Staff report

THOMASVILLE — Salisbury experienced a pretty dismal outside shooting night on Wednesday — but still won easily, thumping rival North Rowan 84-56 in a Central Carolina Conference Tournament semifinal played on a neutral floor in the Thomasville gym.

Salisbury’s defensive effort proved critical on a cold-shooting night. The Hornets had large edges in the turnover and rebounding battles. Those numbers neutralized a bricklaying night from the 3-point line.

The top-seeded Hornets (22-3) beat fourth-seeded North (14-12) for the eighth straight time. Salisbury didn’t play North in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, but Salisbury’s current senior class went 7-0 against the Cavaliers.

Juke Harris scored 32 in his final game against North, with 23 coming in the first half. Harris shot 12-for-22 with two 3-pointers. His misses were almost all on 3-point attempts, When he got his hands on the ball in the paint, he scored.

Harris had nine rebounds and four steals. He only had two assists, but he made other sharp passes that were mishandled or fumbled. He had two scintillating dunks, one a left-handed rebound slam and one on a fast-break lob from Mike Geter in the third quarter. Harris got a little overly exuberant after that one and earned a technical. He redeemed himself by swishing a corner 3-pointer on Salisbury’s next possession.

Bryce Dalton made three 3-pointers and scored 11. Dashawn Brown had a really solid game on defense and  on the boards and contributed nine points.

What went wrong for North? Well, a lot.

George Maxwell was good. As he almost does, he drilled jumpers and scored 19. Dyzarious Carpenter, a long, lean scorer, had a strong night with 16. He concluded the scoring with a two-handed flush. But Amir Alexander had a quiet evening and Jayden Polk didn’t play much.

Salisbury struggled to get energized offensively, and it was 12-all after five minutes. North had several chances to take the lead, but didn’t. Then Harris connected for three straight paint buckets, plus a free throw. Salisbury led 19-14 after a quarter.

It was 26-18 when Harris was bumped as he made a deep 3-pointer from straight on. He cashed in the free throw, and the Hornets’ lead swelled to 30-18.

The Hornets led 39-26 at the break.

Dalton made two 3-pointers in the third quarter, as the Hornets pushed their lead into the 20s.

When Deuce Walker started the fourth quarter with a personal 4-0 run, the lead jumped to 25.

Harris’ final bucket of the night made it 70-42, and he and several starters sat down with a lot of time left.

Thomasville smacked Lexington 84-64 in Thursday’s semifinal and will play Salisbury in the 7:30 p.m. final at Thomasville on Friday.

North will be in the 1A playoffs, so the Cavaliers still have a chance to make it a special season.

North Rowan     14    12    15    15    — 56

Salisbury             19   20    22   23    — 84

NORTH — Maxwell 19, Carpenter 16, Tarver 8, Alexander 4, Charleston 4, Alford 2, Feamster 2, Brown 1.

SALISBURY — Harris 32, Dalton 11, D. Brown 9, Geter 6, House 6, Matthews 6, Walker 5, Taylor 5, Davis 2, Webb 2