By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — A.L. Brown’s girls basketball team is 6-0.

Yes, it’s true that the six teams the Wonders have beaten are a combined 10-35.

Still, A.L. Brown head coach Kayla Crayton is understandably ecstatic to be 6-0 and is excited about being the top-seeded team in the girls bracket for the upcoming Dale’s Sporting Goods Sam Moir Christmas Classic.

“What does being 6-0 mean to us — I’d say it means the world,” said Crayton, a 2013 A.L. Brown grad who has some red-headed fire in her. “When you’re seeded No. 1, it puts a target on your back and everyone wants to beat you. We understand that, and that’s OK. Our girls were picked last by everyone in the preseason. Across the board they were picked last by everyone who made a prediction. So we’ll take 6-0.”

Many of the Wonders are seniors who went 3-20 as sophomores and 9-15 as juniors, so they are proud to be where they are right now. They’ve worked. They know they’ve got more work to do, but they’re ready to show they’re a good team.

The leading scorer for the Wonders is Sadie Faulkner, the point guard who averages 14.2 points per game.

“She is the hungriest player I’ve ever coached,” Crayton said. “We’ll practice two hours and then she’ll ask to stay and work on more things. This girl eats, breathes and sleeps basketball. She’ll text me at midnight. She’ll be watching film, and she’ll see something that she thinks can help the team get better.”

Senior Ayanni Flood averages 8.7 points and has had some double-doubles.

Jah’nae Stevens is a senior who didn’t play a lot last season, but she has made a big jump. She scored 20 points against Concord.

Trinity Robinson, a 5-foot-2 senior who was pretty far down the bench last season, has found her calling as a defensive stopper.

Other girls such as R’mani Bradley, Makenzie Goode-Roberts and Emily David have had their moments for Crayton, who knew she had been hired last spring, but wasn’t officially approved by the school board until July. She got a late start, but has made up for lost time with the help of some dedicated assistants.

The Wonders may show some rust at Catawba. They have not played since Dec. 8. That’s when they made the long charter bus trip to Purnell Swett. There was enough adversity on that adventure to last the whole season.

Mostly because of sickness, Crayton was the only one coach who could make the trip.

The game was close for a half.

“They had a big girl who was averaging about 26 points, but we made defensive adjustments and shut her down in the second half and won by 21,” Crayton said. “But it was an experience. We got there at 4 and found out we weren’t playing until 6. Then we played their team, we played their fans, and I’m pretty sure we played their refs, but we still won. We went to Cookout and got back home at about 2:30 in the morning. Then we all got up for a 9 a.m. breakfast with Santa. But it’s all been fun. I love this team. The girls have a completely different attitude about basketball than they did a few years ago.”

Crayton jokes that she used to watch TV at night, but now she only has time to scout high school basketball games on NFHS.

“I haven’t seen Salisbury (2A state champs in 2022 and 2023) yet, but I did see (defending 3A state champ) West Rowan’s game with Concord on Friday,” Crayton said. “I was helping (head coach Mark Hogan) with our team two years ago when they played two games in the Christmas tournament (losses to Carson and South Rowan), so I know how good teams like West Rowan and Salisbury are. I know what the tournament atmosphere is like.”

Crayton knows there are likely to be some tough nights later this winter in the Greater Metro Conference against powerhouse teams such as Lake Norman and Hickory Ridge, but the young special education teacher is determined that even the losses are going to be positive learning experiences for her team. They’re going to make some memories.

The Moir Classic, which will be played in Catawba College’s Goodman Arena — Goodman Gym became Goodman Arena somewhere along the way — takes place on Dec. 28-30. It’s an all-day affair, eight girls teams and eight boys teams, basically 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the 28th and 29th. On the 30th, only four games are scheduled, starting at 3 p.m., as the top teams vie for third place and the championship trophies.

Daily admission is $10. Three-day tournament passes will be on sale for $25.

Both Salisbury teams were involved in pre-holiday tournaments, which delayed finalizing pairings.

Salisbury’s girls beat West Charlotte 63-54 on Friday to finalize the girls bracket. Girls seeds are (1) A.L. Brown, (2) West Rowan, (3) Central Davidson, (4) North Rowan, (5) Salisbury, (6) East Rowan, (7) South Rowan and (8) Carson. The tournament will tip off with the Central Davidson girls playing East Rowan.

The Christmas tournament at Catawba debuted in 1971. From the beginning, teams were seeded based on pre-Christmas records.

Seeding by records is a totally transparent way of lining up the teams. You don’t have to worry about how good or how bad you think the teams are. A committee doesn’t have to debate strength of schedule. There’s zero politics. You just seed them based on their records.  Anyone can do it. And then you play.

If teams have the same record, head-to-head meetings can be used as a tiebreaker. If head-to-head isn’t applicable, coins have been flipped to break ties. .

The tournament is run by a combined effort of the ADs of Rowan County.

Both West Rowan teams won championships in a five-school tournament in 2022.

The Moir tournament is back to full strength this year — and then some — with Salisbury and A.L. Brown returning to the court, and with Central Davidson added.

The Central Davidson teams have earned high seeds with their pre-Christmas play. The Central Davidson boys are undefeated (11-0) and are top-seeded.