Staff report

LEWISVILLE — Salisbury’s visit to the HoopFest at Forsyth Country Day School produced two weekend losses, although setbacks to two of the state’s top 1A programs taught valuable lessons and should accelerate the progress of a team that is just starting to put the pieces together.

“We’ve got some work to do,” Salisbury head coach Albert Perkins said. “But these were two really good tests for us.”

Salisbury got its football players into the action for the first time this season. So depth is no longer a problem. Now it’s a matter of figuring out roles.

Salisbury lost to Queen’s Grant, a program in the Matthews/Mint Hill area, 64-59, on Friday.

It was a game of runs. The Hornets (1-3) controlled the first and third quarters, but Queen’s Grant (8-3) had its way in the second and fourth and took the game in the final quarter.

Myles Smith and Braylon Taylor scored 22 each, but the Hornets got only 15 from the rest of the squad.

Freshman Chase Smith scored 17 to lead the Stallions.

Salisbury             18   10   18   13   — 59

Queen’s Grant    10   24   8    22   — 64

Salisbury — M. Smith 22, Taylor 22, House 7, Hairston 6, Davis 2

Queen’s Grant — Chase Smith 17, Clark 14, Montgomery 11, Howard 8, Allen 6, Chucky Smith 3, Scott 2, DeBerry 2, White 1.

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Salisbury just couldn’t find a way to score in the first half of Saturday afternoon’s game against Kernersville-based Bishop McGuinness.

Salisbury fell behind the Villains (3-0) by 31-15 at halftime. The Hornets turned in a much stronger performance in the second half and started finding the range but couldn’t catch up.

Myles Smith scored 16, while Braylon Taylor had 14.

Salisbury            9    4   20   15   — 48

McGuinness       16  15  16   11    —58

SALISBURY scoring — M. Smith 16, Taylor 14, Davis 6, B. Smith 5, House 4, Webb 3,