From staff reports

MOUNT ULLA — Make it 32 wins in a row for West Rowan’s girls basketball team.

With six of the top players returning from a state championship season, the Falcons are loaded, and they opened with a 70-34 win against North Iredell on Tuesday.

They jumped on North Iredell 18-5 in the first quarter, shook off some second-quarter struggles and won easily despite making 25 turnovers.

“There was a lot of ugly in that second quarter,” West head coach Ashley Poole said. “But we battled through the rough spots, and for our first game, it wasn’t a bad effort. We’ll keep working and we’ll get better.”

Lauren Arnold scored 19 points, while De’Mya Phifer had 18 to lead the Falcons. Three more seniors — Makaylah Tenor, Mya Edwards and Emma Clarke — combined for another 22.

North Iredell (1-2) had opened with a win against South Iredell and a competitive loss to Alexander Central.

North Iredell   5    15    9    5    — 34

West Rowan  18   12    23  17  — 70

WEST — Arnold 19, Phifer 18, Edwards 8, Tenor 7, Clarke 7, Martin 4, Wilson 3, Thompson 2, Hoffner 2.

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NORWOOD — Hannah Atwell made a 3-pointer to get the party started, and South Rowan’s girls basketball team never trailed on Tuesday.

The Raiders (1-1) got their first win of the season by blowing out South Stanly 64-31. South’s pressure defense forced a multitude of turnovers and the Raiders’ depth was a big factor.

Nine Raiders scored.

“Lots of bright spots and lots of girls in the scorebook,” South head coach Alex Allen said.

After Atwell’s bucket, Ari Alston got an uncontested layup off an inbounds play underneath. After Lenoir-Rhyne softball commit Kynlee Dextraze powered in three straight layups, the Raiders led 11-3 and were on their way to a breezy win. It was 17-5 after a quarter and 35-13 at halftime.

“We were able to play everyone a lot,” Allen said. “This give us some momentum going into conference.”

Dextraze was too strong for the Bulls inside and scored 14, all on layups. Danica Krieg came off the bench to score 13, mostly off steals. Ella Morgan piled up assists and scored seven points.

South Stanly had an 8-0 run in the third quarter to cut a 40-13 deficit to 40-21, but the Raiders answered with a 12-0 run.

Freshman Kanija Colson scored 12 for the Bulls (1-2).

It will get more challenging for the Raiders as they take on a strong Northwest Cabarrus squad on Friday to start South Piedmont Conference action.

South Rowan     17    18   15   14    — 64

South Stanly       5      8     8   10    —  31

SOUTH ROWAN — Dextraze 14, Krieg 13, Morgan 7, Fisher 7, Pharr 6, Carter 5, Atwell 5, Alston 5, Eagle 2.

SOUTH STANLY — Colson 12, Page 11, Ray 4, Jackson 2, Huneycutt 2.

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CHINA GROVE — New A.L. Brown coach Kayla Crayton said the goal for the Wonders is to take a 6-0 record (and a high seed) into the Sam Moir Christmas Classic.

They might do it. The Wonders (3-0) are halfway to that goal after overpowering Carson 57-19 on Tuesday.

“There’s never a dull moment for us,” Crayton said. “But I thought we played very well together and our defense was looking strong.”

Sadie Faulkner led the Wonders with 19 points. Ayanni Flood scored 11, while R’Mani Bradley had nine. A.L. Brown got six points each from Trinity Robinson, Megan Goode-Roberts and Jah’nae Stevens,

Freshman Caylee Snow made four of her five field-goal attempts and led the Cougars (0-2) with eight points. Julia Burleson scored four.

“We shot better from the floor (36 percent) than we did in our first game,” Carson head coach Chloe Monroe said. “But we had 32 turnovers.”

Carson also has to figure out a way to get to the foul line more often. The Cougars shot only four free throws.

A.L. Brown assistant coach Doug Wilson has a granddaughter (Jayla Upright), who plays for Carson. He didn’t sit on the A.L. Brown bench, but watched this one from a neutral spot in the bleachers.

A road game at Mount Pleasant is next for the Wonders. He’ll be back on the bench for that one.

Carson starts South Piedmont Conference play on Friday and will match up pretty well with Concord.

A.L. Brown 19   18    19   1   — 57

Carson         4      6      7   2    — 19

A.L. BROWN — Faulkner 19, Flood 11, Bradley 9, Robinson 6, Goode-Roberts 6, Stevens 6.

CARSON — Snow 8, Burleson 4, Hedrick 2, Shannon 2, Taylor 2, Carpenter 1.