SPC girls basketball: West, South win; road losses for East, Carson

Published 9:59 pm Tuesday, January 31, 2023

From staff reports

HUNTERSVILLE — Freshman Tiara Thompson hit four 3-pointers in the second quarter as West Rowan’s girls blew out Lake Norman Charter 81-39 on Tuesday.

The Knights, who came into the game with the second-best RPI ranking among South Piedmont Conference teams, stayed with the undefeated Falcons for a quarter — trailing 14-11 — but then Thompson got hot.

Thompson scored 14 of her career-high 19 points in the second quarter. West put up 30 points in that quarter for a 44-18 halftime lead and rolled from there.

Lauren Arnold scored 21 points, all in the first three quarters. Jamecia Huntley scored 14, while Emma Clarke had 12 for the Falcons (20-0, 11-0), who are off to the best start in program history.

Julia Zelando led the Knights (12-7, 6-5) with 10 points.

West Rowan     14    30   20  17  — 81

LN Charter      11      7      8    13   — 39

West — Arnold 21, Thompson 19, Huntley 14, Clarke 12, Tenor 8, Edwards 4, Phifer 2, Cuthbertson 1.

•••

CONCORD — South Rowan’s girls snapped a three-game losing streak with a 58-44 road win against an improving Concord team.

“Concord fought hard,” South coach Alex Allen said. “Glad we could seal the deal and come out with a solid win.”

Madilyn Cherry scored 19 for the Raiders, and freshman Ari Alston had her best game of the season with two 3-pointers and 15 points.

Kynlee Dextraze (8), Hannah Atwell (7) and Eden Childers (6) also scored well for South.

South led 35-18 at halftime, and the Spiders weren’t able to make a charge in the second half.

Maryssa Hollis, a 6-foot-3 center, and Kaylin Williams combined for 28 for the Spiders.

South Rowan    15   20  13   10  — 58

Concord            11     7    11    15   — 44

South — Cherry 19, Alston 15, Dextraze 8, Atwell 7, Childers 6, Alvarado 3.

•••

CONCORD — East Rowan’s girls played the best that that they have in a while, but still lost 67-60 at Central Cabarrus.

The Vikings led 29-27 at halftime and were able to stretch their lead in the third quarter and hold off the Mustangs at the end.

Offensive rebounding and full-court pressure defense made the difference for the Vikings (14-7, 8-3), who finished a sweep of East and stayed tied with Northwest Cabarrus for second place.

Freshman Taylor Smith scored 26 for the Vikings. Jaylayah Ray had 18.

Hannah Waddell scored 15 for East (9-11, 5-6), which has lost five of its last six outings. Peyton Whicker scored a career-high 14. Lindsey Cook added 12.

East Rowan            12     15     19  14   — 60

Central Cabarrus    11    18     24  14   — 67

East — Waddell 15, Whicker 14, Cook 12, J. Featherstone 6, L. Kluttz 4, M. Kluttz 4, Collins 3, Boardley 2.

•••

CONCORD — Re’ale Walton scored 10 of her 22 points in the first quarter as Northwest Cabarrus beat Carson 67-26 in South Piedmont Conference action.

Carson struggled to score and trailed 35-17 at halftime. Then Northwest (12-6, 8-3) blew the game open with a dominating 21-5 third quarter.

The Trojans, who won by 40 when the teams played at Carson, stayed tied for second place with Central Cabarrus.

Carson (3-18, 2-9) got eight points from Allie Martin and Laila Furr made two 2-pointers.

Carson    9    8    5    4    — 26

NWC      23  12  21   11   — 67

Carson — Martin 8, Furr 6, Steele 4, Carpenter 4, Locklear 3, McBride 1.

NWC — Walton 22, Moore 9, Gordon 9, Strickland 9, Furner 7, Hilsenroth 6, Alberico 3, King 2.