Staff report
LANDIS — It was late in the 2011-12 regular season when South Rowan basketball player Qua Neal had the game of his life and baseball star Eric Tyler simultaneously played the best basketball game of his life.
Neal, who averaged 12.7 that season, scored 28 points for coach John Davis, while Tyler, who averaged 3.2, piled up 13 points, which was roughly the equivalent of Tyler hitting a grand slam and throwing out four base-stealers in a game on a baseball diamond. The Raiders beat Carson 62-50, withstanding 26 points from the Cougars’ towering post man Colton Laws.
South finished 8-18, but that season is still notable as it was the last time the South boys beat the Cougars in a varsity basketball game. Since that night, Carson head coach Brian Perry has enjoyed 28 consecutive victories against his neighbors. There was a season (2014-15) when Carson edged South 53-50 and 53-52, but most of the games have not been close or all that competitive. The matchup of rivals has become a mismatch. Carson’s last six victories against South all have been wildly lopsided.
Carson won 69-13 on Tuesday. It was 38-5 at halftime after the Raiders’ scoreless second quarter.
A record was set —fewest points ever allowed by Carson. But it was not the fewest points ever scored by South, which lost 71-12 to West Rowan just a few years ago.
South is going through tough times. Brody Thomas, who would have been the leading scorer, tore an ACL before the season even started. Anderson Pauley, a freshman who became the go-to guy after Thomas went down, started the season performing admirably, but now is sidelined following surgery. South (2-13, 0-7) has continued to fight, made a pile of 3s and scored 69 points in last Friday’s loss to West Rowan and their have been other very respectable efforts, but some nights the 3s don’t fall, and Carson (16-1, 7-0) is leading the South Piedmont Conference for a reason. Carson doesn’t give up many easy points.
Carson did what it normally does offensively. Jacob Mills made five of Carson’s dozen 3-pointers and scored 20 points. He had seven rebounds and three steals. CP Perry had 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Will Hall made two early 3s and scored 12. Corbin Krider scored nine. Jaxson Martin had seven rebounds, while Eli Covington had six rebounds. There were a lot of misses to rebound.
Aaiden Sechler made the only 3 for South and scored five points.
Carson 18 21 17 13 — 69
South 5 0 6 2 — 13
CARSON — Mills 20, Perry 16, Hall 12, Krider 9, Martin 5, Covington 3, Barrett 3, Walters 1.
SOUTH — Sechler 5, Kluttz 2, Robinson 2, Long 2, Burris 2.
