From staff reports

CHINA GROVE — Carson’s boys basketball team had the momentum of four straight wins, but Northwest Cabarrus had the fire and the incentive.

Northwest pounded the Cougars 66-45 in Monday’s first-round game in the South Piedmont Conference Tournament. Fourth-seeded Carson (15-9) had swept the fifth-seeded Trojans (14-10) during the regular season.

“We just never got anything going our way,” Carson coach Brian Perry said. “Shot it poor, handled it poor and didn’t compete at a high level.”

Drew Neve was the bright spot for the Cougars. The freshman had 19 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, but the normally productive of foursome of CP Perry, Jacob Mills, Jonah Drye and Colin Ball combined for only 15 points.

Brothers Jordan and Justin Gonder combined for 29 for the Trojans. Landon Rowe scored 13.

Northwest got control of the game in the second quarter.

Northwest’s reward will be a semifinal matchup up with powerhouse Central Cabarrus.

Carson can start getting ready for the state playoffs.

Northwest is 21st in the 3A West RPI rankings, while the Cougars are 22nd.

“We’ve got to regroup and understand that it’s one and done at this point,” Coach Perry said.

NW Cabarrus   19   19    15   13    —  66

Carson              15    10    9       6    — 45

NWC  — Jordan Gonder 15, Justin Gonder 14, Rowe 13, Lee 8, Rochevot 6, Woolfolk 5, Brown 4, Walker 1.

CARSON — Neve 19, Mills 7, Perry 6, McGruder 6, Hales 3, McBride 2, Drye 2.

•••

CONCORD — West Rowan’s boys basketball team struggled in the first half of Monday’s first-round South Piedmont Conference Tournament game at Concord.

The sixth-seeded Falcons fought back in the second half but never caught up and lost 71-57 to the third-seeded Spiders.

Even super shooter Will Givens Jr was ice-cold as the Falcons stumbled in the early going. When Carter Starnes came off Concord’s deep bench to toss in two 3-pointers, the Spiders (16-9) led 16-4 after a quarter.

Evan Kennedy made two 3-pointers in the second quarter for the Falcons (12-12), but Judah Freeman was drilling jumpers for the Spiders, and 6-foot-7 Jeremiah Howard was cleaning up in the paint. Concord’s lead was 36-17 at halftime.

It got worse for the Falcons in the early stages of the second half.

Concord’s lead peaked at 23 at 40-17, but that’s where the Falcons dug in and began to come back. Givens suddenly relocated that magic in his right wrist and hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and West started to chop away at a huge deficit.

Givens scored 11 in the third quarter, as the Falcons got back to 53-40.

Givens and Elijah Holmes combined for 16 in the fourth quarter, as the Falcons continued to chip away. Twice Givens was fouled on 3-point attempts, and he made five of six free throws.

West was down only seven when Givens missed a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left. That was the Falcons’ last chance.

Concord made free throws at the end and pushed the final margin to 14 points.

Givens scored 22, including 20 in the second half, while Holmes had 15.

Jadah Freeman scored 17 for Concord, while Howard had 16.

Concord is 17th in the 3A West RPI rankings. Concord advances to a Wednesday semifinal against second-seeded Robinson. That game will be played at Concord.

West has lost five of its last six and is down to 29th in the 3A West RPI rankings. Thirty-two will make the bracket.

West           4      13      23     17    — 57

Concord     16    20     17      18     — 71

WEST — Givens 22, Holmes 15, Kennedy 8, Graham 7, Norman 5.

CONCORD — Jadah Freeman 17, Howard 16, Judah Freeman 13, Starnes 11, Reid 7, Arellano 4, Crowder 2, Phillips 1.

•••

CONCORD — East Rowan’s boys basketball team was getting its offense 22 feet from the hoop.

Central Cabarrus was getting its offense from a foot above the hoop.

It was a mismatch.

East shot the ball really well in the first quarter — and trailed by 31 at the end of it.

East made seven 3-pointers in the first half, that’s a lot — and was down by 50 … yes, 50, at the break.

Central Cabarrus isn’t exactly a normal high school opponent and crushed the Mustangs 105-29 in Monday’s first-round game in the South Piedmont Conference Tournament.

East (3-21) ended the season on a down note, scoring just four points during a running-clock second half.

Top-seeded Central (25-0) beat the eighth-seeded Mustangs 104-37 and 111-37 in the two regular-season meetings, so no surprises were expected in the third meeting, and none occurred.

Central’s Josh Dalton, a mobile, athletic guy who is at least 6-foot-9, dunked at will. He got 18 of his 20 points in the first quarter. He took it easy the rest of the night.

DJ Kent, a 6-foot-6 athlete, was a little better than Dalton. He shot 10-for-10 for his 20, mostly dunks and layups.

Central led 10-0 after 70 seconds, and East coach Andrew Porter was using its first timeout.

Central’s quick twin guards Chase and Carson Daniel stole passes, threw lobs off the backboard to Dalton and Kent for dunks and generally created havoc. The Vikings had 27 steals.

It was 16-0 when Drake Jones made a 3-pointer for the Mustangs, who played without Jonathan Wembolua.

Jones made three 3-pointers (all in the first quarter) and scored 11 points. Logan Bradley made three 3-pointers and scored nine. PJ Butler also made a 3-pointer for East.

Central led 75-25 at halftime and put up 90 points by the middle of the third quarter.

The third quarter was a 19-0 run by the Vikings.

Everyone on the Central roster — and probably some managers — scored for the home team.

Jake Baker scored 10 for the Vikings, who won their 57th in a row for coach Jim Baker.

Central’s next game will be a Wednesday tournament semifinal at Concord against Northwest Cabarrus.

East              15     10     0     4    — 29

Central        46    29     19     11   — 105

EAST — Jones 11, Bradley 9, Butler 5, Klingler 2, Thomas 2.

CENTRAL — Kent 20, Dalton 20, Baker 10, Edmisten 9, Russell 9, Ezeiglo 8, Carson Daniel 6, Chase Daniel 6, Smith 6, Burse-Jones 4, Martin 4, Lowry 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16-9 17th

12-12 29th