Staff report

CONCORD — Brooklyn McBride made a left-handed layup, and Carson’s girls basketball team had the lead against Northwest Cabarrus.

There were still 31 minutes to go, however. Northwest scored the next nine points and went on to a 65-17 victory on Wednesday.

The Trojans (10-3, 6-1) achieved a 40-point lead and a running clock about 90 seconds into the second half.

After that early 9-0 run by the Trojans, McBride made another bucket, flipping in a runner on the baseline to make it 9-4.

Rylee Hedrick made two free throws for Carson for a respectable 15-6 deficit, but a 16-0 run by the Trojans  that began late in the first quarter and continued well into the second made it 31-6 and ended the suspense.

In the second quarter, Hedrick scored on a drive and Leana Baldwin had a three-point play, but the Cougars trailed 47-11 at the half against one of the South Piedmont Conference’s top three teams.

Northwest lost a close game with Robinson and hasn’t played West Rowan yet, but there’s not much doubt the Trojans are superior to the other six teams in the league.

McBride and Laila Furr had third-quarter buckets for Carson, and Hedrick, who is Carson’s leading scorer with 5.8 points per game, made a free throw.

Julia Burleson made a free throw with about a minute left for Carson’s only point in the fourth quarter.

Carson (0-12, 0-6) shot 6-for-26 from the field and didn’t make any 3-pointers. The Cougars were 5-for-11 from the foul line.

Carson only got 13 rebounds, two on the offensive end. Caylee Snow had four rebounds. Furr had two steals and got her bucket off one of them.

Re’Ale Walton, a quick guard who can shoot, was the most impressive Trojan. She made two 3-pointers, scored 12 and sat down early.

Kennedy Hilsenroth, a post player with good hands, ran the floor for layups and got enough stick-backs to score 16.

Carson   6     5    5    1    — 17

NWC     20   27   10  8     — 65

CARSON — McBride 6, Hedrick 5, Baldwin 3, Furr 2, Burleson 1.

NWC — Hilsenrouth 16, Walton 12, Furner 8, Moore 8, Bell 7, Ortscheid 7, Smith-Rogers 4, Rucker 3.