From staff reports

Friday’s games …

SALISBURY — Only four Salisbury players scored on Friday, but it didn’t matter because Juke Harris and Braylon Taylor combined for 52 points.

Harris scored 31, the third straight outing with 30-plus points for the Wake Forest recruit, as the Salisbury boys basketball team beat Robinson 69-56 in a physical struggle.

Harris didn’t make any 3-pointers in Salisbury’s first two games, but he was playing for the first time in his home gym this season and got back on track from long range.

Harris didn’t get to the foul line as often as he usually does — it wasn’t easy to get there — but he had some crowd-igniting dunks to go with his 3s.

“It was good to see some 3s falling for Juke — and for Bryce Dalton,” Salisbury head coach Albert Perkins said.

Taylor, a sophomore, has been a huge factor for Salisbury so far. His game is mostly high-percentage 2-point buckets, and he scored a career-best 21.

Dalton scored 11 and got the Hornets (2-1) started with his defense in the opening minutes. Salisbury jumped all over the visitors for a 12-0 opening act. Robinson (1-1) fought back once the Bulldogs settled in, but they never caught up.

Mike Geter made his season debut after missing the first two games with football bumps and bruises. He contributed six points.

“Mike will be shaking off the rust for a few games, but he helped a lot,” Perkins said.

Other Hornets contributed without denting the scoreboard. Hank Webb’s defense, Dashawn Brown’s rebounds and a blocked shot by Keial Matthews made an impact.

The Hornets played without Deuce Walker, who hurt an ankle in practice. He isn’t expected to return to basketball until after the Shrine Bowl.

Robinson      15      8      11     22     — 56

Salisbury       24      15   10     20    — 69

SALISBURY — Harris 31, Taylor 21, Dalton 11, Geter 6.

•••

MOUNT ULLA — Lake Norman Charter’s boys basketball played well enough on Friday to win most high school games.

The Knights shot 40 percent, made 10 3-pointers, got to the foul line 28 times and had an acceptable 15 turnovers.

But West Rowan was a little better and outscored the Knights 76-71 in the South Piedmont Conference opener for both teams.

“We shared the ball and the result was a good team win,” West coach Dadrian Cuthbertson said.

Ten men scored for the Falcons, although the scorebook and scoreboard didn’t match up completely.

Lake Norman Charter’s book had the final score 75-71, while the individual points in West’s book added up to 78 for the Falcons.

The bottom line was that the Falcons (2-0, 1-0) won. Everyone agreed on that.

Will Givens didn’t have a great game from 3 (4-for-13), but made all of his 2-point attempts and added seven rebounds and four steals. He scored 22.

Kayvone Norman had one of the biggest scoring games of his career with 18 points.

West got 10 points from Brant Graham and got 4s and 5s and 6s from enough people to survive a battle on its home floor.

Braden Wilkie scored 18 for the Knights (2-2, 0-1).

LN Charter    18    9    19   25    — 71

West Rowan  19   12   22   23    — 76

LN CHARTER — Wilkie 18, Irelan 13, Leak 10, McConneyhead 9, Johnson 6, Kuhn 6, Holder 4, Smith 3, Augier 2.

WEST — Givens 22, Norman 18, Graham 10, Holmes 6, Martin 5, Hairston 5, Little 4, Kennedy 4, Young 2, Tucker 2.

•••

CHINA GROVE — Concord’s boys basketball team was blown away by Cox Mill on Saturday, but it was a still a productive weekend for the Spiders.

Concord won a much bigger more important game on Friday night, rallying to beat Carson 61-60 in the South Piedmont Conference opener for both teams.

Jeremiah Howard, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound tractor-trailer, powered for a three-point play with four seconds left to provide the margin of victory for the Spiders. They were down two when Howard bulled to the hoop.

Carson got a last-second shot off, but Drew Nave had to fire a tough shot from long range.

Howard scored 23 for the Spiders (1-3, 1-0).

“Tristen McBride (Carson’s biggest guy) actually did a good job battling Jeremiah,” Carson head coach Brian Perry said. “But Tristen had fouled out before the end.”

Carson’s scoring load was again carried by junior Jonah Drye (17 points, three 3-pointers) and freshmen Jacob Mills (five 3s, 19 points) and CP Perry (18 points). Perry scored eight of the Cougars’ 12 in the fourth quarter.

Concord led early, even with Mills raining 3-pointers. Carson outplayed the visitors in the second quarter and took a 30-29 halftime lead.

Carson (2-1, 0-1) took a 48-41 lead to the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold it.

“We’ve got some situational stuff to work on, and we’ve got to improve on finishing out games,” Coach Perry said.

Concord     19    10   12    20  — 61

Carson       15    15   18    12    — 60

CONCORD — Howard 23, Reid 10, Jadah Freeman 10, Judah Freeman 8, Beyan 8, Crowder 1, Napier 1.

CARSON — Mills 19, Perry 18, Drye 17, Neve 4, McBride 2.

•••

WINSTON-SALEM — North Rowan’s boys basketball team had two shots at the end that would have won it.

Amir Alexander’s jumper from the elbow wouldn’t fall and neither would George Maxwell’s contested shot in the lane as time expired.

Parkland’s Mustangs (2-1) got 20 points from Christian Williams and won 64-63 against the Cavaliers (1-1) on Friday.

It was a 4A against a 1A, but it was even all the way. Neither team could get much separation. Parkland led 28-26 at halftime and took a three-point edge to the fourth quarter.

“We never got in sync on offense, didn’t shoot well at all and didn’t rebound well, so we got hurt by their second-chance points,” North head coach Jason Causby said. “Still, we were right there at the end with a chance to win it.”

Alexander and Maxwell, who rebounded Alexander’s late miss and tried to follow, are seniors, guys that North wants to be taking those shots at the end. It just didn’t work out this time.

“We fought hard and learned a lot about our team,” Causby said. “You like to get those learning experiences in wins, but this time we’re going to have to learn from a tough loss.”

North made only three 3-pointers after knocking down 10 in the opener, but Parkland did a good job of challenging shooters.

Jayden Polk was spectacular, at times, for the Cavaliers with dunks and one 3-pointer. He scored 15. Maxwell had 13. Alexander added 10.

North Rowan     15    11   13    24   — 63

Parkland            12     16    15    21   — 64

NORTH — Polk 15, Maxwell 13, Alexander 10, Morrow 8, Charleston 8, Alford 3, Mosley 2, C. Williams 2, Tarver 2.

PARKLAND — Ch. Williams 20, Moore 11, Jackson 10, Walker 8, Downing 7, Yost 4, T. Williams 2, Covert 2.

•••

LANDIS — South Rowan’s boys basketball team was overmatched in the South Piedmont Conference opener and was blown out by Northwest Cabarrus 85-36.

Northwest (4-1, 1-0) crushed the Raiders (0-3, 0-1) on the boards and with their defensive pressure and put four men in double figures.

Both Gonders, sophomore guard Justin and senior forward Jordan, scored 14 points to lead the visitors.

Jordan Gonder scored his 1,000th career point on a first-quarter free throw.

South has lost 25 straight and needs something positive to happen, but it didn’t come close to happening on Friday in the South gym.

“There weren’t many bright spots,” South coach Daniel Blevins said. “We failed to execute on anything we tried to do.”

Northwest led 11-0 right away. South got back to 17-9 on a Carter Rohletter 3-pointer, but the Trojans spurted again to lead 25-11 after a quarter. Northwest got two early 3-pointers from Landon Rowe, but most of the damage was done on layups.

After Northwest scored the first 13 points of the second quarter, it was 38-11. South didn’t score the first four minutes of the quarter. Jaden Moore made a jump shot to end the drought.

It was 50-24 at the half.

Aiden Rochevot made it a running-clock game when he drilled a 3-pointer for a 70-28 cushion late in the third quarter.

Dalton Young couldn’t get anything to fall from long range, but got to the foul line often enough to lead the Raiders with 10 points.

Aaron Jones made two 3-pointers and scored nine. Rohletter also made two 3-pointers, while Carston Carey made one.

Northwest lost starting forward Connor Walker in the first quarter. He injured an ankle.

NW Cabarrus    25    25   22   13    — 85

S. Rowan            11     13   4      8     — 36

NWC — Jordan Gonder 14, Justin Gonder 14, Rochevot 11, Filipkowski 11, Rowe 9, Woolfolk 7, Dellinger 6, Bryan-Wynans 5, Gichiban 4, Walker 2, S. Brown 2.

SOUTH — Young 10, Jones 9, Rohletter 6, Carey 5, Moore 4, Jackson 2.

•••

GRANITE QUARRY — Opening South Piedmont Conference play against defending 3A state champ Central Cabarrus wasn’t an ideal situation for East Rowan’s boys basketball team.

The Vikings forced 37 turnovers, racked up 33 assists, shot 64 percent and pounded the Mustangs 104-37.

It was 64-17 at halftime.

“I think they’re better than they were last year,” East coach Andrew Porter said. “The big kid they’ve added (Josh Dalton, a 6-foot-9 transfer from Woodside, Va.) makes them even better. It was a rough night for us.”

Central, coached by former Catawba College head coach and North Rowan grad Jim Baker, won its 34th game in a row with its dazzling uptempo style. The Vikings move the ball and exert great pressure. East is playing without injured point guard Ti’Jon Everhart and didn’t have much of a chance.

Central held hot-shooting Drake Jones to seven points. Jonathan Wembolua led the Mustangs (0-4, 0-1) with 13 points.

Central (2-0, 1-0) put six in double figures, led by 6-foot-6 senior D.J. Kent with 22.

Central       29    35   24    16   — 104

East           10      7    10      10   — 37

CENTRAL — Kent 22, Russell 16, Dalton 14, Chase Daniel 14, Smith 11, Carson Daniel 10, Burse-Jones 7, Edmisten 4, Baker 4, Ezeighbo 2.

EAST — Wembolua 13, Jones 7, Osterhus 6, Butler 4, McIntyre 3, Chesney 2, Lino 2.