Staff report

KERNERSVILLE — North Rowan point guard Emari Russell played the best game of his high school career, but it also was his last.

Russell’s 41-point effort wasn’t enough to stop top-seeded Bishop McGuinness. The Villains beat the ninth-seeded Cavaliers 90-76 in Tuesday’s third-round contest in the 1A West bracket.

The Villains (27-2) beat North on the boards and was efficient on offense with an enormous number of free throws, layups and stick-backs. Points came much tougher for North, which relied on Russell making pull-up jumpers or beating his defender to get to the rim for acrobatic finishes or trips to the foul line.

North’s Dyzarious Carpenter had scored 40 in Round 2, so the Villains’ defensive game plan was to take him away. They were able to limit Carpenter to 12 points on a low-percentage night. He didn’t get anything easy. He made a couple of shots from 25 feet.

Carter Williams added 11 hard-working points for North (18-11) with layups and free throws.

Russell scored 11 in the first quarter to keep North close. Carpenter made North’s first 3-pointer late in the quarter. McGuinness led 26-20 after one.

McGuinness had some 11-point leads in the second quarter, but North didn’t go away. The Villians led 44-35 at the half.

In the third quarter, with the Villains scoring almost at will inside, North appeared to be fading. North trailed 60-43 when a three-point play by Russell energized the Cavaliers. They cut their deficit to eight with a Jeremiah Alford 3-pointer and trailed 67-57 going to the final eight minutes.

North got as close as 69-63 with six minutes left, but McGuinness responded with super basketball down the stretch, pushing its lead to 19 points before Russell got his last five late.

Russell scored 15 of North’s 19 in the fourth quarter.

Thomas Thompson (24), Nicholas Graves (22) and Alex Waterfield (21) led the scoring for the Villains.

North Rowan    20   15    22   19   — 76

McGuinness     26    18    23    23   — 90

NORTH scoring — Russell 41, D. Carpenter 12, Williams 11, Polk 5, Feamster 4, J. Alford 3.