High school boys basketball roundup: Salisbury, West, Wonders win big

Published 11:42 pm Wednesday, December 6, 2023

 

From staff reports

Wednesday games …

SALISBURY — Juke Harris scored 41 points, a season high, as Salisbury flattened Cuthbertson 84-48 in a Wednesday non-conference game in the SHS gym.

“We played good basketball and really did well on the defensive end,” Salisbury coach Albert Perkins said. “We got a lot of steals and layups off our defense, but we also made quite a few 3s.”

Harris made six of those 3s.

The first of Harris’ 3-pointers came late in the first quarter and gave the Hornets a 22-11 lead.

Harris caught fire in the second quarter when he hit four 3-pointers and scored 17.

Harris had 30 points by halftime and had personally outscored Cuthbertson, 30-24.

After three quarters, it was 75-37.

The Hornets (4-1) made it a running-clock game when Braylon Taylor’s 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter provided a 41-point cushion.

Taylor scored 13.

Cuthbertson fell to 3-4.

Salisbury has two tough games ahead this weekend in a showcase setting at Greensboro’s Ben L. Smith High. The Hornets will take on Cannon School (8-3) on Friday and Grimsley (2-1) on Saturday.

Cuthbertson     11   13   13   11    — 48

Salisbury          22    29   24   9    — 84

SALISBURY — Harris 41, Taylor 13, Ross 7, Walker 6, Geter 5, Dalton 4, House 3, Davis 3, Webb 2.

•••

SPENCER — West Rowan put it all together and hammered North Rowan with surprising ease in Wednesday’s non-conference matchup.

West was favored, but no one really saw 71-41 coming. West had been completely humbled by strong 4A Lake Norman on Tuesday.

“Well, we got Evan Kennedy back from illness and that makes a difference for us,” West coach Dadrian Cuthbertson said. “And we had a good night. This is the best we’ve played together all season, and that includes practice.”

Elijah Holmes had one of the best games of his career for the Falcons (3-1) and scored 19 points. He was averaging about 9, so that was a boost.

Will Givens made three 3-pointers and scored 10. Josiah Young scored a season-high nine. Kennedy, Holmes and Brant Graham made one 3-pointer each.

“And we played good defense,” Cuthbertson said. “We held them to one shot.”

Amir Alexander scored 14 points, but North (2-2) never got much going. Carter Williams and Jayden Polk have had big games, but they were quiet, and George Maxwell sustained an injury on Tuesday’s win against Albemarle. The result was a 41-point night for a team that already has put a 92 and an 87 in the scorebook.

“Absolutely nothing fell,” North coach Jason Causby said. “We missed layups, we missed mid-range and we missed 3-pointers. We traveled, we threw the ball out of bounds and we threw the ball to West. We were really bad. And that’s not to take anything away from West. They played hard and they made all the right plays. They’re a good team, a well-coached team.”

West    21    22    12    16  — 71

North   11     10      6   14    — 41

WEST — Holmes 19, Givens 10, Kennedy 9, Young 9, Graham 7, Hairston 6, Norman 5, Martin 4, Walker 2.

NORTH — Alexander 14, Morrow 5, Williams 5, Alford 4, Polk 4, Charleston 4, Tarver 3, Mosley 2.

•••

KANNAPOLIS – A.L. Brown demolished CATA 93-30 in a non-conference game played on Wednesday.

Caleb Ford scored 16 points to lead the Wonders (4-1), while Nazir Reaves had 15.

Derick Brazil (14), Ryan Lockett (13) and Ter’ryan Brewer (11) also were in double figures.