From staff reports

Friday games …

SALISBURY — North Rowan had lost seven in a row, but the short trip to Salisbury as a Senior Night guest brought out the best in the Cavaliers, who played their strongest game in weeks.

Two 12-point losses to the Hornets in earlier meetings didn’t faze the Cavaliers. They won the third one, the last one, so they’ll have bragging rights for about 10 months.

North (5-17, 3-7) got the big stops at the end and won a 58-57 Central Carolina Conference thriller. Dasia Elder scored 20 for the Cavaliers, while Krisstyle Stockton had 19 points and nine rebounds. Za’Kiya Oglesby-Peck had one of her best games with 10 points and nine boards.

Salisbury (12-9, 6-4) led 18-10 after a quarter, but North dominated the second quarter 16-2 to take a 26-20 halftime lead.

Keaira Spruill’s 10-point third quarter got the Hornets back in the fight. Gabbi Fatovic made three buckets in the fourth quarter.

Salisbury took a 57-56 lead with two minutes left on Mariana Zapata’s 3-pointer, but the Hornets didn’t score again.

North survived a career game by Spruill, who scored 19 points. Fatovic and Torese Evans scored 13 each.

The CCC tournament has been shortened to a top-four affair because of weather concerns for later in the week. That left out North Rowan, the fifth-place team, but the Cavaliers will be in the 1A state playoffs.

Salisbury is seeded third and will play second-seeded West Davidson in Lexington in a Monday tourney semifinal.

North Rowan    10    16    21   11   — 58

Salisbury           18     2     22   15   — 57

North — Elder 20, Stockton 19, Oglesby-Peck 10, McArthur 3, Cowan 3, King 2, Conner 1.

Salisbury — Spruill 19, Evans 13, Fatovic 13, Zapata 9, Myers 2, Fomond 1.

•••

CONCORD — Carson came close to upsetting Northwest Cabarrus.

The Trojans pulled out a 49-47 South Piedmont Conference victory but only after the Cougars pushed them hard.

Rylee Hedrick’s shooting kept Carson in the game in the early going. She made three 3-pointers in the first quarter. Carson cooled off in the second quarter and the Trojans (19-4, 14-2) were able to take a 28-22 lead to the break.

When Natalia Bonanno tossed in a difficult shot with 4:22 left in the third quarter, the Trojans led by 17 at 39-22 and appeared headed for a routine victory. Carson went five minutes without scoring, but a 3-pointer by Julia Burleson got the Cougars re-energized. Allie Martin passed to Burleson for a layup and 3s by Hedrick and Burleson gave the Cougars an 11-0 run. When Emily Guiton was fouled with 1.8 seconds left in the quarter and made the free throws, Carson trailed 39-35.

Hedrick made her fifth 3-pointer to cut Northwest’s lead to 47-44 with 1:23 left. Burleson’s third 3-pointer tied the game at 47-all with 40 seconds left.

Carson (6-18, 4-12) was called for a foul — it was a debatable whistle — on a drive by Ava Ibanez with 29 seconds left. Ibanez made a free throw that proved decisive. She split two more free throws with 8.5 seconds left for a 49-47 Northwest lead and the outcome rested on Carson’s final possession.

The Cougars couldn’t get a good shot. Martin had to put up a long 3, straightaway but almost from the volleyball line with time running out. The shot was on line but well short, so the Cougars had to settle for putting a scare in the Trojans.

Hedrick scored 19, while Burleson had 15.

Mackenzie Ortscheid carried Northwest with 26 points. She made two 3-pointers, but mostly she killed the Cougars with layups that resulted from offensive rebounds or by moving without the ball.

Northwest is seeded second and Carson drew the 7 seed, so the teams will play again Monday at Northwest in the first round of the SPC Tournament.

Carson               15    7    13   12    —   47

NW Cabarrus    17    11  11    10    — 49

Carson — Hedrick 19, Burleson 15, Martin 5, Furr 4, McBride 2, Guiton 2.

NW Cabarrus — Ortscheid 26, Bonanno 7, Furner 6, Woolfolk 5, Ibanez 5.

•••

LANDIS — South Rowan’s spirited Senior Night effort came up short in a 61-52 loss to Lake Norman Charter.

South did a good job of getting the ball inside to Kynlee Dextraze. She responded with some buckets and frequent trips to the foul line. She scored 20 with half of them coming from the charity stripe.

Avery Fisher got blazing hot in the fourth quarter and got 10 of her 13 points for the Raiders (7-14, 4-12) down the stretch.

Reece Long was the key person for Lake Norman Charter (14-8, 10-6). She scored 26 points on 11-for-22 shooting and had 14 rebounds. Abby Courtney had 15 points and seven assists for the Knights. who finished fourth in the South Piedmont Conference.

South got the great start it needed. When Dextraze dumped a pass to McKenzie Menius for a layup, the Raiders led 8-2. They shut out Long in the first quarter and led 10-6 at the end of it.

Long scored 12 in the second quarter as Lake Norman Charter took a 23-20 halftime lead.

Marjah White hit a 3-pointer in the third quarter to pull South into a 35-all tie. Lake Norman Charter led 41-37 heading to the fourth, but South tied it at 43 early in the fourth when Dextraze passed to a cutting Fisher for a layup.

The game swung the visitors’ way at the 5:22 mark. Lake Norman Charter missed a breakaway layup, and South’s Meghan Eagle took an elbow to the face in the battle for the rebound. She wasn’t happy about it and responded with a forceful shove. A technical foul was called. Long went to the foul line and put LNC ahead to stay with free throws.

Fisher made a 3-pointer to get South within two at 48-46, but the Knights scored the next seven points to put the Raiders away.

Lake Norman Charter will host Central Cabarrus in the 4-5 game on Monday.

South tied for sixth with Carson and Concord and drew the 8 seed. That means a trip to No. 1 Robinson on Monday.

LN Charter    6    17   18   21   — 61

South Rowan  10 10   17  15   — 52

SOUTH scoring — Dextraze 20, Fisher 13, Eagle 5, White 5, Pharr 4, Krieg 3, Menius 2.

•••

GRANITE QUARRY — Robinson finished off a perfect regular season in the South Piedmont Conference by beating East Rowan 64-47.

No one’s had an answer for Robinson’s 6-foot-3 guard Camri Hobbs all season, and the Mustangs didn’t, either. She scored 29 to lead the Bulldogs (20-4, 16-0). She went 11-for-12 at the foul line.

Playing hard on Senior Night, the Mustangs held Robinson to 38-percent shooting from the field, but the Bulldogs made 22 free throws.

East missed 12 free throws. That hurt.

Mary Church scored 13 for the Mustangs (19-5, 11-5) to bump her career total to 993. Kady Collins had 11.

Robinson beat East 59-52 in January.

Robinson — Hobbs 29, Rucker 9, Chambers 9, Gray 8, Young 4, O’Neal 3, Winfield 1, Christopher 1.

East — Church 13, Collins 11, Stepp 5, Kluttz 5,  Smith 4, Featherstone 4, Marshall 3, Miller 2.