From staff reports

Girls

North Iredell (10-1) at Carson (14-0)

The game of the night, obviously, as two Christmas tournament champions clash in a North Piedmont Conference opener.

Carson is off to the best start in school history.

Two of Carson’s four losses last season were to North Iredell, but the Cougars won a one-point game in the NPC tourney championship game.

Senior McKenzie Gadson, Moir tournament MVP,  leads a Carson team that gets a lot of production from a strong sophomore class.

 

North Davidson (8-3, 3-2 CCC) at Salisbury (10-2, 6-1 CCC)

There’s a great, multi-team race brewing in the CCC, with Salisbury, East Davidson and South Rowan all having one league loss.

North Davidson could jump into contention with a road win tonight. Freshman Emily Hege has been the top scorer for the Black Knights.

Salisbury is led by senior Bryanna Troutman.

No. 2 scorer Anayia Fulson missed Saturday’s game vs. North Rowan. Fulson was huge against North Davidson last season with 36 points in two Salisbury victories.

 

East Rowan (11-2) at West Rowan (11-1)

It’s the North Piedmont Conference opener for both teams.

Both teams have stellar records, although neither played an overwhelming schedule prior to Christmas.

West took its first loss in the Christmas tourney in a semifinal against Salisbury. East was thumped by South Rowan in the first round, but like the Falcons, the Mustangs came out of the tournament with a 2-1 showing.

West is led by junior Abigail Wilson, who already has 1,240 career points. Senior Mary Sobataka should reach 1,000 this month.

East is led by Adalie Harrison and Grace Eagle, who has been one of the county’s pleasant surprises with 12.2 points per game.

West has won seven straight against the Mustangs.

 

North Rowan (5-7, 3-1 YVC) at Gray Stone (7-4, 3-2 YVC)

Gray Stone swept North Rowan last season, one breeze, one competitive.

North has improved some with the addition of freshman Hannah Wilkerson and is off to a nice start in the YVC.

Wilkerson and sophomore Natavia Taborn are giving the Cavaliers about 30 points per game between them.

Gray Stone figures to be one of the better teams in  the league, so this is a big one for North Rowan.

 

South Rowan (6-5, 5-1 CCC) at Central Davidson (2-9, 1-6 CCC)

South hasn’t looked good at all in some of its county games, but the Raiders have been strong against league opponents and have registered significant wins against East Davidson, North Davidson, Lexington and Ledford.

South senior Janiya Downs, a Catawba signee, averages 28.8 points per game — that’s a county record pace — and is coming off a 40-point, 17-rebound outing.

Junior Madison McGuire and Bethany Rymer provide most of the scoring help.

Central Davidson held Downs to 18 and 19 in last year’s two meetings, but the Raiders still won both games.

 

A.L. Brown (0-11) at Central Cabarrus (6-7)

The Vikings appear to be the team to beat in the South Piedmont Conference, so the Wonders are unlikely to get off to a good start in SPC play.

 

 

Boys

North Davidson (6-3, 4-0 CCC) at Salisbury (8-4, 6-1 CCC)

Salisbury swept North Davidson last season, but that was a very strong Salisbury team that reached the 2A semifinals.

This season’s edition of the Hornets is still a work in progress and was blown out by rival North Rowan on Saturday.

Veterans Zay Kesler and Cam Gill lead the Hornets, with Bill Fisher, All-CCC last season, still limited by back issues.

North Davidson, is just getting rolling in basketball after its football team was 2AA runner-up. It boasts one of the state’s most exciting players in lightning-fast guard Themus Fulks, who averages 31.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists.

The Black Knights average 80 points per game, so the pace could be frantic.

 

East Rowan (7-6) at West Rowan (1-11)

It’s the North Piedmont Conference opener for both teams.

Despite its record, West has played much better of late and lost a two-point game to East in the Christmas tournament.

East comes in with a lot of momentum after an upset win of A.L. Brown, the first loss of the season for the Wonders.

East’s 6-foot-7 Elton Hooper is second in the county in scoring at 17.8 points per game, and Gabe Hinceman does a good job of running the Mustangs’ offense.

West has gotten strong games from Zack Brawley, Payne Stolsworth and Jay Joseph. All three were good in the Christmas tournament.

 

North Rowan (9-2, 4-0 YVC)  at Gray Stone (2-8, 1-4 YVC)

It should be a breezy week for the Cavaliers, who will face the bottom trio in the YVC standings.

North demolished Gray Stone’s Knights 70-29 and 71-25 last season.

Brevin Goodlett leads the county in scoring (19.1) and combines with Dayjuwon Cooke, another senior forward, for 36 points per game.

Goodlett (941) is closing in on 1,000 career points.

Senior guard Derrick  Page is the floorleader for the Cavaliers, who have a realistic chance to make some noise in 1A.

 

South Rowan (1-9, 1-4 CCC) at Central Davidson (5-7, 2-5 CCC)

South, which has topped 50 points only once, hasn’t won since November 30, but has a chance to change that tonight.

The Raiders lost two close ones to Central’s Spartans last season.

 

North Iredell (3-9) at Carson (5-8)

Carson has a great chance to get off to a 1-0 start in the North Piedmont Conference.

The Cougars have competed pretty well most of the season against a challenging schedule.  Cole Perry is back from his ACL surgery and playing at a high level, while junior E.J. Clark may be the county’s biggest surprise, averaging better than 16 points per game.

Carson romped in both meetings last season.

 

A.L. Brown (11-1) at Central Cabarrus (4-10)

After five straight losing seasons, the Wonders are rolling with a very young team and get South Piedmont Conference play started tonight against the Vikings, who have been struggling.

Sophomore Amare Haynie is averaging 17.3 points  to lead A.L. Brown.

The Wonders swept Central last season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday’s boys games