Staff report

ASHEBORO — Carson’s boys basketball team lost 72-70 at Asheboro on Tuesday in a wild first-round 3A playoff game.

A foul was whistled against the Cougars with 0.4 seconds left on the clock, and Asheboro’s Camden Walker calmly made the decisive free throws.

“Our guys fought like crazy, but fouls hurt us, and calls went against us in some big moments,” Carson coach Brian Perry said. “On the road, in the playoffs, it’s always going to be tough. Lots of adversity to overcome.”

Tenth-seeded Asheboro (23-3) also overcame adversity. Standout Jerquarius Stanback, a 6-foot-6 Appalachian State recruit, scored 25 points for the Comets, but was injured with 1:57 left. Stanback dunked and was swinging on the rim when he took a scary fall, landing on his head, back and side. The injury was serious enough to stop the game. EMTs and an ambulance eventually arrived and Stanback, who was wheeled off. He managed a thumbs-up gesture, as he was carted away.

Players were given a warmup period before play resumed.

CP Perry scored 30 points for 23rd-seeded Carson (15-10). The freshman accounted for a barrage of five 3-pointers in the second quarter. Perry scored over 500 points as an eighth-grade varsity player at Rockwell Christian last season and scored 433 for the Cougars this season. He has surpassed 1,000 points for his career.

“CP has no clue about the points and he knows I’m only going to talk about Carson points,” said Coach Perry, who is CP’s father. “He did have an awesome year, exceeding my expectations. He was really good tonight, and Jonah Drye was really good.”

Drye, a junior, made three 3-pointers and scored 18 points, including the free throws that gave Carson a 70-all tie late in the game.

It was a scrap right from the tip. Asheboro led 15-14 after a quarter.

Perry’s 3-point spree kept Carson close in the second quarter. The Comets led 35-34 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Carson appeared to be taking charge. Jacob Mills, Carson’s other talented freshman guard, scored all of his eight points in the quarter, and Perry added three more buckets. Carson led by as many as nine and took a 55-48 lead to the fourth quarter.

“We had a great run in the third quarter,” Coach Perry said. “But then the fouls started to pile up. Trip after trip, we were getting a foul.”

Carson’s tall freshman Drew Neve fouled out. Jay McGruder, Carson’s physical power forward, fouled out. Perry was limited by four personals.

Carson couldn’t hold the lead in the fourth quarter, mostly because of Stanback, who had 12 in the quarter before he was injured. Reports on Wednesday were that Stanback suffered a concussion and a dislocated finger.

Walker scored 18 for the Comets, including 4-for-4 at the foul line down the stretch.

Neve, Mills and Colin Ball made a 3-pointer apiece for the Cougars.

Five South Piedmont Conference teams that took beatings from Central Cabarrus were seeded between 20 and 29. They went on the road in the first round. Robinson and Northwest Cabarrus won. West Rowan hung in the game with a 27-1 team. Carson and Concord lost in the final seconds.

“Guys were sad, they were hurting in the locker room after this one, but that’s what you want, you want to see that guys are invested,” Coach Perry said. “We’ll miss our seniors, we’ll miss their toughness and leadership, but I can tell this is going to be a very determined team moving forward.”

Carson will return its top five scorers next season.

Carson             14   20  21   15   — 70

Asheboro        15   20   13    24  — 72

CARSON — Perry 30, Drye 18, Neve 9, Mills 8, Ball 3, McBride 2.

ASHEBORO — Stanback 25, Walker 18, Timmons 11, Rodriguez 8, Woodle 4, Johnson 3, Scott 2, Stallings 1.