From staff reports
Salisbury’s boys used pressure defense in the third quarter to start a rout of J.M. Robinson on Friday night, eventually winning 62-36.
Salisbury (4-1) was up 27-20 at halftime but got the home crowd revved up with two quick slams. Thaddeus Williams fed Brandon Abel with lob for a dunk and Darien Rankin followed two possessions later with another rim-rocker.
“Our pressure the first two quarters caught up to them in the third quarter,” said coach Jason Causby. “We came out with the knockout punch.”
The Hornets outscored the Bulldogs 23-5 in the third and had doubled the score going into the fourth period, leading 50-25.
Abel had a season-high 25 points and showed versatility, according to Causby.
“He did a little bit of everything,” the coach said. “He had a variety of post moves. He faced up and hit some jump shots. He was good on the offensive boards, getting five of his 10 rebounds on the offensive end.”
Point guard Williams only scored one point, but had a sparkling floor game, dishing out seven assists.
Sophomore Rankin continued his good play with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
John Knox came in for Romar Morris, who injured an ankle in the third quarter, and gave the Hornets a spark. He finished with eight.
Salisbury travels to East Rowan on Wednesday.
ROBINSON (36) ó Bearden 7, Refro 5, Potts 5, Fondl 5, Hampton 3, Turner 3, Harris 3, Emery 2, Bennett 3.
SALISBURY (62) ó Abel 25, Rankin 19, Knox 8, Weant 6, Phillips 3, Williams 1, Morris, Hailey, Almeida, Do, Lingard, Wood.
Robinson 10 10 5 11 ó 36
Salisbury 12 15 23 12 ó 62n Salisbury girls 5-0
Salisbury’s girls improved to 5-0 with a 64-45 win over J.M. Robinson on Friday night in the Salisbury gym.
Andrew Mitchell’s Hornets put three players in double figures. Bubbles Phifer had a season-high 20 points, Shi-Heria Shipp scored 18 and Kia Rice chipped in with 11.
Salisbury played without starting forward De-Rya Wylie, who is nursing an injury.
ROBINSON (45) ó Bernal 13, Cheek 13, Koener 12, kacan 3, Lindsay 3, Jarvis 1.
SALISBURY (64) ó B. Phifer 20, Shipp 18, Rice 11, N. Phifer 8, A. Holmes 3, Clinding 2, Heilig 2..
Robinson 11 11 8 15 ó 45
Salisbury 11 22 18 13 ó 64
n Davie boys win
Drew Absher and Jamal Mayfield combined for 30 points in the second half as Davie County’s boys (3-2) pulled away from Eastern Randolph for a 78-55 win.
Davie led only 26-24 at halftime, but Absher scored 18 after intermission. Mayfield had 12 of his 16 in the final two quarters.
Absher also had eight assists and four steals.
Coach Mike Absher said the War Eagles got a lift from highly touted freshman center Shannon Dillard, who was given the OK to play by doctors after suffering a knee injury. The 6-3 big man scored six points and grabbed four rebounds.