From staff reports

A down-to-the-wire road  loss on Thursday ended the season for Salisbury’s boys basketball team.

The Hornets fell at sixth-ranked Forest Hills, 71-69, in the second round of the 2A state playoffs despite a season-high 27 points by junior  guard Trell Baker and 25 by senior post man Tre Oats.

Salisbury also got 13 points from guard Oshaun Robinson.

Nas Tyson led Forest Hills (24-4) with 27 points. Jai Rorie had 21.

It was tight all the way. The Hornets were down at halftime, 42-41.

The Hornets finished 15-8.

SALISBURY (79)
Baker 27, Oats 25, Robinson 13, Gill 6, Leckonby 3, Harris 2, Rivens 1.

FOREST HILLS (81)
N. Tyson 27, Rorie 21, McLaughlin 13, Barbour 11, K. Tyson 7, Owens 2.

Salisbury      21    20  23 15 — 79

Forest Hills   26   16  21   18 —81

 

West Rowan boys

West Rowan’s boys lost for the fourth time this season to Cox Mill on Thursday in the second round of the 3A state playoffs.

Three of West’s last six games were against Cox Mill, including a loss in the semifinals of the South Piedmont Conference Tournament. West’s three lowest-scoring games — 38, 50 and 55 — were against Cox Mill.

West (18-10) was down 36-23 at halftime, and the second-ranked Chargers (23-6) pulled away in the third quarter.

Junior Caleb Mauldin led the Falcons with 17 points. Paris Hillie scored 10, while Austin Love had eight.

Francis Cio led the Chargers with 20 points. He made two early 3-pointers. Wendell Moore Jr. added 15 points.

W. ROWAN (50)
Mauldin 17, Hillie 10, Love 8, Kure 5, Delgado 3, Rankin 2, Hogue 2, Dixon 2, Weeks 1, Lawrence, Myers, Sproul, Robinson.

COX MILL (73)
Sio 20, Moore 15, Johnson 11, Stone-Carrawell 9, Cline 8, Hall 6, Bynum 2, Noone 2.

W. Rowan    10   13  14 13 — 50

Cox Mill       16   20  19   18 —73

 

Carson girls

Carson’s girls were held to a single point in the second quarter and lost at Gastonia Ashbrook, 58-33, on Thursday in the second round of the 3A state playoffs.

The eighth-ranked Ashbrook girls (26-2)  got 20 points from 6-foot-2 sophomore Summer Schloss and 16 from 6-2 junior Evonna McGill.

“They were just a really tough matchup for us,” Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer said. “They’ve got a lot of size and they’ve got very athletic guards.”

Trinity Jones, a junior guard also scored 16 for the Green Wave.

Senior Destiny Jackson led Carson (21-7) in her final game. She made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points. Sophomore McKenzie Gadson had nine points.

Carson trailed at halftime, 29-12. Misenheimer said Hickory Ridge (28-0) is the most comparable team to Ashbrook that the Cougars have faced this year.

Carson enjoyed its first 20-win season since 2012-13.

CARSON (33)
Jackson 11, Gadson 9, Gabriel 5, Shumaker 3, Cooper 3, Ketchie 2, Taylor, Street, Wiggins, Fesperman, Furr, Jolly.

ASHBROOK (58)
Schloss 20, McGill 16, Jones 16, Davie 6, Barrett, Hall, Duckett.

Carson           11     1       4    17   — 33

Ashbrook       17   12     15   14   —58