From staff reports
SALISBURY — Salisbury senior Braylon Taylor surpassed 1,000 career points on Saturday as the Hornets beat North Rowan 57-41 in a first-round game in the Dale’s Sporting Goods Sam Moir Christmas Classic.
Taylor is in his third season with the Hornets. He’s scored in double figures in every game this season. He had a season-high 23 points against the Cavaliers.
It was a more competitive game than the final score sounds. The sixth-seeded Cavaliers (2-7) trailed 25-19 at halftime and had quite a run to open the second half. They took a 27-25 lead on a 3-pointer by Jordan Massenburg, but the third-seeded Hornets (6-3) responded to the challenge. Darius Greene made a key 3-pointer.
Salisbury outscored North 19-9 in the fourth quarter. Taylor scored 10 points in a fourth-quarter flurry to reach the 1,000-point milestone. His flurry also put the Cavaliers away.
Jon Ross scored 12 points. He made two 3-pointers in the first quarter to give the Hornets the early lead. Blake Smith made two 3s and scored 10.
The Hornets played without freshman Royce Perkins, who has an ankle injury.
Massenburg, a freshman, had 17 to lead the Cavaliers.
Salisbury, which has won the last two Christmas tournaments, takes on Central Davidson in a Monday semifinal at 4:30 p.m.
North Rowan 7 12 13 9 — 41
Salisbury 19 6 13 19 — 57
SALISBURY — Taylor 23, Ross 12, Smith 10, Johnson 4, Greene 3, Pagan 2, Shipp 2, Jones 1.
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SALISBURY — Central Davidson held South Rowan to 13 points in the first three quarters and beat the Raiders 50-25 in a Moir first-round game.
The second-seeded Spartans (7-0) got 12 points from Carson Hulsizer. Central started very slowly, but started playing better in the second quarter and led 22-9 at halftime.
Seventh-seeded South (2-7) got eight points each from Aaiden Sechler and Maverick Morgan.
The Raiders’ leading scorer, freshman Anderson Pauley, had surgery recently and missed the tournament. Brody Thomas, who was expected to lead South’s scoring this season, went down with an ACL injury before the season began.
Central advanced to a semifinal matchup with Salisbury at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
South 5 4 4 12 — 25
Central 7 15 15 13 — 50
SOUTH — Sechler 8, Morgan 8, Long 4, Beaver 2, Kluttz 2, Washburn 1.
CENTRAL — Hulsizer 12, Bush 7, Adderton 7, Mullin 6, Staten 6, Trogdon 5, Fitzgerald 4, Holmes 3.
