Staff report

KANNAPOLIS — In the second quarter, A.L. Brown’s  Caleb Ford stared at an open 3-pointer for a moment, shrugged and casually banked in a bomb from the left wing.

The Wonders didn’t miss much in the first three quarters on Friday at Bullock Gym, and they easily beat South Rowan 91-66 in the opener for both teams.

Ford made a 3-pointer from straight on, just a few seconds into the game, and the Wonders led all the way.

The Wonders were quite a bit quicker and quite a bit bigger than the Raiders. With the Wonders also shooting the ball better, the visitors got in a deep hole quickly.

It was 16-5  before South settled in, 25-9 after a quarter, and 51-26 at halftime.

Ford enjoyed a sizzling second quarter during which he scored 16 of his 23 points, mostly from the left wing.

Even with 23, Ford didn’t lead coach Jonathan Efird’s Wonders. Nazir Reaves, a bouncy 6-foot-5 forward with multi-hued shoes, scored 24, including a dozen in the first quarter to get the Wonders rolling.

“We competed,” South coach Daniel Blevins said. “But they were shooting the ball about as well as a team can shoot it.”

The Wonders made 11 3-pointers, with only one of those coming in a loose and carefree fourth quarter.

While it was a loss, and there’s some work to do on defense, South displayed more firepower than it had at any point last season.

Dalton Young got to the rim at will in the fourth quarter.That’s when he scored 14 of his team-high 21.

Newcomer Maverick Ball showed a fearlessly aggressive offensive game, got to the foul line quite a bit and scored 14.

Carter Rohletter made two 3-pointers in the third quarter. Nine different Raiders scored.

While the Wonders held a secure 72-42 lead after three quarters, South didn’t let this one venture toward running-clock territory. Instead the Raiders opened the fourth quarter with a spree that cut the deficit to 21.

The only downside for the Raiders was an apparent injury to Jadon Moore early in the fourth quarter. Moore was down for a while, but he was able to walk off the court.

South Rowan     9     17    16    24   — 66

A.L. Brown        25   26    21    19   — 91

South — Young 21, Ball 14, Jackson 6, Rohletter 6, Ritchie 5, Carey 5, Moore 5, Jones 2, Blackwell 2.

A.L. Brown — Reaves 24, Ford 23, Adams 15, Bennerman 7, Ross 6, Hancock 5, Brewer 5, Stevenson