Staff report

LEXINGTON — North Rowan’s girls basketball team beat Lexington for the third time on Thursday.

A 59-41 win on Lexington’s home floor in a semifinal game in the 1A/2A Central Carolina Conference Tournament put the Cavaliers in tonight’s championship game against Salisbury.

As expected, third-seeded Lexington (13-13) put up a fight and stayed with the Cavaliers in the first half.

Second-seeded North Rowan (18-7) got separation with a strong defensive third quarter. Brittany Ellis scored eight of her 15 points in the quarter and personally outscored the Yellow Jackets.

Bailee Goodlett scored 25 for the Cavaliers, continuing one of the top 10 scoring seasons in history for Rowan girls. She scored 11 in the first quarter to give North a 14-11 lead.

Bloom Goodlett, Chloee Stoner and Dasia Elder combined for another 20 points for the Cavaliers.

Jadyiah Peoples scored 17 for Lexington. Lily Ervin had 15.

No. 9 in the 1A West RPI rankings, North will take on top-seeded Salisbury tonight at Lexington at 6 p.m. in the championship game.

Lexington is safely in the 2A playoffs. The Yellow Jackets are 20th in the 2A West RPI rankings.

Lexington          11   11     7    12    — 41

North Rowan   14    12   19   14   — 59

North — Bailee Goodlett 25, Ellis 15, Bloom Goodlett 7, D. Elder 6, Stoner 6.

•••

North Rowan’s boys lost to Thomasville 78-60 in a CCC tourney semifinal on Thursday.

North (12-14) is on the playoff bubble for 1A West. The Cavaliers were projected to be in the playoffs as of late Thursday night, as the No. 32 team in a 32-team bracket.

CCC co-champ and No. 2 seed Thomasville (22-4) is fourth in the 1A West RPI rankings. Playoff seeds and pairings will be announced on Saturday.

Third-seeded North lost to the Bulldogs for the third time. Thomasville has won in three different gyms. The closest game was a 57-52 decision in Spencer.

North got double figures from Amir Alexander (15), George Maxwell (14) and Dyzarious Carpenter (13). Jeremiah Alford added nine points.

After a close first quarter, the Bulldogs pushed to a 46-30 halftime lead.

North fought back to a 10-point deficit entering the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs finished strong.

Thomasville will play top-seeded Salisbury for the championship tonight at Lexington. The game tips at 7:30 p.m. The teams split in the regular season. Both won on their home court.

North Rowan   17    13    15   15   — 60

Thomasville    21     25    9     23   — 78

North — Alexander 15, Maxwell 14, Carpenter 13, Alford 9, Charleston 4, O’Kelly 2, McArthur 2, Polk 1.