From staff reports

CHINA GROVE — Carson’s girls basketball team made 8 of 11 3-point tries in the second half and pulled away to beat East Rowan 64-45 on Tuesday.

Carson (18-3, 6-1) moved into first place in the North Piedmont Conference and topped the Mustangs (16-5, 4-3) for the third time this season.

“I knew they were due because they didn’t really get the 3s the first two times we played them,” East coach Kevin Holland said. “The tough thing with guarding Carson is they have a lot of people that can make a  3. I believe they had five different people make one. I called two or three timeouts, but  you could feel them gaining momentum every time they  hit one.”

Maci Cooper shot 3-for-4 on 3-pointers and scored 18 for Carson. Ellie Wilhelm shot 7-for-10, made three 3-pointers and scored 18. Hannah Isley went 8-for-10 from the foul line and scored 17.  Carleigh Perry had eight rebounds.

For East, Adalie Harrison scored 16 points, and Mary Spry had 12.

The first half was a “festival of fouls” in the words of Carson coach Brooke Stouder. Both teams got in major foul trouble. There were 20 fouls called in the first half. Carson was in the bonus in the first quarter.

“We played hard in the first half and we were strong on defense,” Holland said. “But we missed free throws and easy shots.”

East led early by as many as nine points. Carson got back within three at halftime on a 3-pointer by Wilhelm.

“We felt good to be only down three,” Stouder said. “We hadn’t done a good job at all in the first half, bu we went into attack mode in the third quarter and had one of our best third quarters of the season.”

Carson had a 26-12 edge in the third quarter to turn the game around and kept making shots in the fourth quarter.

“We defended well and we shot it well,” Stouder said. “We did a lot better job defensively against their big girls. We didn’t play well for a long time, but we did keep playing hard. When you do that, things eventually go your way.”

Isley took two charges.

“We haven’t put four good quarters together in a while,” Holland said. “We’ve got two days of practice to try to figure it out.”

EAST (45) — Harrison 16, Spry 12, Dalton 5, Houpe 4, Eagle 4, Honeycutt 2, Hinceman 1, Nwafor 1, Jones, Miller, Ali.

CARSON (64) — Wilhelm 18, Cooper 18, H. Isley 17, Conrad 6, Co. Perry 5, Post, L. Isley, Sanns, White, Ca. Perry.

E. Rowan   10   12   12   11   — 45

Carson        9    10   26    19   — 64

West boys

TROUTMAN — Hunter Barnette made a 3-pointer at the buzzer as South Iredell upset West Rowan’s boys  60-58 in North Piedmont Conference action on Tuesday.

West (11-8, 5-2) entered the game in sole possession of first place.

Jalen Moss led the Falcons with 18 points. Sam Wood made five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 17.  Chaz McCombs put West ahead by one point when he made a free throw with 13 seconds left.

Gavin Morrison led the Vikings (6-14, 3-4) with 19 points. Barnette had 14.

W. ROWAN (58) — Moss 18, Wood 17, McCombs 9, Hassard 6, Allison 4, Biggers 2, Joseph 2, Weeks.

S. IREDELL (60) — Morrison 19, Barnette 14, Smith 11, Alquiza 6, Labelle 5, Watson 3, McLeod 2.

W. Rowan   11  22  12  13   — 58

S. Iredell      10  14  19  17  — 60

Carson/East boys

CHINA GROVE — EJ Clark broke out of a slump with four 3-pointers and 28 points and led Carson’s boys to a 64-37 North Piedmont Conference win against East Rowan on Tuesday.

Clark is the county’s leading scorer.

AJ Mauldin and Javon Smith scored 14 points each for the Cougars (11-10, 4-3).

Cameron Padgett led the Mustangs (2-19, 0-7) with 13 points, and Vincent Jones had 10.

EAST (37) — Padgett 13, Jones 10, Valley 7, Sprinkle 4, Pinckney 2, Miller 1, Shuping, Jordan.

CARSON (64) — Clark 28, Mauldin 14, Smith 14, Zuniga 3, Burris 2, Allen 2, Harris 1.

E. Rowan   10   6   12   9   — 37

Carson        15   8   19  22  — 64

West girls

TROUTMAN — West Rowan’s girls were upset at South Iredell on Tuesday, losing the North Piedmont Conference contest, 63-55.

Abigail Wilson scored 34 points for the Falcons (17-3, 5-2), who dropped a game behind Carson in the NPC race.

Wilson scored 14 in the second quarter as the Falcons tried to overcome a slow start.

Sarah Nelson tossed in 22 points for the Vikings (9-10, 4-3).

WEST (55) — Wilson 34, Poole 7, Connolly 4, Arnott 4, Blabon 4, Cuthbertson 2,   Mason.

S. IREDELL (63) — Nelson 22, Zeigler 14, Houser 11, Durham 8, Mercer 7, Weddington 1.

W. Rowan    10   17   10  18   ­— 55

S. Iredell       11  15   18   19   — 63

North girls

BEAR CREEK — North Rowan’s girls were upset 52-47 at Chatham Central on Tuesday in a Yadkin Valley Conference game.

Natavia Taborn scored 17 for the Cavaliers. Hannah Wilkerson had nine.

Other scorers for North — Cannie 7, McDaniel 6, Lynch 6, Elder 2.

South girls

THOMASVILLE — Jada Gainey scored 26 and Shakira Little had 21 for Thomasville  (10-9, 8-7) in a 58-43 Central Carolina Conference win against South Rowan on Tuesday.

Bethany Rymer scored 22 for the Raiders (4-17, 3-12). Mackenzie Chabala had 11.

S. ROWAN (43) — Rymer 22, M. Chabala 11,  McGuire 3, Moore 3, Littlejohn 2, P. Chabala 2, Redmon.

THOMASVILLE (58) — Gainey 26, Little 21, Hart 7, Johnson 2, Lee 1, Wright 1.

S. Rowan       11  11  9  12   —   43

Thomasville  13  16  13 16   — 58

CCC girls

Emily Hege scored a career-high 47 points to lead North Davidson to a 61-58 win against Lexington on Tuesday.

SPC girls

Demi Case scored 22 points to lead Central Cabarrus’ girls to a 70-33 win against Concord on Tuesday.

Ja’el Miller had 14 and Aniyah Tate 12 for the Vikings (16-5, 7-0).

CCC boys

North Davidson won 62-56 against Lexington in a Central Carolina Conference game on Tuesday, leaving the two teams tied for first place.

For Lexington, Derrick Dearmon had 18 points and Alex Holt scored 16.

Jamarien Dalton scored 22 for the Black Knights, while Tedric Jenkins had 18.

CPC boys

Brooks Johnson scored 17 points for Davie in a 58-54 loss to West Forsyth on  Tuesday.

JV girls

Makayla Johnson scored 14 points and Camden Corley had 11 to lead Carson’s girls to a 39-26 win against East Rowan on Tuesday.

Clara Beaver scored 11, and Mac Misenheimer had eight for the Mustangs.

Local golf

The McCanless Couples faced off in a closely contested Captains Choice.

First place went to  Harry Owen, Ralph Carver, Azalee and David Huneycutt. Next   were Crystal Clement, Larry Clifton, Mary and Gene Seaford.

Azalee Huneycutt had longest putt and Gene Seaford had closest to the pin.

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North boys

BEAR CREEK — North Rowan’s boys won at Chatham Central 51-37 in a Yadkin Valley Conference basketball game on Tuesday.

The Cavaliers avenged a 54-30 loss to Chatham Central in Spencer and moved into a three-way tie for first with Chatham Central and South Stanly.

Brandon White scored 14 for North. Brandon Jefferson made three 3-pointers and scored 12. Zay Davis had 10.

Michael Moore and  Lucas Skertich led the Bears with 10 apiece.

North  (13-6, 11-2) trailed early but took charge with a big second quarter.

NORTH (51) — White 14, Jefferson 12, Davis 10, Robinson 7, Carpenter 4, Goodes 2, Gladden 2, Wilson.

CHATHAM CENTRAL (37) — Moore 10, Skertich 10, Cox 6, Lagenor 5, Gaines 2, Wilson 2, Gurley 2.

N. Rowan    6   17   14  14   — 51

Chatham     9    7    7     12   — 37

Salisbury boys

SALISBURY — Salisbury’s boys won against Ledford 54-53 in tight Central Carolina Conference action on Tuesday.

Zay Kesler scored 15 for the Hornets (13-7, 10-5). Nate Brown had 12 and Latavian White added 11.

Tyler Partee scored 16 to lead Ledford (11-9, 8-7). JJ Barker scored 14.

Partee’s father, Jonathan, was a standout quarterback for the Hornets.

LEDFORD (53) — Partee 16, Barker 14, Finley 8, B. White 7, Compton 4, Bartoli 4, Reece, Tate.

SALISBURY (54) — Kesler 15, Brown 12, L. White 11, Stout 5, Walker 4, Smith 4, Witherspoon 2, Norman 1.

Ledford      8   16   17   12   — 53

Salisbury  16  11  15  12   —  54

South boys

THOMASVILLE — Tyree Barnes scored 22 points and Malcolm Knight had 17 to lead Thomasville (13-7, 9-6)  to a 75-50 Central Carolina Conference win against South Rowan on Tuesday.

Braden Graham scored 21 for the Raiders (4-17, 4-11), while Barrett Thompson had 14.

South trailed by 15 at halftime.

Thomasville topped 100 points against South in the first meeting.

SOUTH (50) — Graham 21, Thompson 14, Dextraze 4, Nowak 3, Peacock 2, Woodman 2, Carter 2, Holloman 2, Finger, Stanley, Ritchie.

THOMASVILLE (75) — Barnes 22, Knight 17, J. Williams 13, Luckey 7, P. Williams 5, Carolina 4, Washington 2, Ray 2, Dickerson 2, L. Johnson 1.

S. Rowan        3   15   16   16   — 50

Thomasville 10  23   17   25   — 75

A.L. Brown boys

A.L. Brown’s boys (15-5, 5-2) put five in double figures and beat Northwest Cabarrus 78-65 in South Piedmont Conference action on Tuesday.

Amari Grier led the Wonders with 17. Kheni Briggs had 16, Mi’Keim Moore and JD Glenn scored 12 each, and DQ Foggie had 11.

The Wonders stayed one game behind Cox Mill in the SPC standings.

A.L. Brown girls

A.L. Brown’s girls (7-13, 3-4) lost to Northwest Cabarrus 45-37 on Tuesday.

Jaliah Smouthereson and Jaliyah Simmons scored 10 each for the Wonders, and Jal Campbell added seven.

Catawba softball

Catawba’s Madison Hunter was named the South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Week.  .

Hunter,  helped lead the Catawba Indians to a perfect 4-0 record.

  She accounted for three of the wins in relief appearances where she totaled seven innings, allowing no runs on just one hit, with three walks and 14 strikeouts.