From staff reports

MOUNT ULLA — Kayvone Norman, a pass-first point guard, had to score for West Rowan’s boys basketball team to win on Friday — and he did.

Norman’s career-best 20 points, included the game-deciding steal and layup with 2.3 seconds left. The Falcons beat Carson 64-62.

Norman was a helpful running back for the Falcons during the football season, playing the sport for the first time in many years.

“I think he’s just now shaking off the football and getting his basketball legs,” West coach Dadrian Cuthbertson said. “He made big plays tonight, got big buckets for us.”

West has shaken off a discouraging 0-5 start that included three losses in one-possession games.

The Falcons broke through for Cuthbertson’s first high school head-coaching win on Wednesday when they won big on the road at North Rowan.

Friday’s county win was even more important as it came in the South Piedmont Conference.

“Good conference win for us,” Cuthbertson said. “We were on the road so much early in the season, so it was good to get to play this one at home and we had a nice crowd. We needed to get this one.”

Carson did a good job of defending West’s high-scoring guard Will Givens Jr. Givens came in averaging 21 per game. Carson took the 3-point line away and held him to 12 points.

Athan Gill scored 17 for the Falcons (2-5, 1-1), including a massive dunk in the final minute that put the Falcons ahead 62-60.

Elijah Holmes and freshman Brant Graham combined for 13 critical points for West.

Adrian Stockton only scored two after getting 14 at North Rowan, but he was a factor.

“He had a lot of rebounds and a lot of steals and helped us get some big stops,” Cuthbertson said. “We also got some good minutes from Deiondre Martin.”

It was tight all the way. West led by two at halftime.

Carson made seven 3-pointers in the first half but only connected for two in the second half.

The 3-point line is critical for the Cougars, who made 16 long ones in Tuesday’s 57-54 loss at Concord.

Carson (3-3, 0-2) got a career-high 24 points from sophomore Colin Ball. Jonah Drye scored 12. BJ Howard had 10, while Mikey Beasley scored eight.

Carson  15   15   17   15   — 62

West     12  20   15   17  — 64

Carson — Ball 24, Drye 12, Howard 10, Beasley 8, McGruder 5, Taylor 3.

West — Norman 20, Gill 17, Givens 12, Holmes 7, Graham 6, Stockton 2.

•••

THOMASVILLE —  Co-champions of the Central Carolina Conference in 2021-22, Salisbury and Thomasville started conference play head-to-head with a tight matchup on Friday.

Thomasville (2-1) held serve at home, beating the Hornets 63-61 in a see-saw struggle.

Thomasville point guard Janhri Luckey made the critical plays at the end for the Bulldogs, making a tough floater and a penetrating dish for a layup for two-point leads.

Juke Harris (4-2) scored 26 for the Hornets, but the absence of Dashawn Brown was keenly felt on the boards. There were a lot of rebounds that Brown would’ve gotten that were grabbed by the Bulldogs.

With Thomasville leading by one late, Salisbury tried to foul several times, but the whistle didn’t blow until there were only 3.4 seconds left. Thomasville missed the one-and-one free throw, but the Hornets were unable to secure the rebound.

Hank Webb scored 10 for the Hornets. Mike Geter was able to convert some steals into eight points.

Salisbury scoring — Harris 26, Webb 10, Geter 8, Walker 5, Dalton 4, Davis 4, Hairston 2.

•••

LANDIS — Northwest Cabarrus jumped on South Rowan early and took an 82-46 South Piedmont Conference victory.

“They came out shooting hot and we came out cold,” South coach Daniel Blevins said. “It got away from us.”

South was down 22-6 after a quarter and trailed 50-19 at halftime.

The Raiders played much better in the second half.

“Lost the first half by 31 and lost the second half by five,” Blevins said. “We’re young and we’re turning it over too much, and we don’t get into a rhythm as quickly as the more experienced teams. But we fought in the second half and we got better.”

Dalton Young scored 12 for the Raiders (1-6, 0-2). South’s win came on opening night against West Iredell.

Aaron Jones and Bronson Hunt scored nine each.

Northwest is 3-3 and 2-0 in the SPC.

NW Cabarrus   22   28   13   19  — 82

S. Rowan            6      13   13   14   — 46

South scoring — Young 12, Hunt 9, Jones 9, Anderson 7, Blackwell 2, Ballard 2, Cromer 2, Carey 2, Saine 1.

•••

DENTON — North Rowan opened Central Carolina Conference play successfully with a 79-65 win at South Davidson.

It wasn’t an easy one for the Cavaliers (3-3, 1-0), as guard Tanner Delattre scored 29 points and kept the Wildcats (1-4, 0-1) in the game a long time. He made three 3-pointers and was 10-for-12 from the foul line.

North’s scoring was led by young guys — freshman Jojo Tarver and sophomore Jeremiah Alford scored 16 apiece.

Jayden Polk, a sophomore, scored 15. Junior Jaemias Morrow added 10.

North led 34-30 at halftime, but got some separation in the third quarter when Tarver and Polk made two 3-pointers each.

North forced 23 turnovers.

North    12   22   26   19  — 79

SD         14   16    21     14  — 65

North — Alford 16, Tarver 16, Polk 15, Morrow 10, McArthur 8, Charleston 8, Smith 3, Strickland 3.

SD — Delattre 29, Davis 12, Coble 6, Walters 6, Allen 6, Shively 4, Byerly 2.

•••

CONCORD — James Smith poured in 36 points to lead Concord to a 75-59 win against East Rowan in South Piedmont Conference action.

“We did a good job on everybody else,” East coach Andrew Porter said. “But Smith was on fire and he killed us.”

The Mustangs (1-4, 0-2) started slow, dug a hole and never got all the way out.

“We couldn’t get enough stops to ever make a run,” Porter said. “Played with effort, but couldn’t get over the hump after we got down early. We’ve got to put four good quarters together.”

Tee Harris was strong again for the Mustangs, accounting for 23 points and 10 rebounds. He’s topped 30 points twice this season and is averaging 24.4 points per game.

Dylan Valley added 12 for the Mustangs.

Concord, which opened with a tight win against Carson, is 4-3 and 2-0 in the SPC.

East              10   17   19   13  — 59

Concord       28   16  16   15   — 75

East scoring — Harris 23, Valley 12, Everhart 8, Lee 6, Danzine 5, Sprinkle 3, Haynes 1, Wemboula 1.

•••

CONCORD — Central Cabarrus crushed Lake Norman Charter 101-52 in South Piedmont Conference action on Friday.

The Vikings (7-0, 2-0) put five in double figures, shot 57 percent and made half their 3-point attempts.

Gavin Bullock scored 19, while Jaiden Thompson had 18.

Lake Norman Charter (3-3, 1-1) was down 49-23 at halftime.