By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — High school basketball resumes on Friday.

Hot teams like the Salisbury boys and East Rowan girls, Christmas tournament champs, really didn’t need the interruption, but other teams welcomed the break to regroup after starts to the season that ranged from shaky to pretty good.

Three Rowan teams are still seeking their first win. Two of them will meet on Friday.

The big news off the court between Christmas and New Year’s Day was the coaching change for the South Rowan boys, who hope to start fresh under new coach Justin Pauley.

South hopes to put some unimaginable negative streaks in the rear-view mirror soon. Maybe as early as Friday when the Raiders (0-11, 0-5) host East Rowan (0-10, 0-4). It’s not rocket science. The Mustangs have played some tight games and they scared West Rowan in the Christmas tournament, but they clearly are the most beatable team on South’s schedule.

South has lost 56 straight games since an opening night win against West Iredell in 2022-23.

South has lost 54 straight conference games. That includes 49 straight in the current configuration of the South Piedmont Conference and the last five official league games when South was still in the 2A Central Carolina Conference.

South has lost 53 straight Rowan County games. That stat brings quite a few losses to North Rowan and Salisbury into the equation, as well as the long string of setbacks against frequent SPC foes West Rowan, Carson and East Rowan.

South’s last win against a Rowan County team was a double-overtime victory against East to close the 2016-17 season.

South has lost 60 straight games against Cabarrus schools. Central Cabarrus, Northwest Cabarrus, Robinson and Concord are part of the current SPC. There also have been quite a few losses to Mount Pleasant and A.L. Brown and a few to Hickory Ridge and Cox Mill,  Cabarrus schools that aren’t in the SPC. South’s last success against a Cabarrus school was a victory over the Wonders in the 2014-15 season.

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Carson’s boys have an interesting home game Friday, as the Cougars (8-4) will host North Rowan (5-3) in a non-conference matchup. They didn’t meet in the Christmas tournament, where both teams lost to Salisbury, so this is a matchup a lot of people want to see.

West Rowan (2-7, 1-4) has only beaten South Rowan and East Rowan so far. The Falcons will look to get back on track at Northwest Cabarrus (7-4, 4-0), but that will be a tough assignment.

Salisbury’s surging boys (9-3, 3-0) have won eight in a row and return to CCC action against East Davidson. That should be a running-clock adventure. The Golden Eagles (2-11, 0-2) are ranked 595th in the state by MaxPreps.

The key matchup in the SPC on Friday won’t involve Rowan County teams. Robinson (10-2, 4-0) will be taking on Concord (9-3, 4-0).

A.L. Brown (3-8, 0-0) will finally get Greater Metro Conference play started at Hickory Ridge (8-4, 1-0), but it’s hard to be optimistic about that matchup for the Wonders. The Wonders did get a win on Monday when they beat Valor Prep, 65-59.

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East Rowan’s girls have built a nice record and own a seven-game winning streak as they return to South Piedmont Conference play.

The Mustangs (9-2, 2-2) should be able to handle South Rowan (4-7, 1-4) on Friday, although the Raiders played surprisingly well in the Christmas tournament and looked better than they have in a number of weeks.

West Rowan (0-9, 0-5) is capable of getting some wins this season, but the first one won’t happen Friday at Northwest Cabarrus (9-2, 4-0). The Trojans had a 64-11 win in their Christmas tournament action and they have beaten East Rowan, among others.

The Carson-North Rowan game in China Grove should be a close one. Both the Cougars (2-9) and the Cavaliers (1-6) really could use a victory.

Salisbury (6-4, 2-0) needs to beat East Davidson at home if it’s going to contend with Lexington in the CCC, but it may not be an easy one. East Davidson (3-9, 1-1) doesn’t have a good record but has won three of its last four games and clobbered North Rowan.

A.L. Brown’s girls (4-6, 0-0) have perked up lately, but they’ve got a tough GMC opener at Hickory Ridge (8-4, 1-0).

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Rowan top 10 boys scorers: Emari Russell, North 22.6; Myles Smith, Salisbury 22.3; Jacob Mills, Carson 18.5; CP Perry, Carson 18.3;  Braylon Taylor, Salisbury 17.9; Dyzarious Carpenter, North 17.3; Jonah Drye, Carson 14.5; Drew Neve, Carosn 14.0; Jadon Moore, South 13.0; Brody Thomas, East 11.2.

Rowan top 10 girls scorers: Mary Church, East 16.1; Kynlee Dextraze, South 12.7; Torese Evans, Salisbury 12.5; Jamelia Allen, West 12.2; Allie Martin, Carson 11.4; Dasia Elder, North 10.0; Kady Collins, East 9.7; Rylee Hedrick, Carson 9.3; Sydney Smith, West 9.1; Sadie Featherstone, East 9.1