From staff reports

GREENSBORO — Carson’s girls basketball team scored nine points in the first half.

Nine.

But the Cougars didn’t panic, Ellie Wilhelm lit it up in the second half, and Carson (3-0) came back to beat Charlotte Christian, 46-42, in a Saturday afternoon game in the Thanksgiving Headliners Challenge.

“We couldn’t score in the first half, shot 16 percent, just struggled mightily,” Carson coach Brooke Stouder said. “We’d scored nine, but they’ve got some good who can really shoot and we held them to 18. That’s what we talked about halftime. We can’t play any worse, and we’re  just down nine. That’s three possessions. If we could get off to a good start in the third quarter, we’d be right back in it.”

Carson got it going in the third quarter and outscored Charlotte Christian  (3-3) in the period, 20-6.

Taylor Conrad had five key points during that run, Maci Cooper made a 3-pointer, and Wilhelm got hot. She finished 5-for-8 on 3s and scored  19 to tie her career high.

Carleigh Perry had nine points and 11 rebounds. Lani Isley had five rebounds and did most of the defensive work against Charlotte Christian standout Breya Busby, who scored 13 points.

Hannah Isley had seven rebounds, while Conrad had five. Cooper made three 3-pointers and scored 11.

“We worked through some tough challenges and got a win,” Stouder said. “But we’ve got a lot of things to work on.”

Carson plays at Central Cabarrus on Tuesday.

CARSON (46) — Wilhelm 19, Cooper 11, Ca. Perry 9,  Conrad 5, H. Isley 2, Co. Perry, Post, L. Isley, R. Isley.

CHARLOTTE CHRISTIAN (42) — Busby 13, Swilling 11, Csoka 10, Olmeda 8, A. Coles, E. Coles, Carter, Reed.

Carson                             4   5   20   17   — 46

Charlotte Christian     12  6   6     18  — 42

SHS girls win

KERNERSVILLE — Salisbury’s girls won 51-33 against (Greensboro) Dudley on Saturday evening in a holiday tournament.

Anayia Fulson scored 16 to lead the Hornets (2-0) to a victory against an athletic  Dudley squad at Glenn High.

Kyla Bryant scored 13 for the Hornets. Rachel McCullough scored nine, and Jamecia Huntley had seven.

Dudley is 0-3.

Salisbury plays at West Davidson on Tuesday in a Central Carolina Conference matchup.

SALISBURY (51) ­— Fulson 16, Bryant 13, McCullough 9, Huntley 7, Gibson 2, Mashore 2, McEntyre 2.

Salisbury   15   9  12  15  — 51

Dudley        4    8   10  11 — 33

Carson boys win

GREENSBORO —  Carson’s boys got their first win of the season on Saturday, beating North Wilkes in the  Thanksgiving Headliners Challenge, 63-35.

“Slow first half, but we got a better pace in the second half and got some space,” Carson coach Brian Perry said. “It’s a good win, and we really needed it.”

AJ Mauldin made four of Carson’s 11 3-pointers and scored 20 points. EJ Clark added 12 for the Cougars, while Javon Smith had 10.

CARSON (63) — Mauldin 20, Clark 12, J. Smith 10, Allen 6, Taylor 6, Burris 3, Burleyson 3, Zuniga 3, Harris, Blackwelder, K. Smith.

N. WILKES (35) — Holloway 10, Huffman 9, Cleary 6, Robertson 5, Carlton 3, Lamb 2, Church, Brown, Sidden, Wall.

Carson          8   12   21   22  — 63

N. Wilkes     10  9     5     11  — 35

Catawba men win

GREENEVILLE, TENN. ­ — Catawba’s men’s basketball team bounced back from Tuesday’s disappointing, double-overtime loss to Newberry and won at Tusculum on Saturday, 75-71.

The Indians (5-2) squared their South Atlantic Conference record at 1-1.

Marcell Haskett led the Indians with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Devin Cooper scored 19.  Ben Zemonek was big off the bench with 4-for-4 shooting. Zaqwuan Matthews made three 3-pointers.

Catawba led by eight at halftime. Both teams picked up the pace considerably in the second half.

Catawba played without Larry McLeod.

Catawba enjoyed some comfortable leads in the second half, but the Pioneers fought all the way back to 71-all with  1:18 remaining.   

Haskett’s steal and layup for a 73-71 edge with 34 seconds left was the critical play.

Matthews made a steal with eight seconds left, and  Malik Constantine dunked for the final points.

Trenton Gibson scored 17 to lead the Pioneers.

Catawba made 22 turnovers and missed 10 of 27 free throws, but the Indians were very good from 3-point range (8-for-17).

Tusculum beat the Indians on the boards (19 offensive rebounds to 7) and won the turnover battle, but the Pioneers (5-3, 1-1) shot just 5-for-21 on 3-pointers and only got to the foul line 12 times.

Catawba hosts UVa-Wise next Saturday.

CATAWBA (75) — Haskett 20, Cooper 19, Constantine 9, Matthews 9, Zemonek 8, Whitfield 7, Lilly 2, Robinson 1, Johnson, Bowen.

TUSCULUM (71) — Gibson 17, Scott 14, Jenkins 12, J. Mitchell 10, King 8, Wilkins 2, Cohen 2, Hodnett 2, B. Mitchell 2, Smith 2, Brown, Dixon.

Catawba    31   44    — 75

Tusculum  23   48    — 71

Catawba women win

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Catawba’s women stayed unbeaten on Saturday with a 78-71 South Atlantic Conference win at Tusculum.

Down two early in the third quarter, the Indians (6-0, 2-0) made a nice run to take charge.

Catawba got points from 10 players and had a 37-10 edge in points off the bench.  Catawba had a 24-17 edge in the turnover battle.

Catawba had a good shooting day (49.2 percent from the floor and 9-for-24 on 3-pointers).

Taisha DeShazo was the key shooter, making her first four 3-point attempts and scoring 16. Madi Hallman made three 3-pointers and scored 11.

Shemya Stanback, a driver, had a great offensive day with 8-for-11 shooting and 18 points. She had three steals and no turnovers in 24 minutes.

Lyrik Thorne had five assists.

Post players Talia Barnes and Keyotta Garris helped the Indians outscore the Pioneers in the paint, 42-20.

Mia Long scored 21 for the Pioneers (6-2, 1-1). Kasey Johnson had 12 points and 13 boards.

CATAWBA (78) — Stanback 18, DeShazo 16, Hallman 11, Garris 9, Barnes 8,  Wampler 4, Thorne 3, Davie 3, Sawyers 3, Ford 3, Tucker, Bruce.

TUSCULUM (71) — Long 21, Wilson 16, Johnson 12, Arnwine 8, Williams 6, Sutton 4, Dixon 3, Belton 1, Miller, Hutchinson, Rodrigues.

Catawba   20   12   27   19   — 78

Tusculum  19  13   20    19  —  71

HS wrestling

Salisbury coach Tim Pittman has started a girls wrestling program.

As the host team, the Hornets won the Thanksgiving Invitational.

Olympic was the boys champion.

HS soccer

3A All-region boys soccer players by the N.C. Coaches Association include East Rowan’s Drew Roane and Jaxon Mastranunzio and West Rowan’s Federico Cruz and Michael Leon.

College football

HICKORY — Lenoir-Rhyne won against Carson-Newman, 49-21, at Moretz Stadium in the second round of the Division II playoffs on Saturday.

The Bears (13-0) built a 28-0 lead in the first quarter. Carson-Newman (9-3) came back to 28-21 at halftime, but the Bears regained control in the second half.

Ameen Stevens rushed for 128 yards and four TDs for the Bears, while Grayson Willingham threw two TD passes.