First team

• Myles Smith, Salisbury Sr. — The county’s leading scorer (23.1) and leading dunker is the Central Carolina Conference and Rowan County Player of the Year as well as an All-District 11 first teamer.

• Emari Russell, North Sr. — A transfer from 3A state championship teams at Central Cabarrus, he had all kinds of preseason hype, but he proved to be even better than advertised. The point guard is mongoose quick and piled up steals and assists while scoring 20 points per game. He scored 41 in his final game and topped 1,000 for his career. Third team All-District.

• Caden “CP” Perry, Carson Soph. — The son of Carson coach Brian Perry, CP averaged 15.8 points, while being the focus of every opposing defense. He’s a classic stat-sheet stuffer who can attack the rim, sky for rebounds or make the slick pass. He posted Carson’s first-ever triple-double. Second team All-District.

• Braylon Taylor, Salisbury Jr. — A crafty and terrific scorer (17.4 ppg) who torched just about everyone when the Hornets could isolate him on a single defender. He played the point while Bryce Dalton was out and performed admirably in that role. Even on a team with Myles Smith, Taylor led the Hornets in scoring seven times and produced double figures 29 times in 30 games. Third team All-District.

• Dyzarious Carpenter, North Sr. — Carpenter was a wow-factor guy who could soar for dunks and make stunning bank shots from impossible angles. He had a 40-point game in the state playoffs. He averaged 19.4 per game.

Second team

• Drew Neve, Carson Soph. — A perfect high school ‘4’ man who has to play the 5 for Carson, he battled in the paint against quality South Piedmont Conference opponents. That often led to foul trouble, but he averaged 13.9 points with an impressive inside-outside game. He dunked lobs and he drilled corner 3s.

• Jacob Mills, Carson Soph. — He’s got the county’s most automatic jump shot. He averaged a team-high 16.2 points and added quite a bit to his game this season defensively and on the boards.

• Jonah Drye, Carson Sr. — Finished with 992 career points. A gritty point guard who can shoot, he needed one more game for 1,000, but Carson drew eventual 3 state champ Ben L. Smith as a first-round playoff opponent. He averaged 15.7 points, including a 30-point effort against Concord.

• Evan Kennedy, West Sr. — Tough, strong and athletic, Kennedy overcame a slow start to be a force for the Falcons in the second half of the season. He averaged a team-best 13.6 points per game.

• Macari House, Salisbury Sr. — House was a key part of a defense that allowed only 50 points per game. He didn’t score big, but a lot of his buckets were clutch 3-pointers.

Honorable mention

• North Rowan’s JP Polk and Carter Williams — Polk made All-Central Carolina Conference and was a hard-working rebounder who averaged 10 points. Williams, a sophomore, averaged 11.1 points, and will be a force the next two seasons.

• East Rowan’s Brody Thomas — Averaged 11.1 points per game for Mustangs, mostly by being a creative driver.

• South Rowan’s Jadon Moore — The guard averaged a team-high 10.7 points, mostly with athletic drives.

• West Rowan’s Brant Graham — A streaky shooter (10.4 ppg), who improved as an all-round player. He’s started for three years and still has one to go.

• Salisbury’s Blake Smith and Bryce Dalton — Smith, Myles’ younger brother, handled a lot of the dirty work for the Hornets in the paint and probably will emerge as a scorer next season. He was All-CCC. Dalton’s season was unfortunately limited to 11 games due to a football injury and surgery, but Coach Albert Perkins raved about the impact he made for the team down the stretch.