From staff reports

HAYS — South Rowan’s girls basketball team lost at North Wilkes, 63-60, on Thursday in the second round of the 2A state playoffs.

“It was a big crowd and it was a loud crowd,” South coach John Davis said. “That’s the first time I’ve left a high school gym with my ears ringing.”

It went down to the wire. South (18-9) lost star Janiya Downs with five fouls with 1:05 left when the Raiders were up by two.

“She drove, a girl grabbed her arm and spun her around,” Davis said. “No call. Janiya goes after the ball and gets her fifth foul. There were some tough whistles tonight. Two 3-pointers that we made were wiped out by walking calls.”

South, seeded 19th, played through all of it and still had a chance when Tazah Hardin made a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to cut South’s deficit to a single point.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the way we fought,” Davis said. “We battled all the way. They’ve got a great team and we gave them all they wanted — and then some.”

Riley Corriher made four early 3-pointers to keep South in the game, and Downs took over from there.

Downs scored 30. Corriher had 15.

Madison McGuire (6), Hardin (5) and Whitley Arnott (4) also scored.

Emily Phillips led the  third-seeded Vikings (25-3) with 21 points, and Raygan Casstevens scored 15. Hardin held point guard Victori Young to one point.

It ws 29-all at halftime and tied at 48-all after three quarters..

“I told the girls that’s what high basketball is all about,” Davis said. “You can’t play any harder than we did tonight.”

Davis will be leaving as South’s coach. His last day with the Salisbury-Rowan school system is March 9. He’s accepted a teaching job at Mooresville High.

S. ROWAN (60) — Downs 30, Corriher 15, McGuire 6, Hardin 5, Arnott 4, Massey, Shell, Rollins.

N. WILKES (63) — Phllips 21, Casstevens 15, Wood 12, Billings 11, Royal 3, Young 1.

S. Rowan   16   13  19  12  — 60

N. Wilkes  13  16  19   15  — 63

North Rowan boys

BOONVILLE — North Rowan’s boys ended the season Thursday in the second round of the 1A state playoffs with a 48-45 loss at Starmount.

Eleventh-seeded North (18-9) led 45-39, but sixth-seeded Starmount (23-3) scored the last nine points.

North jumped all over Starmount early, got eight first-quarter points from Brevin Goodlett and took a  14-4 lead. Josh Ellis made a 3-pointer in the second quarter, and the Cavaliers went to halftime ahead, 23-13.

North peaked in the third quarter, getting a 3-pointer from Dajuan Clement and leading by a dozen points, but Starmount was starting to find the range. By the end of the third quarter, North’s lead was down to 35-33.

Dayjuwon Cooke scored eight points in the fourth quarter, but Derrick Page had the only other bucket for North in the final period.  Griffin Cass made two huge 3-pointers for the Rams in the fourth quarter.

North went 5-for-12 from the foul line for the night. Cooke scored 19, while Goodlett had 12, but no one else scored more than four.

Tavis Bridges had 15 for Starmount, 11 in the second half. Cass scored 13.

N. ROWAN (45) — Cooke 19, Goodlett 12, Q. Smith 4, Page 4, Clement 3, Ellis 3,  Davis, Goodes.

STARMOUNT (48) — Bridges 15, Cass 13, Barnes 6, Wiles 5, Dezern 5, Smythers 4.

N. Rowan 14   9  12   10 —  45

Starmount 4   9   20  15   — 48

Area games

NEW LONDON — North Stanly’s boys led 50-30 at the half and went on to a 82-60 win against Chatham Central in the second round of  the 1A state playoffs.

North Stanly (24-5)  will play at Avery County on Saturday. North Stanly was led by Bryson Childress with 31 points and Jason Doerr with 16.

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Hickory Ridge’s girls (26-1) romped 75-26 against Providence in the second round of the 4A state playoffs. Gabby Smith  and  Reigan Richardson scored 13 each.  Smith and Jiera Shears took part in their 100th win with the Bulls.

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East Forsyth of the Central Piedmont Conference lost to Butler, 51-43, in the second round of the boys 4A state playoffs.

Shemar Watkins scored 14 for the Eagles (19-6).

D.J. Little scored 20 for Butler.

  

Men’s basketball

Michael Bowman (North Rowan) scored eight points for Johnson C. Smith in Wednesday’s 88-79 CIAA win against Winston-Salem State.

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Three SAC teams are ranked in the top five in the Southeast Region, with Lincoln Memorial first, Queens second, and Carson-Newman fifth. Lincoln Memorial plays Queens on Saturday. Both teams have lost once this season.

Women’s basketball

Aliyah Farmer (North Rowan) and Avery Locklear (South Rowan) scored six points each in UNC Pembroke’s 65-50 loss to Francis Marion on Wednesday.  Farmer had six rebounds, while Locklear had four.

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SAC teams ranked in Wednesday’s regional poll were  Carson-Newman (first), Wingate (second), Anderson (eighth) and Tusculum (10th).

Carson-Newman was upset by Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday.

  

Middle schools

Knox’s boys won against Erwin, 41-33.

Christopher Toomer scored 14 points for the Trojans. Jayden “Juke” Harris had 12. Jy’Mykaah Wells had seven, and Jalen Chunn scored five.

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Erwin defeated Knox, 38-19, in the girls game.

Erwin was led by Icesis Nwafor with 10 points and Peyton Whicker with eight.

Local golf

Michael Childress of Salisbury is among 92 players competing in the third annual Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship, which will be played February 23-25 at TPC Myrtle Beach.

The tournament has attracted players from 19 states to compete in the 54-hole, college style event.

Sacred Heart hoops

Sacred Heart’s teams competed in the Shamrock Tournament in Charlotte.

Sacred Heart’s varsity girls lost, 38-37, to St.Mark Catholic. from Huntersville.  Rachel McCullough led the Dolphins with 29 points,  and Gianna Patella had 6.

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Sacred Heart defeated St. Peter of Savannah, 41-18. McCullough had 26,  and Grace Blackwell had six.

McCullough, scored 501 points as an eighth-grader.

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Sacred Heart’s boys won  against St. Raphael of Raleigh, 55-39.  Jalon Walker scored 34 points. Nick Antosek had seven and Ben Childress six.

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Sacred Heart won against St. Gabriel of Charlotte, 60-48.   Antosek scored 18, Walker had 16, Easton Morris had 12, and Childress had eight.

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Sacred Heart’s boys defeated Cathedral School from Raleigh, 44-34.  Walker led with 17, and Antosek scored 14.

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  Sacred Heart boys lost to St. Thomas More from Chapel Hill, 40-42.  Walker led with 21 points, Antosek had 10, and Childress had six.

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In a 59-52 win against St. Leo’s of Winston-Salem, Walker exploded for 39 points. Antosek had 10, and Morris had 8. Sacred Heart rallied from a 15-point deficit at halftime.

Walker, the son of Catawba head football coach Curtis Walker, had double-doubles for all five weekend games. He had a total of 583 points as an eighth-grader.