From staff reports

Tuesday’s roundup …

GRANITE QUARRY — The difference-maker in East Rowan’s Senior Night win against South Rowan on Tuesday was Mia Kluttz.

The Mustangs won the South Piedmont Conference game 44-27, but it was closer than it sounds.

With East clinging to a 20-18 lead over the Raiders (7-14, 4-9) in the middle of the third quarter, Kluttz suddenly had a personal 7-0 run.

Peyton Whicker made the pass to Kluttz on an inbounds play for the bucket that made it 22-18. East ran the play again a minute later and it was Whicker to Kluttz again, except this time Kluttz not only scored, she was fouled and added the free throw for 25-18. East’s next bucket was a stick-back by none other than Kluttz for 27-18.

After Lindsey Cook and Kady Collins hustled to get East’s next four hoops from close range, the Mustangs were in charge 35-21 and were headed for victory.

Kluttz scored a career-high 12, while Collins had 10 points.

Madilyn Cherry scored 10 for the Raiders, while Kynlee Dextraze had nine.

East had beaten South 49-48 in the Christmas tournament but had dropped a 43-40 decision to the Raiders in the first SPC meeting.

This was a critical victory for the Mustangs (11-11, 7-6), who are 33rd in the 3A West RPI rankings and couldn’t afford to lose this one. It’s a 32-team playoff bracket.

South Rowan    6    9    7    5   — 27

East Rowan      10  10  15   9  — 44

South — Cherry 10, Dextraze 9, Atwell 4, Childers 2, Howell 2.

East — M. Kluttz 12, Collins 10, Cook 6, Whicker 5, Waddell 3, J. Featherstone 3, Cox 3, L. Kluttz 2.

•••

CONCORD — West Rowan’s girls scored 62 points in the first half and romped 92-15 at Concord on Tuesday.

The Falcons scored a season-high point total in the romp over the South Piedmont Conference’s bottom team. West overwhelmed the Spiders 36-2 in the second quarter.

West (22-10, 11-0) is No. 1 in the 3A West RPI rankings and holds a narrow edge in those rankings over East Lincoln, which is also undefeated. Home-court advantage in the playoffs will be based on those RPI rankings.

Junior Lauren Arnold scored 20, her third straight game with at least 20. She moved past the 900-point plateau for her career.

Jamecia Huntley scored 15. Also in double figures were De’Mya Phifer (12), Tiara Thompson (12) and Emma Clarke (11).

Concord (2-20, 0-13) hasn’t won a league game and will finish up against second-place Northwest Cabarrus (14-6, 10-3).

Northwest Cabarrus beat Lake Norman in two overtimes on Tuesday.

West will look to finish off a perfect regular season at East Rowan on Friday.

West      26    36   15    15    — 92

NWC    7         2     2    4      — 15

West — Arnold 20, Huntley 15, Phifer 12, Thompson 12, Clarke 11, Edwards 7, Durham 5, Martin 4, Tenor 4, Cuthbertson 2.

•••

CONCORD — Carson’s girls started and finished well on Tuesday, but the in-between quarters hurt.

The Cougars fell 59-35 to Central Cabarrus in South Piedmont Conference play. The Vikings finished a sweep. They won 61-36 in China Grove.

Laila Furr scored six points in the first quarter for the Cougars (3-20, 2-11), and they were down 11-8 after eight minutes against the SPC’s third-place team.

Allie Martin scored six points in the second quarter to keep Carson in the game. The Cougars made 22 turnovers in the first half, but were still in the game, down 27-14.

“Then it got rough and out of hand in the third quarter, Carson coach Brooke Stouder said. “Allie (Martin) got her chin busted.”

Carson was outscored 23-2 in the third quarter.

The Cougars settled down and scored 19 in the fourth quarter, one of their better quarters of the season.

“We showed some pride, competed a lot better,” Stouder said.

Martin led the Cougars with 13 points, eight rebounds and six steals.

Jalayah Ray scored 15 for the Vikings (15-8, 9-4). Kyra Lewis had 14.

Carson     8     6    2   19  — 35

Central      11  16   23   9   — 59

Carson — Martin 13, Furr 8, Steele 5, McBride 4, Burleson 4, Shannon 1.