From staff reports

MOUNT ULLA —West Rowan freshman Sydney Smith’s breakout effort of 19 points on Friday was overshadowed by the 34 points that senior Kynlee Dextraze scored for South Rowan.

But Smith took center stage on Monday, pouring in 27 points to lead the Falcons to their first victory of the season. West rallied in the fourth quarter and beat Mount Pleasant 41-36.

“Just very happy for our girls right now,” said West coach Ashley Poole, who had to wait a while to record her 207th career win. The 206th came in last season’s 3A state championship game. The Falcons only have a few girls back from that strong team, and they were pretty far down the bench. The Falcons lost their top eight scorers.

Mount Pleasant (9-7) has done well against the Rowan schools this season, winning close games against North Rowan and South Rowan and splitting two games with Carson. The loss to Carson in the Christmas tourney was in overtime.

Katelyn Scott scored 17 for the Tigers. She made four 3-pointers. Mackenzie Clutter scored seven.

Mount Pleasant had a strong start and led 13-5 after a quarter. Smith scored all of West’s points in the first quarter.

West (1-13) played better in the second quarter. Kennedy Clawson got a bucket and Smith scored nine in the quarter. Mount Pleasant took a 19-16 lead to halftime and led 30-24 going to the fourth quarter.

The Falcons outscored the Tigers 17-6 down the stretch to pull it out. Smith got seven in the quarter, and she got some help. Torrin Everhart got her five points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer. Jahneria Hurd and Jameile Allen had buckets, while Jayden Carter made a free throw.

Mount Pleasant  13    6   11    6   — 36

West Rowan        5    11   8     17   — 41

Mount Pleasant — Scott 17, Clutter 7, Cole 6, Acetuno 4, Barber 2.

•••

HIGH POINT — Salisbury lost 56-53 to Parkland on Monday night in a MLK Basketball Classic game at TW Andrews High School.

Parkland (8-6) is a pretty good 4A team and has won four in a row. The Winston-Salem school is 33rd in the 4A West RPI rankings and is on the bubble to make the state playoffs.

Salisbury (8-6) is 25th in the 2A West RPI rankings, so making the playoffs shouldn’t be a problem, but the Hornets would like to have won this one and probably should have.

The Hornets made six 3-pointers — Parkland went 0-for-5 on 3s — but the Hornets lost the game at the foul line.

“We didn’t play our best, but we still win the game if we shoot free throws better,” Salisbury coach Lakai Brice said. “We were 9-for-24 at the foul line. That was disappointing. You have to make free throws to win the tough games.”

Parkland shot a solid 18-for-27 at the foul line, so the Mustangs had twice as many made free throws as the Hornets.

Parkland shot 46 percent from the field, while making 13 turnovers, so the Mustangs played a solid game.

Jordan Fisher led the Mustangs with 19 points. Azari Williams scored 16.

Torese Evans made two 3-pointers and scored 15 for Salisbury.

Tristian Myers made three 3-pointers and scored 11, one of the best games of her career. Janiyah Fomond contributed 10 points.

Salisbury    17    13    11   12   — 53

Parkland    11    11     17   17   — 56

SALISBURY scoring — Evans 15, Myers 11, Fomond 10, McNeely 8, Spruill 6, Fatovic 3.