From staff reports

Thursday games …

GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan pulled away in the fourth quarter and beat North Rowan 56-34 for a non-conference win.

East’s lead was only 12 heading to the final quarter, but the Mustangs had a 19-9 edge over those last eight minutes.

Mary Church scored 18, right on her average, while Sadie Featherstone had 13, to lead the Mustangs.

North (2-9) got 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and four blocks from Dasia Elder, who has scored in double figures in seven straight games.

Krisstyle Stockton had 13 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Za’Kiya Oglesby and Allanah McArthur didn’t do much scoring, but they combined for 22 rebounds.

East had not fared well against North in recent seasons and there were other seasons when the programs didn’t meet. East beat the Cavaliers for the first time since the fifth-place game in the 2017 Sam Moir Christmas Classic.

Every win matters for East (13-3), one of the five South Piedmont Conference teams that are in the 3A playoff picture. East was 16th in the 3A West RPI rankings entering the North game and still is in the running to host a first-round game in a 32-team bracket. East is tied for third in the SPC standings, but is the league’s second-best team (behind Robinson) as far as RPI rankings.

East used up quite a bit of energy in a physical 59-52 loss at Robinson on Wednesday, but was able to use its depth to get past the Cavaliers. Nine players scored for the Mustangs.

North is only 44th in the current 1A West RPI rankings, but the Cavaliers will qualify for the playoffs as long as they finish ahead of South Davidson in the Central Carolina Conference standings. The CCC’s only other 1A school is Thomasville, and the Bulldogs aren’t competing in girls basketball this season.

East plays at Concord on Friday, while North is home against rival Salisbury.

North — Elder 13, Stockton 13, Cowan 5, King 2, Oglesby-Peck 1.

East — Church 18, Featherstone 13, Stepp 7, Wise 5, Collins 3, Smith 3, Kluttz 3, Quick 2, Miller 2.

•••

CHINA GROVE — Carson’s girls did not have a good night and lost 70-20 to Northwest Cabarrus in a South Piedmont Conference game.

It was the worst offensive might of the season for Carson. The previous low for the Cougars was 23 points on the final day of the Christmas Tournament.

“We played hard, but we shot terrible,” Carson coach Chloe Monroe said. “We just couldn’t get much to go right.”

Northwest (12-3, 7-1) is in second place in the SPC and probably would have been too much for the Cougars. (3-13, 1-7) even on their best night. It was 15-2 after a quarter and 28-6 at halftime.

Allie Martin scored 10 for the Cougars, while Rylee Hedrick had eight. Julia Burleson scored Carson’s first two. the Cougars’ only bucket of the first quarter.

Mackenzie Ortscheid made three 3-pointers and scored 26 for the Trojans, 13 in each half.  Marisa Furner normally makes most of her  impact as a 6-foot shot-blocker, but she crushed the Cougars for 11 points in the third quarter and scored 15 for the game. Ava Ibanez made four 3-pointers for her 12 points. Aminah Lyles added 10.

NW Cabarrus     15   13   26   16   — 70

Carson                   2    4    8     6    — 20

NW Cabarrus — Ortscheid 26, Furner 15, Ibaenz 12, Lyles 10, Woolfolk 4, Little 3.

Carson — Martin 10, Hedrick 8, Burleson 2.

•••

KANNAPOLIS — South Iredell rallied to beat A.L. 45-37 in a Greater Metro Conference game.

Sophomore London Gray provided most of the excitement for the Wonders (4-11, 0-5).

Destiny Bradford provided a lot of production in the paint for the Vikings (5-11, 2-2).

 

 

Carson                 2     4       8     6   — 20