From staff reports

Tuesday games …

CHINA GROVE — Carson won back-to-back for the first time this season, as the Cougars beat South Rowan 57-51 in overtime.

“It was Senior Night and all our seniors played really well,” Carson coach Chloe Monroe said. “Allie Martin had a great game.”

Carson (6-17, 4-11) moved up to a tie for sixth in the SPC standings with South Rowan (7-14, 4-11) and Concord. Carson lost 40-31 at South. Those three teams have all split with each other. All three will be underdogs on Friday.

Martin scored 19 points, including all 10 of the Cougars’ points in overtime. She was 8-for-8 on some pressure-packed free throws in the OT session.

Rylee Hedrick had three buckets in the first quarter as Carson took the lead and finished with 14. Hedrick has scored in double figures six straight games.

Julia Burleson added 10, including a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Carson also got points from seniors Brooklyn McBride, Miley Benfield and Laila Furr.

Carson led 24-19 at the half and took an eight-point lead to the fourth quarter. That’s when Ella Morgan led a South comeback. South outscored Carson 19-10 in the fourth quarter to get the game to overtime.

“We just didn’t hit shots consistently and Carson fought really hard,” South coach Alex Allen said. “We finally caught up to them in the fourth quarter, but we didn’t get the outcome we wanted.”

Kynlee Dextraze led the Raiders with 16 points. Morgan made three 3-pointers and scored 13, while Meghan Eagle had nine points. Danica Krieg and Avery Fisher had key buckets during South’s fourth-quarter comeback.

Carson wraps the regular season at Northwest Cabarrus on Friday. South will play its Senior Night game on Friday against Lake Norman Charter.

South Rowan    11     8    9     19      4   — 51

Carson               15    9     13   10     10   — 57

South  Rowan — Dextraze 16, Morgan 13, Eagle 9, Krieg 7, Fisher 6.

Carson — Martin 19, Hedrick 14, Burleson 10, McBride 4, Snow 3, Furr 3, Guiton 2, Benfield 2.

•••

MOUNT ULLA — East Rowan scored 20 points in the first quarter to build a nice lead and rolled 70-42 at West Rowan for another South Piedmont Conference victory.

East was in charge 36-17 at halftime.

East has mostly seniors, while West has mostly freshmen, and experience means a lot.

The Mustangs (19-4, 11-4) were 2-2 early in the season, with disappointing home losses to Northwest Cabarrus (in OT) and Central Cabarrus, but East, coached by Bri Evans, has won five in a row and 17 of its last 19 games.

Mary Church scored 21 points, her ninth game with 20-plus this season, and boosted her career total to 980.

Kady Colins also had 21. She was in double figures for the seventh straight game.

Sadie Featherstone scored nine, Savannah Wise contributed seven, while Isis Smith scored six.

Friday’s Senior Night will be emotional and challenging for the Mustangs, as they take on Robinson. The Bulldogs are undefeated in the SPC.

It won’t be the last home game for East’s seniors, as they’ll host a first-round SPC Tournament game next week, with Concord, Carson or South Rowan providing the opposition.

West (1-21, 0-16) played its best in the third quarter when the Falcons put up 16 points.

Jamiela Allen and Jayden Carter scored 10 each for West. Sydney Smith added nine.

West will finish the season Wednesday at home against North Rowan in a non-conference matchup. West won’t be in the SPC Tournament.

East Rowan   20    16   18    16   — 70

West Rowan   8     9     16    9     — 42

East Rowan — Church 21, Collins 21, Featherstone 9, Wise 7, I. Smith 6, Kluttz 3, Stepp 2, Alderman 2.

West Rowan — Allen 10, Carter 10, S. Smith 9, Hoffner 4, Clawson 3, Sherrill 2, Everhart 2, Hurd 2.

•••

SPENCER — Lexington finished off an unbeaten regular season in the Central Carolina Conference with a 74-42 win at North Rowan.

Lily Ervin, a 1,o00-point scorer, poured in 28 points for the Yellow Jackets (18-4, 10-0), who claimed a conference regular-season championship for the first time in program history. Makayla Bobo scored 26.

The Yellow Jackets finished a sweep. They beat North 72-45 recently in Lexington.

It was Senior Night for the Cavaliers (4-16, 2-7). Seniors Dasia Elder, Krisstyle Stockton and Allanah McArthur hit the boards hard, but North couldn’t keep pace with the Yellow Jackets.

Elder led North with 18 points and six rebounds, but the Cavaliers lost their sixth in a row.

North will be in the 1A state playoffs.

North finishes the regular season with games at West Rowan (Wednesday) and Salisbury (Friday).