From staff reports

HUNTERSVILLE — Mary Church scored 21 points to lead East Rowan’s girls to a 42-39 win at Lake Norman Charter on Tuesday.

It was the South Piedmont Conference opener for the Mustangs (2-2).

Church, a sophomore transfer from Gray Stone, had, by far, her biggest game of the season.

“Mary made 3-pointers and layups and we fought hard for four quarters,” East coach Bri Evans said.

East had a huge second quarter to erase an early lead by the Knights. The Mustangs led 27-19 at halftime.

Hannah Waddell scored 12 for the Mustangs, while Lindsey Cook had six.

Jade Taylor scored 12 and  Jenna Mostert had 10 for the Knights (3-1).

Lake Norman Charter shot 1-for-13 on 3-pointers and shot 32 percent from the field.

East    8    19    9   8  — 42

LNC   13    6   8   12  — 39

East scoring — Church 21, Waddell 12, Cook 6, Collins 3

 

West Rowan 72, NW Cabarrus 47

CONCORD — West Rowan’s girls stayed undefeated with a 72-47 win at Northwest Cabarrus in the SPC opener for both teams.

The game at Northwest last season included a brawl and suspensions that took the wind out of West’s season, but this time it was all basketball — and all Falcons.

Freshman Tiara Thompson made two 3-pointers and scored 10 in the first quarter as the Falcons took charge. She finished with 17 points.

Lauren Arnold (15), De’Mya Phifer (14) and Emma Clarke (11) also scored in double figures for West (5-0).

West led 33-23 at the break and finished strong.

Shariya Rucker scored 13 and Re’ale Walton had 12 to lead the Trojans (2-3).

West has a quick turnaround and plays at North Rowan tonight.

West     18   15   16   23   — 72

NWC     10   13   14    10   — 47

West scoring — Thompson 17, Arnold 15, Phifer 14, Clarke 11, Tenor 9, Huntley 6.

 

Carson 63, Concord 29

CONCORD —Allie Martin had 15 points, 13 rebounds and four assists as Carson trampled Concord 63-29.

It was the first win for the Cougars (1-4) and came in the SPC opener for both teams.

Carson’s girls were shorthanded with one hurt and three sick. The Cougars dressed seven and all seven had good games.

“Super proud of a great team effort,” Carson coach Brooke Stouder said. “We’re continuing to work to get better. This was a big deal for us because many of our players had never won a high school game, including jayvees.”

Rebekah McCubbins scored 10 for the Cougars. Brooklyn McBride had nine points, nine rebounds and four steals. Jadyn Steele had nine points and six steals.

Laila Furr scored nine. Emma Carpenter had four steals, and Alona Locklear made two 3-pointers.

It wasn’t a perfect night. The Cougars shot 6-for-18 from the foul line, but they’ll take it.

“Winning is contagious and it’s something you have to learn how to do,” Stouder said. “We know we still have a ton of improving to do — starting at the foul line — and we’ll keep working.”

Kayliin Williams scored 10 for the Spiders (1-5).

Carson       15     14    21    13     —   63

Concord    4      10   10     5        —  29

Carson scoring — Martin 15, McCubbins 10, McBride 9, Furr  9, Steele 9, Locklear 7, Carpenter 4.

 

Central Cabarrus 60, South Rowan 28

CONCORD — Kyra Lewis scored 24 points to lead Central Cabarrus to a 60-28 SPC win against South Rowan.

Jalayah Ray added 14 for the Vikings (3-3).

South played some of its best games last season against Central, but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday.

Central led 33-12 at halftime and then blew out the Raiders with an 18-2 edge in the third quarter.

Kynlee Dextraze scored 12 for the Raiders (2-3) in the SPC opener for both teams. Dextraze shot 6-for-6 from the foul line.

Madilyn Cherry added eight points, while Hannah Atwell contributed five.

“It wasn’t a great start to conference play,” South coach Alex Allen said. “We need to adjust and find our rhythm again. We’ve got a quick turnaround.”

South plays at A.L. Brown tonight.

South          8     4     2     14   — 28

Central      17   16   18     9  —  60

South scoring — Dextraze 12, Cherry 8, Atwell 5, Childers 2, Menius 1