By Mike London
Salisbury Post
CHINA GROVE — There will plenty of justified buzz about Carson boys basketball all season long, but the Cougar girls have plans to be more than a preliminary for the main event in 2025-26.
Carson’s girls have been quietly rebuilding under the direction of head coach Chloe Monroe. The Cougars may never get back to the undefeated, state-championship heights they experienced in 2020-21 — that was a unique high school team — but they are slowly getting better.
They had a busy June. Besides regular workouts, the Cougars competed at the Catawba team camp and at a jamboree at A.L. Brown, where they took on the Wonders and Central Cabarrus.
“Our numbers in the program are getting back up some, and that’s critical,” Monroe said. “We had five incoming freshmen showing up for everything and playing with us this summer, Several more freshmen have signed up that say they want to play. That’s encouraging.”
Braylee and Brooklyn Johnson are incoming freshman twins at Carson that you’re going to be hearing about.
“They’re AAU players, basketball-first girls, and we haven’t been getting those girls for a few years,” Monroe said. “The twins give us more quickness and more ball-handling.”
Also in Carson’s freshman class is the latest product from the Perry assembly line — Camrie.
Her father, Brian, is the head coach of the Carson boys, or at least he will be in October, when he un-retires after a planned, six-month hiatus. Camrie follows brother Caden (known as CP), sister Colbie and cousins Carleigh and Cole into the basketball spotlight. Colbie and Carleigh were leaders on that 2021 3A state championship team that was coached by Brooke Stouder.
Carson improved from a single win in 2022-23, Monroe’s first season at the helm, to 6-19 in 2024-25. Most Rowan basketball fans may be aware of that, but not many people realize just how big of a jump Carson made from non-competitive to competitive. Carson’s offense improved by 18 points per game, while the defense improved by 4 points per game. That’s a 22-point swing. Carson was losing by 12 on an average night, instead of losing by 34.
Some of that improvement was due to the stellar comeback from ACL surgery by Allie Martin, who has graduated, but Carson will return its No. 2 and No. 3 scorers in Rylee Hedrick and Julia Burleson. Those two combined for 20 points per game last season.
Hedrick is one of the county’s best three-sport athletes. She wasn’t with Carson basketball often this summer, as she is a high-level volleyball player, who focuses on that sport.
“She attended national camps,” Monroe said. “Volleyball is definitely her main sport, but she’s also a very good basketball player and track athlete.”
Burleson can be a next-level runner. She uses her speed and stamina to impact basketball games. Sometimes, she just out-runs and out-hustles everyone and gets a layup.
Monroe also is enthusiastic about the continued growth she’s seeing from Emily Guiton, a pass-first point guard who was credited with 31 assists last season.
“We’re excited about the direction things are going in,” Monroe said. “Our freshmen are really going to help and our girls are putting in the work to get better.”
