By Bret Strelow

Salisbury Post

SPENCER — North Rowan staked claim to two of the three players who were bleeding as they exited the floor.

A home loss was painful in many ways for North’s boys.

The third-place Cavaliers fell 49-42 to fifth-place Central Davidson, which led by two points before Ben Frazier converted a three-point play with 2:04 remaining.

The Cavs (6-13, 6-4 CCC) didn’t score on the game’s final possession, but there was plenty of action. North’s Spencer Sheets drew contact on a 3-point attempt and ended up with a deep cut on top of his head. Central’s Joe Lanham, who contested Sheets’ shot, went down with a bloody lip. North’s Nick Smith suffered a bloody nose while fighting for an offensive rebound.

Missed shots put North in harm’s way. It went 3-for-16 on 3-pointers in the final three quarters and finished 16-for-48 from the field.

“It all comes down to putting the ball in the hole,” North coach Kelly Everhart said. “A lot of those shots we’ve been knocking down the past couple of games. For us to win a tight game, we have to make a few of those shots.”

North fell two games behind first-place Salisbury and stayed one game behind Ledford, which lost to Lexington.

The fourth-place Yellow Jackets are now a half-game behind North heading into a Friday matchup with West Davidson. The Cavs resume play Tuesday against the Green Dragons and finish with a game at Salisbury.

“Our goal is to get to the state playoffs, and we can still do that,” Everhart said. “We still control our destiny. We have to finish out the season and play as hard as we can these last two ballgames.”

Bryson Gaymon (14 points), Winslow Cherry (13 points, seven rebounds) and Daniel Griffith (12 points, nine rebounds) accounted for all but three of North’s points against Central, which led by 11 in the third quarter.

The Spartans (12-9, 4-5) owned a 39-30 advantage in the fourth quarter, but Gaymon responded with a 3-pointer and reverse layup. A putback by Cherry pulled North within two with 5:50 left, but it couldn’t capitalize completely on a Central scoreless streak that lasted more than three minutes.

“Everybody was trying to get their shots off,” Gaymon said. “They just weren’t working.”

North didn’t come close to making any of the three attempts that could have evened the contest.

“I think it was some frustration coming out on guys’ parts that they hadn’t made some shots,” Everhart said. “The game got close, and they wanted to be able to step up and finally make a shot to break that ice. It didn’t ever happen.”

A basket by Ben Renas gave Central a 41-37 lead, and Griffith followed with a jumper. The Spartans again went ahead by four before Cherry scored inside, but Frazier’s three-point play came 13 seconds later.

Central maintained a lead built by 3-point shooting — its seventh 3-pointer in 11 tries produced a 34-23 lead.

Nick Parsons hit a 3-pointer to end the first quarter, and Renas made another one to give the Spartans a 25-20 halftime lead. They had two 3-pointers and a three-point play during a 9-3 run to begin the third quarter.

“We’ve been shooting the ball well, especially with Nick and Ben,” Central coach Brian Hege said. “When Ben are Nick are both shooting the ball well, we’re really good.”

CENTRAL DAVIDSON (49) — Renas 11, Tysinger 11, Frazier 8, Parsons 7, Rivas 5, Davis 3, Kepley 3, Frank 1, Lanham.

NORTH ROWAN (42) — Gaymon 14, Cherry 13, Griffith 12, Kesler 3, Sheets, Walker, Burnett, N.Smith, Still.

C. Davidson 14 11 11 13 — 49

N. Rowan 13 7 10 12 — 42

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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com.