From staff reports

Tuesday playoff games …

SPENCER — North Rowan was clicking and wrecked North Stokes 87-59 in a first-round 1A West game.

“We played really well,” North head coach Jason Causby said. “Our defense overwhelmed them at times and we had lots of lob dunks from Emari (Russell) to Dyzarious (Carpenter). North Stokes played hard, but our athleticism and depth wore them down eventually.”

Carpenter tied his career high with 31 points for the ninth-seeded Cavaliers (17-10). He scored 13 in the first quarter.

Carter Williams had a huge game with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Russell scored 16, along with 10 assists and seven steals. JP Polk scored 10. Jo Jo Tarver had six assists.

Gannon Dunn scored 21 for 24th-seeded North Stokes (14-13).

The Cavaliers took charge with a 26-point first quarter and led 43-32 at halftime.

North will play Friday at No. 8 seed Thomas Jefferson.

North Stokes   14    18    12    15   — 59

North Rowan  26    17    21    23   — 87

NORTH ROWAN scoring — D. Carpenter 31, Williams 19, Russell 16, Polk 10, Brown 3, K. Carpenter 3, Feamster 2, Tarver 2, Sullivan 1.

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SALISBURY — Salisbury didn’t shoot well in the first round of the state playoffs — the Hornets’ point total was their lowest since an early-season loss to Bishop McGuinness — but Salisbury made up for it with suffocating defense.

The Hornets beat Morehead 65-34 in the 4 vs. 29 matchup in the 2A West bracket.

Myles Smith got things started with a 3-point play and smashed two early dunks after steals. He finished with 22 points.

Salisbury (24-3) had a flurry late in the first quarter and got 3-pointers from Braylon Taylor, Tre Davis and Bryce Dalton to transform a 9-6 lead into 18-6.

Macari House heated up in the second quarter, and the Hornets led 35-15 at the half.

Salisbury struggled offensively in the third quarter, but held Morehead (11-16) to four points in the period and pulled away to win big. The Hornets have won 23 in a row.

Smith got scoring help from House (14) and Taylor (13).

Next for the Hornets will be a visit from 13th-seeded Pine Lake Prep on Friday. Pine Lake Prep beat Lexington by 15 in the first round.

Morehead    6    9    4    15   — 34

Salisbury     18  17   9    21   — 65

SHS scoring — M. Smith 22, House 14, Taylor 13, B. Smith 6, Davis 4, Webb 3, Dalton 3,

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GREENSBORO – Carson’s season ended with as 88-67 loss at Ben L. Smith.

Ben L. Smith was third in the 3A West RPI rankings, but ended up as the 11 seed because it didn’t win its conference and had to be seeded behind all the conference champs, even the conference champs from the split leagues.

So it was a lousy draw for the Cougars. Nothing they could do about it. No. 22 plays No. 11 in the bracket, so the Cougars headed to Greensboro. Carson (17-10) wasn’t far from getting a much more favorable seed, but the Cougars lost three overtime games this season.

Carson took its lumps in Greensboro. Smith is a 4A-ish looking squad as far as size and speed. When Carson got down 45-30 at halftime, there wasn’t any serious chance for a comeback.

“We played Smith in the summer and scrimmaged them in November,” Carson head coach Brian Perry said. “We knew then they had to be one of the favorites in 3A. They made eight 3-pointers in the first half, and if they can shoot the ball like that, they’ll be hard for anyone to beat.”

Carson didn’t play badly. The Cougars made 12 3-pointers, but that was only one more than Smith made. As far as the unscheduled dunk contest that broke out, Smith’s Golden Eagles won that handily.

“Even down 15 at halftime, we thought we could get back in it, but we never could make a run,” Perry said. “They were just so much bigger than us.”

Carson senior Jonah Drye finished his career with 992 points. He needed one more game for 1,000. If Carson had been able to advance to the finals of the South Piedmont Conference tournament or to the second round of the playoffs, he would have reached the milestone.

Drye scored 17. He made four 3s, including one late in the game on the last shot of his high school career.

CP Perry also scored 17, although fouls limited his minutes. Jacob Mills scored 10, Maverick Walters had nine, and Drew Neve got seven.

Walters got his points from the 3-point line. Mills and Perry made two 3s each. Corbin Hales, one of the two Carson seniors, hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter.

Smith (24-3) was led by Jyi Dawkins with 26 points. Kendrick Johnson did some serious damage from deep, getting all of his 18 points from the 3-point line.

Carson                 12    18     17   20   — 67

Ben L. Smith      23    22    22   21   — 88

Carson — Perry 17, Drye 17, Mills 10, Walters 9, Neve 7, Martin 4, Hales 3.

Ben L. Smith — Dawkins 26, Johnson 18, Payne 13, Miller 12, Cowan 8, Palmore 6, Mann 2, Scott 2, Faison 1.