Staff report

KANNAPOLIS — West Rowan’s boys basketball team starts five guys who are basically guards, but 6-foot-5 sophomore Josiah Young and 6-foot-3 junior Romir Hairston, two legit forwards, are going to be key guys as this season moves toward crunch time.

“Josiah is really coming on now,” West coach Dadrian Cuthbertson said. “And we’re starting to get Romir back to the level where he was playing at last season. He gives us a lot of energy and a lot of rebounds.”

Young was West’s dominant player, at times, on Wednesday, as the Falcons beat A.L. Brown 60-44 at Bullock Gym.

Young had eight points and eight rebounds and blocked a half-dozen shots. Hairston got three buckets and brought a lot of intensity and hustle.

It was an important non-conference win for the Falcons, who were eager to redeem themselves for losing the third-place Christmas tournament game to the Wonders (8-10). That was a game they felt they should have won.

West (9-7) didn’t have any way to deal with A.L. Brown’s extra-long scorer Nazir Reaves, but West’s 2-3 zone forced the Wonders to fire away from outside. Caleb Ford knocked down two corner 3s early, but the Falcons got two 3-pointers from Brant Graham, rebounded most of the Wonders’ misses and took a 17-10 lead after a quarter.

Three Wonders, including Reaves, made 3-pointers in the second quarter, but the Falcons got four 2-point buckets from Will Givens Jr. and took a 29-21 lead to halftime.

Reaves started getting the ball in the lane in the third quarter and made four buckets, but every other Wonder got shut out, as the Falcons’ lead grew. West’s Elijah Holmes scored all 10 of his points in that quarter to neutralize Reaves’ effort.

Young and reserve guard Deiondre Martin were the main guys in the fourth quarter for the Falcons, who pushed their lead to 20 at 52-32 with five minutes left.

Givens missed some open 3s that he normally makes but didn’t get frustrated and led the Falcons with 14 points.

Kayvone Norman and Evan Kennedy contributed four assists each and both rebounded bigger than their height.

Reaves scored 16 and Ford had 13 for the Wonders.

West Rowan     17    12    19   12   — 60

A.L. Brown       10     11     8     15   — 44

WEST — Givens 14, Holmes 10, Young 8, Graham 8, Martin 6, Norman 6, Hairston 6, Kennedy 2.

A.L. BROWN — Reaves 16, Ford 13, Brazil 6, Lockett 4, Bennermon 3, Stevenson 2.