From staff reports

Tuesday games …

SALISBURY — Salisbury’s boys basketball team destroyed Thomasville 86-41 on Tuesday to get Central Carolina Conference play started.

The Hornets (2-3, 1-0) opened the season with four tough neutral site games, so they were glad to finally play one in “The Hive.”

“We would’ve liked to have won more of those early games, but we learned a lot about ourselves,” Salisbury head coach Albert Perkins said. “We played well tonight, and Thomasville (1-4, 0-1) looked like a very young team.”

Braylon Taylor, who is averaging better than 18 points per game, opened the scoring with a dunk. Myles Smith, who has topped 20 points four times in his first five games with the Hornets, had a slam that energized the crowd.

“He’s been a dunking machine,” said Perkins of the 6-foot-4 Smith, a senior who transferred from Victory Christian.

Smith scored 23, while Taylor had 19.

Salisbury’s search for a third scorer may have found an answer in Tre Davis, who scored 13 and is averaging 8-plus for the season. Dre Cherry had a season-high nine.

The Hornets will be right back at it on Wednesday against Community School of Davidson (2-3).

SALISBURY scoring — M. Smith 23, Taylor 19, Davis 13, Cherry 9, Webb 7, House 6, Matthews 4, Brown 3, Hairston 2.

•••

MOUNT ULLA — Carson’s boys got over a hump by beating West Rowan 70-47 on Tuesday in South Piedmont Conference action.

Carson had a better record than West last season, but went 0-3 against the Falcons.

Carson took charge early and led 18-8 after a quarter.

West made a second-quarter run behind Evan Kennedy to tighten things up, but Carson led 33-20 at halftime and pulled away with a dominant third quarter. Bouncing back from a loss to Central Cabarrus, the Cougars led by 28 after the third quarter.

Kennedy scored 18 for the Falcons, but no one else was in double figures.

Five different Cougars — CP Perry, Jacob Mills, Jonah Drye, Corbin Hales and Drew Neve — made two 3-pointers each.

Perry led the Cougars with 21 points. Drye scored 13, while Neve had 10.

Xavier Phillips scored six during Carson’s third-quarter run.

Carson     18     15    21   16   — 70

West           8      12    6   21    — 47

Carson — Perry 21, Drye 13, Neve 10, Mills 8, Phillips 6, Hales 6, Martin 4, Rockwell 2.

West — Kennedy 18, Tucker 9, Graham 5, Donaldson 5, Moten 5, Ford 2, Neely 2, Young 1.

•••

CONCORD — Concord had no trouble getting a South Piedmont Conference win against South Rowan on Tuesday at Rimer Gym.

Concord rolled 84-37.

The Raiders (0-6, 0-3) were only down 33-20 at the half, but the Spiders (5-1, 2-0), expected to a be a contender in the SPC, blew them out with a 27-point third quarter.

“The turnovers piled up,” South coach Daniel Blevins said. “There was no way to overcome them.”

Jadon Moore scored 16 for the Raiders. Brooks Overcash had one of the best games of his career and scored 12.

South takes on Mount Pleasant on Wednesday.

South        10    10   13   4     —  37

Concord    16    17   27   24   — 84

SOUTH scoring — Moore 16, Overcash 12, Rohletter 3, Goodman 2, Long 2, Ritchie 2.

•••

GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan’s boys are still looking for their first win, but they took some steps in that direction on Tuesday in a 54-41 loss to Central Cabarrus.

Central dominated the first quarter, 22-7, but the Mustangs played on even terms the last three quarters.

“We played good defense,” East head coach Trey Ledbetter said. “We held them to two field goals in the second half, and we were down five with two minutes to go. We had to foul and they made their free throws.”

Logan Bradley made three 3-pointers and scored 13 for the Mustangs (0-4, 0-3). Brody Thomas scored 10.

“A lot of steps forward tonight,” Ledbetter said. “We executed well and we limited our turnovers. It was just a night when the ball wouldn’t go in the hoop for us.”

Cayden Smith scored 17 to lead the Vikings (2-3, 2-1). His nine-point first quarter got  Central off to a strong start.

East plays West Davidson in Tyro on Wednesday.

Central    22    14    9    9   — 54

East          7      14   10   10  — 41

Central — Smith 17, Martin 9, Morrow 8, Burse-Jones 6, Cook 5, Montague 4, Parsons 3, Lowry 2.

East — Bradley 13, Thomas 10, Butler 8, Ailshie 7, Klingler 2, Krider 1.

•••

CHARLOTTE — A.L. Brown stayed with undefeated Olympic for a quarter, but the Wonders went cold in the second quarter and were pounded 74-47 in Tuesday’s non-conference game.

Randy Johnson scored 17 for Olympic (6-0). The Wonders fell to 2-6.

A.L. Brown    18      4   14   11    — 47

Olympic          20   24  16  14    — 74