From staff reports

The prep basketball playoffs open tonight, with the Salisbury, Carson and North Rowan boys teams looking capable of making deep runs.

• Fourth-seeded Salisbury (23-3), the Central Carolina Conference regular season champ, starts the 2A playoffs at home against No. 29 Bunker Hill (13-12).

Tipoff  is at 7:30 p.m., following the Salisbury girls game. Cost for the doubleheader is $7.

Bunker Hill may be better than its record as it had some injury issues. The Bears, from Claremont, have good players in 6-foot-5 Carlos Fletcher and guards Christian Ramseur and Carrington Chapman.

Senior guard Trell Baker (14 points per game) leads the Hornets. Junior big man Bill Fisher and senior guard Oshaun Robinson also average double figures.

Shooter Elijah Moss is a difference-maker at times for the Hornets, as he’s had games with batches of 3-pointers.

• Carson’s boys (23-2) are enjoying a historic season, and the Cougars have won their last eight.

Fourth-seeded Carson is at home tonight in the 3A playoffs and is undefeated on its home floor this season. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m., following the Carson girls game.

The 29th-seeded McMichael Phoenix, from Mayodan, provide the opposition tonight.

McMichael (10-15) is young and is led by junior guard Will Arno and sophomore guard Gabe Caple.

Carson seniors Jamarius Hairston, Jailen Williams and Owen White are combining for 52 points per game, and junior Cole Perry also averages double figures.

• Eleventh-seeded North Rowan has an early tip — 6 p.m. — in a  home first-round 1A contest tonight against Mitchell, a purple-clad mountain team from Bakersville. Admission is $6.

No. 22 seed Mitchell (8-17) is 2-9 on the road, so the surging Cavaliers (17-8) are heavily favored.

Trystan Jenkins, a 6-4 frontcourt player, is the top  performer for the Mitchell Mountaineers.

North forwards Dayjuwon Cooke and Brevin Goodlett team for 29 high-flying points per game, and Derrick Page provides direction at point guard.

North has won seven in a row since a two-point loss to Salisbury.

• West Rowan (13-13) heads to Charlotte Catholic for a 7 p.m. tip in the 3A playoffs.

West probably got the toughest draw of all the local teams, as the Catholic Cougars won the state championship at the 4A level just two years ago.

Fifth-seeded Catholic (23-3) has won 15 games in a row and is 10-1 at home.

Guards Luke Harkins and Sean Rogan and 6-7 Matt Ciccone average double figures for Catholic.

No. 28 seed West is led by 6-8 Caleb Mauldin, a 2,000-point scorer who scores 24 points per game.

• No. 19 Davie (18-8) travels to Southern Pines to take on the No. 14  Pinecrest Patriots (19-7) in a 4A first-round matchup.

Tip is at 7 p.m.

Davie is led by big man Owen McCormack, a shot-blocking 3-point shooter, 1,000-point guard Cooper Wall and steady scorer Michael Walton.

Pinecrest has three guys who are prolific scorers in guards Tyrell Almond and Jayson Jones and 6-5 Jamaan Bailey. Bailey  made eight 3-pointers in a game this season.

Girls playoffs

Coming off a North Piedmont Conference tournament title, Carson’s girls (23-3) appear to have the best chance of  any of the  Rowan girls to make a run.

But Carson, seeded 10th, may be challenged by No. 23 seed Mount Tabor in  tonight’s first round. Tip is at 6 p.m.

The MT Spartans, from Winston-Salem, were in the 4A ranks for many years before dropping down to 3A this season.

Mount Tabor’s defense is better than its offense. The Spartans’ signature win this year was a 40-36 victory against Dudley.

Sophomore Ciara Wright and junior Danielle White lead a  young, aggressive  Mount Tabor team.

Carson gets 30 combined points per game from senior Olivia Gabriel and junior McKenzie Gadson.

Carson also counts on the  3-point shooting of freshmen Colbie Perry and Ellie Wilhelm.

• Salisbury (19-5) is at home for a 2A contest against North Surry.

Tip is at 6 p.m.

The Hornets, seeded 13th, exited the Central Carolina Conference Tournament after a first-round upset by Lexington, so they’ve been off for a while.

Star Bryanna Troutman (knee) is expected to be sidelined, and the Hornets are going to have a difficult time replacing her 17 points per game, not to mention her rebounding and passing.

Sophomore Anayia Fulson and senior Maria Capito are the other double-figure scorers for SHS, and they’ll have to have big games for the Hornets to have a chance.

The visiting Greyhounds (15-12) are seeded 20th, but North Surry has won four in a row and rolled to its conference tournament championship.

Mikaela Johnson, a 6-footer, averages a double-double for North Surry.

• South Rowan’s girls are seeded 19th and are on the road at Maiden, the No. 14 seed in the 2A playoffs.

Tip is at 6 p.m.

The Maiden Blue Devils (19-5) have three double-figure scorers in senior guard Grace Herman, sophomore guard Cree Bass and 6-foot junior Zoe Huffman.

South also has three double-figure scorers, with junior Janiya Downs getting better than 20 points per game. Seniors Riley Corriher and Tazah Hardin combine for about 24 points for the Raiders.

Madison McGuire is a wild card. If she’s making 3-pointers, it’s a big boost for the Raiders.

South isn’t deep and has to avoid foul trouble.

• Seeded 19th, West Rowan (19-7) travels to Monroe to play No. 14 Parkwood at 6:30 p.m. in a 3A matchup.

Parkwood (22-4) is the No. 14 seed. The Rebels are led by Molly Setliff, a 5-8 guard who has been a handful. She averages 17.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 steals and 3.1 assists.

Setliff topped 30 points twice in January, but she was held to 12 in a 44-41 tournament loss to Charlotte Catholic in  Parkwood’s most recent game.

Addison Laney, a 5-10 junior, averages 10 points and 6 rebounds for the Rebels.

West is led by sophomore post Abigail Wilson, Rowan’s leading scorer with 21.3 points per game.

West also usually gets double-figure scoring from senior Egypt Alexander.

College track

Catawba competed in Monday’s  inaugural South Atlantic Conference indoor track and field championships in Winston-Salem. All 11 schools competed.

Catawba posted nine season-best marks at the meet. Those are school records with the first season in the books.

Women

1. Queens 148, 2. Wingate 119.83, 3. Lenoir-Rhyne 102.83, 4. Carson-Newman 77, 5. Coker 58, 6. Tusculum 32.33, 7. Anderson 25, 8. Mars Hill 21, 9. Lincoln Memorial 16, 10. Catawba 14, 11. Newberry 9.

Men

1. Queens 189, 2. Wingate 134, 3. Lenoir-Rhyne 98.5, 4. Coker 46.5, 5. Anderson 46, 6. Carson-Newman 40, 7. Lincoln Memorial 21, 8. Mars Hill 18, 9. Tusculum 15, 10. Catawba 10, 11. Newberry 6.

•••

Carson-Newman’s Tori Gaul (East Rowan) put up a season-best height in the pole vault, clearing 3.72 meters and earning a first-place finish in the event in the SAC championships.

Her previous high of 3.55 meters came just a few weeks ago at the Buccaneer Track & Field Invitational.

•••

  Sophomore Zachary Marchinko (Carson) helped the Charlotte 49ers win the CUSA indoor track and field championships in Birmingham.

Marchinko ran personal records and finished seventh in the 3000 (8:23) and 5000 (14:46). Those marks rank sixth and seventh in school history.

•••

Johnson C. Smith University announced the hiring of coach Lamont Johnson to lead the Golden Bulls cross country and track and field  programs.

College hoops

The Pfeiffer men’s basketball team tied the program record with 23 3-pointers and routed Piedmont International, 125-94, on Monday.

Pfeiffer (21-4) had 16 steals.

Blake Smith made seven 3-pointers.   Senior Josh Calhoun finished his last regular season game in a Pfeiffer uniform with 18 points.

•••

Former North Stanly standout Luke Gibson made  three 3-pointers and helped Newberry beat Mars Hill 99-93 in South Atlantic Conference action on Monday.

Jabrie Bullard scored a career-best 17 for the Wolves.

College baseball

Montreat’s Ross Hoffner (Davie County) had three hits and drove in a run in  a 9-7 loss to Mars Hill on Monday. Matt Honeycutt (South Rowan) had three hits, including a two-run homer, and knocked in four runs for the Lions.

Middle schools

The Corriher-Lipe boys won against Knox, 53-49.

C.J. Toomer scored 24 for the Trojans. Jayden “Juke” Harris had 12 points, and Tyreze Miller scored eight.

Women’s hoops

Wingate build a 20-point lead and held off Tusculum, 78-68, for a South Atlantic Conference win on Monday.

Wingate center Marta Miscenko  had 19 points and 11 rebounds.