Staff report

NEW LONDON — North Rowan’s boys basketball team was great, at times, on Thursday, but allowed a 14-point lead to slip away in a 75-69 loss to North Stanly.

The Cavaliers (6-5) frequently played volleyball above the rim, threw down multiple dunks and got spectacular passes as well as shots from Emari Russell, but North Stanly had the home court and the home crowd and is 13-1 for a reason. The Comets play the game mostly on the floor, but they are solid, strong and resilient. Down 14 late in the third quarter, they looked cooked, but they didn’t panic and kept playing one possession at a time.

Down eight with 2:45 left, the Comets closed the game with two unanswered touchdowns — an unbelievable 14-0 run to win by six.

Russell is lightning-quick and scored 19, 15 in the second half. Carter Williams, a long, young forward who was difficult for North Stanly to keep off the glass, also got 19. Dyzarious Carpenter contributed 15 points. Some were ESPN-worthy.

North Stanly got 30 from the Willamsons, 16 from Ben, and 14 from Jack, a senior star who is the most athletic Comet. Jalen Walker, a sturdily built left-handed guard, scored 20. He found a way to get to the rim every time the Comets were desperate for a bucket. Hayden Moore made three 3-pointers. Maddox Lowder probably had the game of his life off the bench. He scored 11 and got an amazing number of rebounds.

Neither team looked great in the first quarter, but the second quarter provided end-to-end action with the teams combining for 50 points. Williams made two free throws — his 11th and 12th points — to give the visitors a 37-31 lead at the break.

North Rowan continued to lead in the early stages of the third quarter and appeared to be on the verge of blowing the Comets out after Russell suddenly scored six straight points — four on steals. Then Williams got a steal and was fouled as he flew in for a dunk. Williams’  and-one made it 59-45.

The Cavaliers owned that 14-point lead and had possession, when Walker, the son of North Stanly coach George Walker, probably saved his team with a steal and a driving bucket, as he was fouled. That cut the deficit to 11, and on North Stanly’s next possession, Walker took it to the hole again. Then Jack Williamson got a steal and a layup, and that 14-point lead was down to seven in a hurry.

North Rowan stayed stuck on “59” a very long time, as the third quarter ended and the fourth began. With the Cavaliers silent, North Stanly ran off 12 in a row. With the Cavaliers’ lead down to two, Russell finally stopped the bleeding with a driving banker down the lane.

North Rowan perked up after that. Carpenter flushed a monster dunk as the Cavaliers surged to a 69-61 lead. Jo Jo Tarver made a wiggling  scoop for that eight-point lead. The scoreboard in the North Stanly gym as Tarver’s sweet shot dropped through the cords read “2:45.”

The Cavaliers wouldn’t score again.

Walker led another North Stanly comeback at that point. Moore made one of his 3s, a huge one from the right corner, at 2:15. to slice the Cavaliers’ lead to one. North Rowan couldn’t score inside or outside, just couldn’t buy one, and when Ben Williamson flipped in a driving banker from the left side with 1:35 remaining, the Comets had a 70-69 lead.

Walker bounce-passed to Lowder for the layup that made it 72-69, and the Comets finished off their remarkable victory with foul shots.

North Rowan 11   26   22  10   — 69

North Stanly  7      24    22  22  — 75

NORTH ROWAN scoring — Russell 19, Williams 19, Carpenter 15, Polk 7, Sullivan 5, Tarver 2, Alford 2.