Salisbury holds on to take down Defending NCHSAA AAA State Champions Carson by a score of 56 - 40.
Carson, NC - Coming off a season where they hoisted the NCHSAA AAA State Championship trophy in what seems like just a few months ago, Carson HS is now turning the chapter to a new season and new team that is missing 4 key contributors from that Championship team. Salisbury is a team that is in their prime right now, they have been contenders over the last few years in NCHSAA AA and they feel that this team is as good as any entering the season. Even though Salisbury was the road team they brought enough fans that you could have thought it was their home game, then they jumped out to a 10 - 2 run to start the game, led by junior Jamecia Huntley who had 5 1st quarter points. Carson would make a comeback and cut there deficit to 15 - 12 with a few seconds left in the 1st period behind 4 points apiece from Senior Mary Spry and Junior Hannah Irley, Salisbury Senior guard Rachel McCullough finished the quarter with a 3-Point buzzer beater that pushed the lead back to 6 points at 18 - 12. The 2nd 8:00 Minute period did not see as much action as we got in the 1st quarter of play, both teams combined to score 13 points, 6 by Salisbury on 3-pointers from Juniors Jamecia huntley and Kyla Bryant, Carson scored 7 points and 5 came from Hannah Irley who continued to stay aggressive and kept her team in the game. The Halftime score was 24 - 19 with Salisbury holding a 5 point lead heading into the 2nd half of play. The pace of play and consistent scoring picked up in the 3rd quarter as both teams were able to score with Carson outsourcing Salisbury by a 15 - 11 margin throughout the quarter, Hannah Irley led Carson with 6 points in this quarter while Salisbury had a balanced attack led by 4 points for Jamecia Huntley. The score was 35 - 34 with Salisbury holding on to a slim lead heading into the final 8:00 minutes of play, one person that wanted to separate themselves was Salisbury Senior guard Rachel McCullough, she was extremely aggressive and was the driving force to a 21 point 4th quarter for Salisbury, Rachel contributed 10 of those points herself. Salisbury used this huge 4th period of scoring and a stingy defense that only allowed 6 points in the final period to close out Carson on the road with a 56 - 40 victory.
Carson
Junior Hannah Irley was fantastic the entire game scoring 20 points and always being there when her team needed a bucket, she also knocked down three 3-Pointers. Senior Mary Spry who is committed to Catawba College never got into the flow of the offense and finished with 6 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Salisbury
Rachel McCullough finished off the game with 15 total points after that tremendous 4th period, Junior Jamecia Huntley also finished with 15 points and showed her 3 level scoring and passing ability. Junior guard Kyla Bryant rounded out the double digit scores with 12 points and some clutch free throws down the stretch.
Peter London
Carolina Girls Hoops Report