Staff report
SALISBURY — Five Rowan County schools are in the eight-team South Piedmont Conference, so that means non-stop “county games.”
Basic math tells us that there must be at least one all-Rowan matchup in the SPC every Tuesday and every Friday.
This particular Friday there are two of those match-ups, as East Rowan goes to Salisbury and West Rowan plays at South Rowan.
Carson’s boys and West Rowan’s girls lead the SPC by a single game, so every outing has importance, but it’s the sixth Rowan school, North Rowan, that has the largest games of all on Friday, as the Cavaliers travel to North Stanly.
Both North Rowan teams have two things in common — a first-year head coach and an exciting freshman.
Actually, they have three things in common because both had their struggles early against a schedule filled with larger schools, but they have been rolling since Yadkin Valley Conference play started.
North Rowan’s girls had a 10-game losing streak, which is not an easy thing to come back from, but North (4-10) has stayed the course for head coach Jarvis Miller, who kept reminding everyone it would be a “brick by brick” process even when the Cavaliers were 1-10.
The Cavalier girls are 3-0 in the league. So is North Stanly (11-3).
Not only does North Stanly have a strong record, North Rowan will be walking into a Lonnie Chandler Gym that probably will be filled to the rafters as the Comets salute the greatest team in program history — the ladies of 1976. Fifty seasons ago, they were undefeated Western North Carolina High School Activities Association champions.
North Rowan’s girls have gotten solid scoring from Zakiya Oglesby, Essence Robinson and freshman Melanie Parker in the YVC contests.
North Rowan’s boys (7-7, 3-0) were 2-7 after losing to Salisbury to kick off the Sam Moir Christmas Classic, but coach Herb Liles’ team started a winning streak with a consolation-game victory against South Rowan and now has taken five in a row.
North Rowan has consistent double-digit scorers in freshman Jordan Massenburg and junior Carter Williams and has some streaky players, as well. TB Brown is coming off a career-best effort of 22 points against Albemarle on Tuesday.
North Stanly’s boys (15-1, 3-0) have looked really good. Their only loss was to Lexington in a Christmas tournament.
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West Rowan’s boys and girls are favored by a lot at South Rowan.
Salisbury’s girls will be looking for their fifth straight win when the Hornets host East Rowan, which has lost five in a row. Salisbury’s boys are favored to handle the Mustangs by double digits.
Carson’s boys produced a monumental team effort to beat Robinson 72-69 on Tuesday without Drew Neve, but Neve is a terrific player and his absence will be felt as the Cougars move forward. Carson is still good enough to beat most teams, but the Cougars’ margin for error is reduced quite a bit. Northwest’s boys have a pretty horrendous overall record, but they’re better than that.
Northwest’s girls showed how good they were in a fantastic game at West Rowan on Tuesday. The Trojans lost that one, 76-72, but they’ll be favored to win at Carson. Northwest’s MacKenzie Ortscheid is a special player.
Concord is at Robinson. Both Bulldog teams are favored.
A.L. Brown is at Cox Mill in Greater Metro Conference action. The Chargers are favored to sweep.
