From staff reports

CONCORD — Carson’s girls basketball team turned in its best offensive performance of the season and rolled at Central Cabarrus, 75-51, on Monday.

Carson (8-1) shot 53 percent  from the field and won its seventh game in a row.

“We were really good in the first quarter and really good in the fourth quarter,” Carson coach Brooke Stouder said.

Olivia Gabriel made three early 3-pointers and scored 19 points. The Cougars got 18  points and three steals from McKenzie Gadson and a season-high 16 points from freshman Colbie Perry. Perry made four 3-pointers.

“Our ball movement is getting better, so we got higher-percentage shots and were more efficient  offense,”  Stouder said. “We made some really good passes. We knocked down the open shots  outside and we finished better inside.”

Ellie Wilhelm had seven rebounds. Lani Isley had three steals.

Neveah Brown led Central (5-4) with 17 points. Maranda Benton scored 14. Jada Ussery added 13.

Carson 75, C. Cabarrus 51

CARSON (75)

Gabriel 19, Gadson 18, Perry 16, Wilhelm 7, Cooper 5, Turney 4, Shumaker 4, Gamewell 2, Wiggins, Fesperman, Jolly, Conrad, Isley.

CENTRAL (51)

Brown 17, Benton 14, Ussery 13, Tate 5, Webb 2.

Carson     24   12   12   27   — 75

Central    17      8    13  13   — 51

4 in a row for SR girls

TYRO —  Janiya Downs scored 21 points and Tazah Hardin had 20 as South Rowan’s girls overwhelmed West Davidson, 59-33, for a Central Caroliza Conference victory on Monday.

It was the fourth straight win for the Raiders (5-3).

South led 18-3 after the first quarter.

“We jumped on them pretty good,” South coach John Davis said. “A lot of steals by Hardin and a lot of fastbreaks. And we were hitting our shots.”

Davis had  concerns about West Davidson’s size, but South post player Whitley Arnott and reserve Lauren Shell had terrific defensive games.

“Whitley played like a beast inside,” Davis said. “And when she got in some foul trouble, Lauren kept it going.”

Riley Corriher added nine points for the Raiders.

S. Rowan 59, W. Davidson 33

S. ROWAN (59)

Downs 21, Hardin 20, Corriher 9, Arnott 6, McGuire 3, Lowery, Massey, Butler, Rollins, Mullins, Shell.

W. DAVIDSON (33)

Lowe 10, Rabon 7, Clontz 6, Sharpe 5, Cooke 5.

South        18    15    14   12   — 59

W. Davidson    3       8        6  16   —  33

  

First loss for WR girls

MOUNT ULLA — Megan Bornkamp scored 17 points and Mooresville knocked West Rowan’s girls from the unbeaten ranks on Monday.

The Blue Devils took a 54-49 victory. Mooresville had a big second quarter, outscoring West, 20-6.

Taylor Poole got West off to a fast start by making four 3-pointers in the first quarter. West led 20-11 after the first eight minutes.

West sophomore Abigail Wilson was held below 20 points for the first time this season. Wilson had only two points at halftime, but she finished with 17.

Egypt Alexander scored 10 for the Falcons (7-1).

Alecsai Allen had 10 for the Blue Devils, including eight in that second-quarter surge.

Mooresville 54, W. Rowan 49

MOORESVILLE (54)

Bornkamp 17, Allen 10, Cullen 7, Davis 7, Bowers 4, Zalepka 4, Harrell 3, Martin 2, Marshall.

W. ROWAN (49)

Wilson 17, Poole 14, Alexander 10,  Vaughters 5, Connolly 2, Robinson 1, Blabon, Sobataka, Pharr.

Mooresville     11   20    12   11   —54

W. Rowan         20      6    15    8   — 49

Carson JV girls

Carson’s jayvee girls won against Central Cabarrus, 27-17, on Monday.

  Krystal Sanns led the scoring for the Cougars with six points.  Jaden Vaughn and Alicia Thompson scored four points each.  Victoria Post and Kary Hales were defensive standouts.

Imari Knight led the Vikings with 10 points.

Wonders sweep

NEW LONDON — A.L. Brown’s girls won at North Stanly, 52-42, on Monday in non-conference action.

Jala Campbell scored 17 points to lead the Wonders (2-7), who had to overcome a three-point first quarter.Jaliyah Simmons scored 10.

North Stanly (3-6) got 15 points from senior captain Sydney Hinson and 13 from Camille Shelton.

•••

A.L. Brown’s boys pulled  out a 60-56 win at North Stanly to improve to 4-4.

Amare Haynie scored 16 for the Wonders, while Ahmod Hester had 14.

SR boys win on road

TYRO —  All road wins are good wins, and South Rowan’s boys got one on Monday at West Davidson.

Bailey Graham made five 3-pointers, scored 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in a 70-52 win against the Green Dragons.

South (4-4, 4-2) moved into a tie for third place in the Central Carolina Conference. South outscored West Davidson, 28-7, in the fourth quarter to pull away.

“It was a tight game until we had that great fourth quarter,” South coach Andre McCain said. “We played a really solid quarter, got some stops, got the the ball inside a lot more and knocked down the open  3-point shots.”

Tyrese Shaver had 14 points and seven rebounds. Zach Powers scored 11. Connor Childers and Jarron Hines scored nine apiece.

Drew Wright scored 25 for the Green Dragons (3-7, 2-5).

“We know we’re not there yet,” McCain said. “We’ve still got to get a lot better defensively, but we’ve improved in so many ways. We beat a pretty good team tonight on the road.”

S. Rowan 70, W. Davidson 52

S. ROWAN (70)

Graham 20, Shaver 14, Powers 11, Hines 9, Childers 9, Finger 4, Oglesby 2, Jones 1.

W. DAVIDSON (52)

Wright 25, Adams 14,  Stoner 6, Measmer 4, Reamy 2, Brown 1.

South        19       12    11   28   — 70

W. Davidson    12       18    15    7   — 52

West boys win

MOUNT ULLA —  West  Rowan’s boys got huge games from Caleb Mauldin, Martavio Rankin and Jay Joseph and beat Mooresville, 79-62, on Monday.

Mauldin scored 24 points and is averaging 25.6  points per game.

Rankin hit four 3-pointers for the Falcons (4-4) and matched his career high with 20 points. Jay Joseph added a career-high 16. Josiah Dixon scored eight, and Cole Myers had his best game of the season with seven points.

Mooresville put four in double figures: Seth Welch (15), Griffin White (14), Tyler Luther (13) and A.J. Stewart (12).

The win was the 497th for West coach Mike Gurley, who has logged 395 of those victories (a county record) in his 21 seasons in Mount Ulla.

W. Rowan 79, Mooresville 62

MOORESVILLE (62)

Welch 15, White 14, Luther 13, Stewart 12,  Greene 3, Smith 3, Mauney 2.

W. ROWAN (79)

Mauldin 24, Rankin 20, Joseph 16, Dixon 8, Myers 7,  Warren 4.

Mooresville     20   17     12   13   —   62

W. Rowan        26      12    12    29   — 79

Carson boys roll on

  CONCORD — The best start in school history continued for the Carson boys on Monday.

The Cougars put five players in double figures and rolled at Central Cabarrus, 74-53.

“Five in double figures is what you like to see,” Carson coach Brian Perry said. “We had a great start, got up 11-2, but then we slacked off some defensively and we cooled off on our shots. But then at the start of the second half, we were able to pick it back up again.”

Jamarius Hairston led the Cougars with 18 points.  Cole Perry had a season-high 17. Also in double digits were Jailen Williams (13), Cameron Prugh (12) and Owen White (10).

Keani Mitchell scored 12 for the Vikings (2-7), while Jake Rowden had 11.

Carson plays at home against Davie County (7-0) tonight. A Carson win would clinch the No. 1 seed in the Christmas tourney.

“It’s  going to be a   challenge,” Perry said. “Davie can shoot the ball and they’ve got a 6-8 guy (Owen McCormack) who can play. It’s  a good game to finish off the part of the season.”

Salisbury (6-0) is also undefeated and is still in the mix for the No. 1 seed, but the Hornets won’t play as many pre-Christmas games as Carson or Davie.

Salisbury is at North Davidson tonight in the CCC.

Carson 74, C. Cabarrus 53

CARSON (74)

Hairston 18, Perry 17, Williams 13, Prugh 12, White 10, Jackson 2, Sifford 2, Hales, Zuniga, Dunn, Wike, Bates.

CENTRAL (53)

Mitchell 12, Rowden 11, Cornish 9 Heslop 9, Jones 6, Roller 2, Faulkner 2, Bessette 2.

Carson     25   14    25   10   — 74

Central    7      16    16   14   — 53

  

Prep baseball

Rowan has hired Mike DeSantis as head baseball coach for the 2018 season.

AD Ben Hampton made the announcement. DeSantis is a P.E. teacher at Hanford Dole Elementary.

Tommy Small coached North to an 11-14 record and a 5-5 mark in the 2A Central Carolina Conference in 2017, his only season at the helm.

The Cavaliers will be competing in the 1A Yadkin Valley Conference this spring.

Indoor track

In the NC Runners Holiday Invitational in Winston-Salem, A.L. Brown’s Brandon Hernandez won the 1600 (4:27.68) and 3200 (9:38). Hernandez is a senior committed to UNC Greensboro.

A.L. Brown’s Jalen Neal finished fourth in the 300 in a PR time of 36.04. Davie’s Clay Summers was eighth in the 1600 in 4:38.

•••

South Rowan’s Madison Lowery was 11th in the 1600 in 5:33.

Carson’s Mikaila Gadson  placed ninth in the 500 (1:22.47).

A.L. Brown’s Ajianna Britt was fourth in the shot put with a throw of 35 feet, 10 inches.

Men’s basketball

Catawba plays a special Education Day game against Wingate today at home at 11 a.m.

•••

Will Leckonby (Salisbury) was a bright spot for Guilford in Saturday’s loss to Emory & Henry. Leckonby made two 3-pointers.

•••

Michael Bowman (North Rowan) had five points and six rebounds on Saturday in J.C. Smith’s 82-65 win against Bowie State.

•••

Jamie Baker (NW Cabarrus) scored his first college point for  Presbyterian in a recent win against Toccoa Falls. The freshman is  the son of former Catawba College and current Central Cabarrus High coach Jim Baker.

•••

Senior Tre Williams (Carson) is averaging 12.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists for Claflin.

College football

James Madison defensive coordinator Bob Trott (A.L. Brown) was named coordinator of the year for FCS schools on Monday.

•••

Former Livingstone and NFL star Ben Coates will be inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame on March 2.

•••

JaVon Lofton (West Rowan) played in six games for Averett as a true freshman, as he made the transition from offensive line to defensive line. Lofton made his first two tackles in Averett’s last game of the season against Greensboro.

               •••

Brandon Dry (A.L. Brown) had four catches for 41 yards for Averett this season and caught a TD pass against Brevard.

•••

N.C. Wesleyan sophomore defensive lineman D.J. Alexander (Salisbury) played in eight games and made 23 tackles this season and had six tackles for loss.

N.C. Wesleyan sophomore DB D.J. Jackson (Salisbury) played in four games and made seven tackles.

•••

Freshman linebacker Tywun Rivens (Salisbury) played in every game for Campbell this season and made 16 tackles.

•••

NC A&T was crowned as  HBCU national champ by BOXTOROW for the second time in three seasons.

Women’s basketball

Catawba’s women play at home against Wingate today at 2 p.m.

•••

UNC Pembroke lost to Columbus State, 99-79, on Sunday despite 13 points and five steals from Avery Locklear (South Rowan). Aliyah Farmer (North Rowan) had six points and four rebounds for the Braves.

•••

Special Washington (North Rowan) is scoring a lot of points for Guilford Tech. Washington had five straight games with 20-plus points in November and is averaging 17.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists after 10 games.

Washington has shot well, almost 80 percent from the foul line and 36 percent on 3-pointers.

  •••

Maddy Zaferatos (Davie) scored 6 points for Brenau in a 78-62 win against Montreat on Saturday.

•••

Averett’s Amani Ajayi (East Rowan) had 12 points and nine rebounds in Sunday’s 88-79 loss to Maryville.

Ajayi scored 13 points on Saturday. She’s averaging 12.0 points and 6.4 rebounds.

Local golf

The team of Blake Wray/Keith Dorsett shot 61 and won the  Championship Flight of the Two Man Texas Scramble at Warrior. They won by one shot over the team of Richard Cobb/Parker Chavis and the team of Lee Frick/Justin Lefler.

Bryson Sprinkle/Thad Sprinkle shot 63.

Other Flight winners were:

First Flight: Mike Mills/Robert Jordan 69

Second Flight: William Little/Brent Little 71

Third Flight: Chris Owen/McGwire Owen 73

•••

Azalee Story, David Honeycutt and Calvin Smith led the field in McCanless Couples play on Sunday.

Susan Wydner and Mary & Gene Seaford took second place.

Mary Seaford had longest putt.

Middle schools

Erwin’s boys topped West Rowan, 49-30.

Cameron Padgett led Erwin with 12 points.

Dylan Valley and Kane Kepley scored seven each.  Gavin Clement added five points for the Eagles, who have won six in a row.

Spenser Harrison led West Rowan with 11 points. Camden Stamper and Josh Noble scored six each.

College baseball

Pfeiffer head coach Dusty Blake resigned Monday.

He’s going to be the new pitching coach for Duke, where he’ll be working for former Pfeiffer head man Chris Pollard.

Little Shooters   

Last chance to register for Boys and Little Shooters Basketball at the East Rowan YMCA

The Saleeby-Fisher YMCA, East Rowan Branch, is now taking registrations for boys basketball and Little Shooters basketball.

Boys Basketball League

This league teaches basketball skills and fundamentals along with YMCA core values.

Grades:  2nd-8th (Ages 7 to 14)

Registration:  Now – December 23

Practice Begins: January 8, 2018

Season Begins: January 22, 2018

Little Shooters Basketball – Season 2

Great introduction for young players to the game of basketball. Players learn team sportsmanship and skills of the game.

Grades: Pre-K – 1st (Ages 4 to 6)

Registration:  Now – December 23

Practice Begins: January 8, 2018

Season Begins: January 22, 2018

Volunteer to be a coach today and change a child’s life tomorrow.