Winford 1, Honeycutt, Graham, Coughenour.
CENTRAL (10-1, 7-1 SPC)
Holit 20, Rowdon 12, Peay 10, Brown 6, Van Dyke 4, Tate 4, Miller 4, Thomas 2.

E. Rowan 8 0 6 7 — 21
C. Cabarrus 16 23 7 20 — 66

Carson boys fall
Carson’s boys lost a tough one on the road at Hickory Ridge on Tuesday, falling to the Ragin’ Bulls, 66-61.
“A tough one — we had our chances,” Carson coach Brian Perry said.
For the Cougars, Jailen Williams scored 17 points, Jamarius Hairston had 13, and Cole Perry and Brenden Westbrook contributed 10 each.
Owen White added eight points for the Cougars (7-3, 6-2 SPC).
Hickory Ridge got 12 points each from Eli Cupples and Cameron Wimbush.
Hickory Ridge (9-1, 7-1 SPC) moved into a first-place tie in the league with Cox Mill. Cox Mill handed Hickory Ridge its first loss on Monday.

Hickory Ridge 66, Carson 61

CARSON 7-3, 6-2 SPC)
Williams 17, Hairston 13, Westbrook 10, Perry 10, White 8, Prugh 3, Banks, Sifford.
H. RIDGE (9-1, 7-1 SPC)
Wimbush 12, Cupples 12, Carlton 11, Bell 11, Thomas 8, Garner 8, Leary 2, Ruggerio 2.

Carson 12 13 17 19 — 61
H. Ridge 15 13 18 20 — 66

South boys smacked
South Rowan lost to Robinson, 76-40, on Tuesday in South Piedmont Conference action.
Bailey Graham led the Raiders with 18 points. Dillon Kluttz and Zach Powers scored six each.
Lavar Batts Jr. topped the Bulldogs with 12 points, and Isaac Boothe had 11.
South (0-10, 0-7 SPC) got a spark from two early 3-pointers by Graham and was still tied with the Bulldogs (6-3, 5-2 SPC) at 9-all after five minutes.
But Batts Jr. ignited a 12-0 run by the Bulldogs with two transition buckets, including a three-point play, and the rout was on.
It was 22-12 after a quarter, and then South went almost seven minutes between scores in the second quarter. It was 43-16 at halftime.
Thirteen different players scored for the Bulldogs, the defending 3A state champs.
South shot 28 percent from the field, made 25 turnovers and was outrebounded. It was the 34th straight loss for South dating back to last season.

Robinson 76, South 40

ROBINSON (6-3, 5-2 SPC)
Batts Jr. 12, Boothe 11, White 9, Barnes 8, Roberts 8, Means 7, Gallagher 7, Caldwell 5, Kajon 2, Porter 2, Simpson 2, Horlback 2, Tolone 1.
SOUTH (0-10, 0-7 SPC)
Graham 18, Kluttz 6, Powers 6, Shaver 3, Harrington 3, Peacock 2, Childers 2, Sellers, Corriher, Hubbard.

Robinson 22 21 15 18 — 76
S. Rowan 12 4 11 13 — 40

West boys stopped

West Rowan lost its first South Piedmont Conference game on Tuesday, falling at Cox Mill, 51-38.
West (5-3, 4-1 SPC) was the last unbeaten team in the league. Cox Mill (8-3, 7-1 SPC) and Hickory Ridge are now tied for first.
It was a game ruled by defense. West got 17 points from Caleb Mauldin and eight from Tyrese Lawrence. The Falcons played the game without explosive guard Darius Kure, their No. 2 scorer.
Wendell Moore scored 24 to lead the Chargers, and Jesse Malit had 14.
Cox Mill led 8-0 early and by 14-7 after a quarter.
The Chargers held West to 16 points in the first half and led by 12 at the break.
West made a good run in the third quarter, but the Chargers held on.

Cox Mill 51, West 38

WEST (5-3, 4-1 SPC)
Mauldin 17, Lawrence 8, Delgado 6, Weeks 3, Hillie 2, Love 2.
COX MILL (8-3, 7-1 SPC)
Moore 24, Malit 14, Noone 5, Sio 4, Johnson 4.

W. Rowan 7 9 15 7 — 38
Cox Mill 14 14 8 15 — 51

Indoor track

In the NC Runner Holiday Invitational in Winston-Salem, North Rowan senior Payton Russell competed with her AAU team and placed sixth in the 300 meters (41.49) and eighth in the 500 meters (1:20.89).
A.L. Brown’s Cambrea Sturgis is one of Russell’s teammates. Sturgis took fourth in the 300 (40.90).
West Rowan’s Cameron Butler was third in the 1000 meters in 2:39.57, while West’s Jalen Houston was fifth in the 55 hurdles in 7.93 seconds.

8th-grade girls
Erwin won against China Grove, 53-15.
Colbie Perry and Carleigh Perry scored 12 points each. Jenna Robinson scored 10, and Lani Isley had nine.
Bailey Webster scored eight for the Red Devils.
Erwin (13-0) will host Knox on Jan. 5.
•••
Knox defeated Corriher Lipe, 38-20.
Jahavanik Horton scored 10 points for the Trojans. Ellen Yang had nine points, and Lillie Rusher scored 5.
Jessi Rollins led the Yellow Jackets with 10 points.
•••
The North Rowan girls won against China Grove, 20-8.
Natavia Taborn and Quentasia Hubbard had eight points each for North.
•••
West Rowan defeated Knox, 37-36.
West scoring leaders were Amiya Moreland with 18 points and Megyn Spicer with 12.
Leading Knox were k Horton with 15 points, Rusher with eight and Yang with five.

8th-grade boys
Erwin beat China Grove, 46-6.
Sammy Pinckney scored 10 points. Gavin Sprinkle had nine, Ryan Lee seven, and David Jordan six.
•••
North Rowan’s boys took a 34-29 win against China Grove.
Kavyion Carpenter led the Mavericks with five points. Kendrell Goodes, Jyrik Scott, Nick Colson and Kyree Sims scored four each.

Prep football
Davie County announced that the “interim” coach label has been removed from football coach Tim Devericks, who took the reins during the season.
Devericks is now officially the program’s head coach.
The War Eagles were 12-2, with both losses to 4A champ Dudley. Devericks was named Central Piedmont Conference Coach of the Year.

Wells Fargo Cup
The NCHSAA announced Wells Fargo Cup standings after fall sports.
The Wells Fargo Cup rewards overall athletic excellence.
In most conferences, points are awarded based on participation and standings in conference play. Each conference determines its own method of awarding points.
Central Carolina 2A: Sweeping the cross country championships along with securing championships in boys soccer and girls tennis, Salisbury is in first place.
In second place is West Davidson thanks to championships in girls golf and volleyball and second-place finishes in girls tennis and women’s cross country.
East Davidson is in third place with second-place finishes in football, girls golf and volleyball.
Conference Standings: Salisbury 63, West Davidson 57, East Davidson 56, Lexington 48.5, North Rowan 34.5, Thomasville 24.
•••
South Piedmont 3A: Cox Mill is in first place after fall sports season thanks to championships in volleyball, boys soccer and girls golf.
In second place is Hickory Ridge with a girls cross country championship and a second-place finish in girls golf.
Carson is in third place with a tie for second in volleyball.
Conference Standings: Cox Mill 275, Hickory Ridge 267.5, Jesse Carson 212.5, Concord 190, West Rowan 190, East Rowan 180, Jay M. Robinson 180, Northwest Cabarrus 170, South Rowan 125, Central Cabarrus 120.
•••
Central Piedmont 4A: With championships in boys cross country, boys soccer and volleyball, Mount Tabor is the conference leader after the fall season.
Conference Standings: Mount Tabor 290, Ronald Reagan 280, West Forsyth 262.5, Davie 245, R.J. Reynolds 237.5, North Davidson 222.5, Parkland 137.5.
•••
MeCKa 4A: After an outstanding season, W.A. Hough is in first place thanks to championships in boys soccer, volleyball, girls golf, girls tennis and girls cross country.
Conference Standings: W.A. Hough 45.5, Mallard Creek 36.5, A.L. Brown 26.5, North Mecklenburg 24, Hopewell 17.5, Zebulon Vance 12, West Charlotte 8.

East YMCA
This is the last chance to register at the East Rowan YMCA for boys basketball (grades 2-8).
Registration ends on Dec. 23. Practice begins Jan. 9. Register for Little Shooters Basketball (ages 4-6) by Dec. 23. Register at the East Rowan YMCA or online at www.rowanymca.org. Contact Joe Finney at 704-279-1742 or jfinney@rowanymca.org.