From staff reports

MOCKSVILLE — Davie County boys coach Mike Absher knew defense was going to be the key to handling a Carson team that is shooting better and better.

“We scouted them and we knew we had to get out and guard them,” Absher said. “Defense was the key and we played about as well as we have all year.”

Davie built a 47-30 halftime lead and went on to a 74-57 victory.

Davie (6-0) had its usual balanced scoring with Michael Walton (16), Presbyterian signee Owen McCormack (16), Jacob Hendrix (15) and Brooks Johnson (13) cracking double figures. Troy Griggs added nine points.

AJ Mauldin led Carson (3-7) with 15 points. Cole Perry had 12, Mark Spry had nine, and EJ Clark and Javon Smith scored eight each.

Carson won a neutral site game early this season but is 0-4 in true road games.

Davie and North Rowan both finished pre-Christmas action with 6-0 records. With representatives of both schools involved on a FaceTime call, Davie won the coin toss for the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Dale’s Sporting Goods/Sam Moir Christmas Classic.

Davie plays in the 4:30 p.m. game on the first day of the tournament (Thursday, Dec. 27) against No. 8 seed West Rowan.

Carson, the No. 6 seed, plays in the 10:30 a.m. game on Thursday against third-seeded Salisbury.

CARSON (57) — Mauldin 15, Perry 12, Spry 9, Clark 8, Smith 8, Hales 3, Harris 2.

DAVIE COUNTY (74) — Walton 16, McCormack 16, Hendrix 15, Johnson 13, Griggs 9, Redmon 3, Reid 2.

Carson    13   17   13   14    — 57

Davie      20   27   12  15    — 74

 

North-West boys

SPENCER — While North Rowan lost the coin toss on Thursday, the Cavaliers racked up another victory on the court.

North was in a struggle with West Rowan for about 12 minutes, but the athletic Cavaliers took charge with a string of dunks and beat the Falcons, 75-44.

North led 37-27 at halftime and dominated the second half.

Dayjuwon Cooke led North (6-0), which beat the Falcons (0-9) for the second time this season, with 22 points. Brevin Goodlett scored 17, Denerio Robinson had 11, and Kendrell Goodes scored eight.

Payne Stolsworth scored 13 for the Falcons. Jonny Hassard added nine.

As the No. 2 seed in the Christmas tourney, the Cavaliers will play in the 1:30 p.m. game next Thursday against seventh-seeded South Rowan.

The eighth-seeded Falcons will play No. 1 seed Davie County at 4:30 p.m.

WEST ROWAN (44) — Stolsworth 13, Hassard 9, Butler 7, Joseph 4, Brawley 3, Tadlock 3, Ford 3, Brush 2.

NORTH ROWAN (75) — Cooke 22, Goodlett 17, Robinson 11, Goodes 8, Page 7, Smith 5, Wilson 3, Stoner 2.

West    17    10    9   8   —  44

North  20   17   14  24   — 75

 

East -A.L. Brown boys

KANNAPOLIS — Pace is everything for East Rowan, and for a half the Mustangs held their own on the road with unbeaten A.L. Brown.

A.L. Brown led at halftime, 20-18.

But it was all Wonders in the second half. They had an 18-0 run to start the half and blew out the Mustangs for a 57-31 victory.

A.L. Brown had a 27-4 edge in the third quarter.

“East had their tempo in the first half, but we challenged our guys to play harder in the second half,” A.L. Brown coach Shelwyn Klutz said. “We played with a lot more energy on defense in a third quarter that was very big for us. We forced some turnovers, and that led to a lot of easy points for us.”

Freshman Kheni Briggs, a 6-3 forward, led the Wonders (7-0) with 22 points. Amari Grier scored 11, Amare Haynie had 10, and Elijah Isom scored nine.

A.L. Brown limited East’s 6-7 standout Elton Hooper to 10 points. Gabe Hinceman, who scored 20 on Wednesday, was held to four.

An earlier game between the two squads at East was halted at halftime by a scoreboard malfunction.

East (5-4) will be the No. 4 seed for the Moir tournament at Catawba College and will play No. 5 North Stanly at 7:30 p.m. next Thursday.

The Wonders are playing in East Lincoln’s Christmas tourney. As the No. 2 seed, they’ve got a 1 p.m. game against Forestview next Thursday.

East Rowan         6   12    4    9    — 31

A.L. Brown      11   9    27   10  — 57

 

Salisbury boys

LEXINGTON —  Salisbury won against Central Davidson, 59-53, in a Central Carolina Conference game on Thursday.

Cameron Gill led Salisbury with a career-high 19 points, while Zay Kesler scored 13 and Kevin Chawlk had 10.

Central Davidson (3-5, 2-4) led 22-10 after the first quarter, and the Spartans were still up by nine at halftime.

Sterling Charles Jr. led the Spartans with 20 points and four assists. Jensen Leonard added 12 points, while Cinquayviun Ford grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked six shots.

Salisbury (5-2, 5-1) is the No. 3 seed for the Christmas tournament at Catawba and plays No. 6 Carson at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Central Davidson wil play Oak Grove in the  Bank of North Carolina Christmas Classic at Ledford   on Wednesday, December 26 at 5:30 p.m.

SALISBURY (59) — Gill 19, Kesler 13, Chawlk 10, Norman 5, Smith 4, R. Walker 4, McLean 2, J. Walker 2.

C. DAVIDSON (53) — Charles 20, Leonard 12, Myers 8, Ford 7, Smith 4, Sheehy 2.

Salisbury     10   17   8   24   — 59

C. Davidson 22   14  7   10   — 53