Staff report

LANDIS — North Rowan’s boys suited up 13 on Thursday, and there was nothing unlucky about it.

All 13 scored in a breezy 80-38 victory at South Rowan.

“We played hard again and we shot it a lot better than we did against East Rowan on Wednesday,” North head coach Jason Causby said. “We got some of our football guys like Kemon O’Kelly and Jae’mias Morrow going a little bit.”

The Cavaliers (4-0) are off to a strong start and have won against three county opponents.

The victory was the 231st as a Rowan County head boys basketball coach for Causby. That tied him for fifth place on the county’s all-time list with the late Walt Baker, North’s first head coach and a Salisbury-Rowan Hall of Famer.  Ahead of Causby are four more Hall of Famers — Bob Pharr (252), Sam Gealy (266), Bob Hundley (274) and Mike Gurley (439).

South (0-5) hung with North for a quarter and was only down 17-13.

North had a second-quarter spurt to grab a 39-23 halftime lead.

North’s depth wore out the Raiders in the third quarter, a period in which the Cavaliers outscored the home team 24-6.

“We went way too long without scoring in the third quarter,” South head coach Daniel Blevins said. “It did not go well.”

Marcus Holloman scored 14 to pace South. Max Bradshaw added six.

Senior Derrick Hanson led North with 14 points, his fourth straight game in double figures. He’s averaging 13.5 points.

Sophomore Amir Alexander scored 13 and accounted for half of North’s six 3-pointers.

O’Kelly, an athletic junior wing, provided a career-best 11 points.

George Maxwell, Jalen Smith and Naz Stinson knocked down 3-pointers.

“George played his best game,” Causby said. “So did Pharrell Hailey. Hailey’s rebounding has been a key to our good start.”

Quashawn Carpenter, often North’s scoring leader, only scored two points. He and Amari McArthur (four points) didn’t have to play a lot, and they watched some reserves shine.

North didn’t shoot free throws well. Other than that, it was a solid performance.

“We were really unselfish,” Causby said. “Anytime everyone scores, it’s a good night.”

North     17     22    24    17   — 80

South      13    10     6     9    — 38

NORTH SCORING — Hanson 14, Alexander 13, O’Kelly 11, Maxwell 9, D. Carpenter 6, Hailey 6, Blakeney 4, McArthur 4, Morrow 3, Stinson 3, Smith 3, Whitney 2, Q. Carpenter 2.

SOUTH SCORING — Holloman 14, Bradshaw 6, Pozyck 5, Jones 5, Young 4, Moore 4.