Staff report

SPENCER – Salisbury senior transfer Myles Smith has had such an overwhelming impact on Rowan County basketball that sophomore Blake Smith is destined to go through this season being known mostly as Myles’ younger brother.

But Blake Smith’s future is large, and his present is not bad at all. His 3-pointer from the corner got Salisbury started in Friday’s 73-65 showdown win at North Rowan that put the Hornets in command of the Central Carolina Conference race. Blake’s five points were all in the first quarter, but he continued to make plays all night.

“Blake had a tremendous rebounding night,” Salisbury head coach Albert Perkins said. “And he gave us an all-around defensive presence.”

Myles Smith was terrific again, scoring 26 points. He had four dunks, three in conventional fashion, plus one reverse.

Braylon Taylor also scored 26, a career-best for him. He got 12 on six 2-point buckets in the fourth quarter to take the Hornets to the finish line. Taylor had one dunk.

Tre Davis, Macari House and Hank Webb had their moments for the Hornets (12-3, 6-0), who stretched their CCC winning streak to 29 in a row since a 2-point loss to Thomasville early in the 2022-23 season.

“Hank and Macari played very hard, as usual,” Perkins said. “Tre has become a very consistent reserve and he’s figuring out ways to contribute with or without making shots. He had timely rebounds and broke up a few alley-oop attempts to (Dyzarious) Carpenter.”

Salisbury jumped out early. Taylor’s first bucket made it 8-2, and Myles Smith’s first slam made it 13-4.

Getting 3-pointers from four different players, the Hornets led 22-12 after a quarter.

North’s first run came in the second quarter, as the Cavaliers (7-6, 4-1) chopped a 26-16 deficit to 26-25 with nine straight points.

Bur the Hornets retaliated with 13 unanswered to close the half. Myles Smith started that spree with a 3-pointer, Davis made several plays and took a charge, and the Hornets held a 39-25 lead at the break.

North cut into Salisbury’s lead in the third quarter when Emari Russell got hot. Russell scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half. He had 15 in the third quarter, as the Cavaliers outscored the Hornets 20-12  and fought back to 53-45.

But Taylor owned the fourth quarter. He scored mostly on drives, as Salisbury pushed its lead to 17 points with about two minutes to go.

North ran off 11 straight points late in the game, but the Hornets were able to win on the road against the team that figures to be their toughest competition in the CCC.

Salisbury won 80-64 against North in a semifinal game in the Sam Moir Christmas Classic. The third meeting will come at Salisbury High at the end of the regular season. A fourth meeting in the CCC Tournament championship game isn’t a sure thing, but it’s probable.

Carpenter scored 16 for the Cavaliers. Jo Jo Tarver had a season-best 10.

Besides his 29 points, Russell had five rebounds and five assists. JP Polk led North’s rebounding with seven.

• Salisbury got another win on Saturday at a neutral site against Dudley. That game story was posted online earlier.

 

Salisbury          22   17   14   20   —  73

North Rowan   12   13  20   20   — 65

Salisbury — M. Smith 26, Taylor 26, Webb 7, B. Smith 5, Davis 4, House 4, Cherry 1.

North  — Russell 29, D, Carpenter 16, Tarver 10, Williams 5, Mosley 3, Polk 2.