Staff report

LANDIS — Dalton Young scored 22 points for South Rowan on Thursday, his fifth effort of at least 20 this season, but the Raiders lost again.

Lake Norman Charter overcame a brutal start and beat the Raiders 76-51 for a South Piedmont Conference victory.

South has lost 34 in a row dating back to last season, but got off to a terrific start at home, including three buckets by Young, and led 10-2 before Lake Norman Charter got settled in.

There was a ray of hope in those early minutes, but the Knights started to get untracked late in the first quarter. South needed a Zion Jackson 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 13-9 lead.

Lake Norman Charter (7-7, 3-4) had a different energy level in the second quarter and quickly tied the game on a four-point play by Braden Wilkie, who was fouled as he buried a 3-pointer from the right corner. It was a momentum-changing shot, and Wilkie cheerfully let South fans know it.

Wilkie and Colin McConneyhead combined for 20 points in the second quarter, the Knights put 32 points in the scorebook, and South, after such a promising start, was staring at a 41-28 hole at halftime.

“We’ve got to learn to counter when a team starts a run,” South coach Daniel Blevins said. “We’re building. If we can put an entire game together, we could be a solid basketball team.”

It quickly got worse for the home team, as Lake Norman Charter opened the second half with two fast-break buckets to stretch the lead to 17.

McConneyhead threw down a dunk as the Knights pushed their lead to 20 points. They led by 24 after three quarters, got everyone into the game and were content to trade buckets in the fourth.

Thirteen Knights scored, with Wilkie leading the way with 20.

Jadon Moore scored nine for the Raiders (0-12, 0-6).

In addition to Jackson’s first-quarter buzzer-beater, Moore, Young, Drew Blackwell and Carter Rohletter made 3-pointers for South.

LN Charter      9      32      21     14    — 76

South Rowan   13     15      10     13    — 51

LN CHARTER — Wilkie 20, McConneyhead 11, Morgan 8, Augier 7, Leak 6, Smith 6, Kuhn 4, Irelan 4, Church 3, Virgilio 2, Ruthsom 2, Propst 2, Johnson 1.

SOUTH — Young 22, Moore 9, Jackson 5, Jones 4, Carey 4, Blackwell 3, Rohletter 3, Overcash 1.