High school girls basketball: Wins for Carson, North, Salisbury; East and South drop SPC games

Published 3:27 pm Saturday, January 28, 2023

From staff reports

Friday’s games …

CHINA GROVE — No Gatorade baths, just sighs of relief.

Carson’s girls ended a 10-game losing streak on Friday with a 66-46 victory against Concord.

“It was a good win for us,” Carson coach Brooke Stouder said. “It had been a long time since our last one on December 28.”

Allie Martin has been the best player for Carson in almost every game and led the way with 19 points and four steals. She was 9-for-10 at the foul line.

The Cougars (3-17, 2-8) benefited from career games from Laila Furr, who scored 15, and Alona Locklear, who scored 10.

Jadyn Steele tied her career high with nine points and had five steals.

Brooklyn McBride and Emma Carpenter had seven rebounds each.

Carson had cruised past Concord 63-29 early in the season, but Stouder expected a much more challenging game.

Carson has been struggling to score more than 30 points, and Concord had scored 42 in a loss to Central Cabarrus on Tuesday.

“Concord is greatly improved since the first time we played them,” Stouder said. “We had no answer for their post player in the halfcourt.”

That post player was Maryssa Hollis, who scored 17 for the Spiders (2-17, 0-10).

Carson led by only 29-26 at halftime. There was still doubt about the outcome until Carson held Concord to two points in the fourth quarter and pulled away.

“We were able to withstand their runs and we had a nice fourth quarter to finish,” Stouder said.

Concord    10    16   18   2   — 46

Carson      18     11   22  15   — 66

Carson — Martin 19, Furr 15, Locklear 10, Steele 9, Burleson 5, McCubbins 4, McBride 2, Carpenter 2.

•••

THOMASVILLE — North Rowan junior Bailee Goodlett finished off an extraordinary 115-point week.

Goodlett scored 40 points and had five steals to lead the Cavaliers to a a 75-40 win at East Davidson on Friday.

She had a 35-point effort and two 40s for the week. It was one of the highest-scoring weeks in county history.

The Cavaliers (13-6, 7-1) took care of business early and led 21-4 against the Golden Eagles (4-17, 3-5) after the first quarter. It was 42-17 at halftime, and everyone got some playing time.

Brittany Ellis had her best game in a while, scoring 13 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out five assists.

Krisstyle Stockton had eight points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who are second in the Central Carolina Conference.

Bloom Goodlett blocked three shots. Chloee Stoner had six rebounds.

North Rowan      21     21   19    14   — 75

East Davidson    4       13    8    15     — 40

North — Bailee Goodlett 40, Ellis 13, Stockton 8, Bloom Goodlett 5, D. Elder 4, A. Elder 2, Stoner 2, King 1.

•••

SALISBURY — Just another night at the office on Friday for Salisbury senior Kyla Bryant, who had 26 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in a 66-39 win against South Davidson.

Bryant has scored 20-plus in six straight games.

MaKayla Noble scored 14, her fourth straight game in double figures, and had four steals. Mary Morgan scored seven, as the Hornets had one of their better offensive games.

Haley Dalton had five blocks. Icecis Nwafor returned to the lineup after an illness and had six points and three assists.

Salisbury (16-3, 9-0) won its fifth game in a row.

The Hornets led 18-4 after a quarter, but South Davidson (6-12, 1-8) didn’t get embarrassed and made it a respectable Central Carolina Conference contest.

South Davidson    4     10    13    12  — 39

Salisbury                18   14   14      20  — 66

Salisbury — Bryant 26, Noble 14, Morgan 7, Nwafor 6, Zapata 5, Dalton 4, Spruill 4.

•••

GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan’s girls are going through a rough patch.

A blowout 64-35 loss at home to Lake Norman Charter kept the Mustangs on a downward trajectory.

East (9-10, 5-5) has lost four out of five, has been sliding in the South Piedmont Conference standings and is in some danger of missing the state playoffs.

East is 33rd in the 3A West RPI rankings. Thirty-two teams will make the bracket.

It was over quickly on Friday. Lake Norman Charter led 19-2 after a quarter and by 46-14 at halftime. East outscored the Knights in the fourth quarter to make the final score look a bit closer.

Peyton Whicker scored 11 to lead the Mustangs. Hannah Waddell and Lily Kluttz scored six each.

Lake Norman Charter (12-6, 6-4) benefited from a 23-point explosion by Kailyn Kilpatrick, who came in averaging 10. Brooklin Leak scored 14. Jade Taylor ruled the paint with 11 points and five blocks. Julia Zelando handed out nine assists.Reece Long hit two 3-pointers.

Lake Norman Charter wasn’t amazing — missing half its free throws and shooting 36 percent — but the Knights limited their turnovers and did more than enough to win.

There was a surge of optimism when East won tight SPC games at Northwest Cabarrus and Lake Norman Charter early in the season, but both teams pounded the Mustangs in the rematch.

“We’re struggling to score right now,” East coach Bri Evans said. “We’ve got to figure it out and we’ve got to step it up.”

Lake Norman Charter is fourth in the SPC standings, but is the second-best team in the league according to the 3A West RPI rankings. The Knights rank 15th, well ahead of Northwest Cabarrus and Central Cabarrus.

LN Charter   19    27   12    6    — 64

East Rowan  2     12    9      12  — 35

East — Whicker 11, L. Kluttz 6, Waddell 6, J. Featherstone 4, Cook 3, Collins 3, M. Kluttz 2.

•••

LANDIS — South Rowan’s girls hoped to upset Central Cabarrus, but early whistles eliminated any hope the Raiders had.

“We had four girls with two fouls in the first half and it made it tough for us get going,” South coach Alex Allen said. “The opportunities were there for us to make it a good game, but we didn’t capitalize. A lot of turnovers and the foul trouble hurt us.”

Central won 54-42. It wasn’t as close as it sounds.

The Vikings (13-7, 7-3) led 33-19 at halftime after holding South to five points in the second quarter and expanded their lead to 23 points in the third quarter.

The Raiders (6-12, 3-7) outscored the Vikings 18-7 in the fourth quarter for the final margin.

The Vikings got 17 points from Jalayah Ray and 16 from Kyra Lewis and moved into a tie for second place in the South Piedmont Conference standings with Northwest Cabarrus.

After two quiet games, Madilyn Cherry bounced back to score 16 for the Raiders. Hannah Atwell scored a career-high 13.

South lost 60-28 at Central, so there was some progress for the Raiders.

Central Cabarrus     19    14    14   7   — 54

South Rowan            14      5    5    18   — 42

South — Cherry 16, Atwell 13, Dextraze 6, Alston 5, Menius 2