Staff report

CHINA GROVE — Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Carson’s rebuilding girls basketball team won’t get better over night.

The Cougars lost 42-26 at home to Central Davidson on Wednesday, but inched forward by a few more centimeters.

The Cougars (0-4) have been on an upward trajectory in their games this week after an ugly 53-29 loss at A.L. Brown last week.

Carson was only down 15-9 at the half against Central Davidson (3-0),

“Quick turnaround for us with back-to-back games, but we got better again,” said Carson coach Brooke Stouder, who lost seven of last season’s eight varsity players to graduation. “That’s what it’s going to take for this team — getting a little better every night. We’ve got some girls who are busting their tails, and when you do that, when you keep plugging away, good things happen.”

Stouder said the Cougars had to get better at two controllable things — making free throws and boxing out.

Free throws improved a lot from Tuesday to Wednesday for the Cougars— from 5-for-18 to 7-for-12.

They made some strides in rebounding. Allie Martin had 10 boards. Laila Furr had eight. Emma Carpenter grabbed six.

“We allowed eight offensive rebounds on Wednesday after giving up 22 on Tuesday,” Stouder said. “We really had a great defensive effort in the first half. Now we just have to put the ball in the basket.”

Ella Trantham scored 19 for Central Davidson, which started the season with wins against West Davidson and Wheatmore.

Julia Burleson led the scoring for the Cougars with nine points.

C. Davidson   11   4   16   11   — 42

Carson            4     5   10   7   — 26

Carson scoring — Burleson 9, Martin 6, Carpenter 4, McBride 4, Furr 3.