What on paper should have been a tight battle for first place in the Carolina-12 Conference’s basketball race turned into a rout last week at Carrboro routed Durham School of the Arts.

Earlier in the week, Carrboro debuted at No. 15 in the newsobserver.com rankings of area teams. Friday, Coach John Alcox’s boys’ team blew out the visiting Bulldogs 77-36 Friday to stay undefeated in the Carolina-12 at 10-3 overall and 6-0 in conference games. DSA, in second place of the league, fell to 4-5, 4-2.

The Carrboro girls’ team (9-4, 4-2) also won, only slightly less easy, with a 60-50 decision over DSA (5-4, 2-4).

Carrboro plays the first of four straight league contests away from home with tonight’s games against Roxboro Community School. The games are set for the girls’ at 5:30 p.m. and the boys’ at 7:30 p.m. in Helena Gym, located at 295 Helena-Moriah Road in Timberlake.

After that, the Jaguars complete the first leg of the Carolina-12 season when the team plays Friday at Granville Central. The female Panthers (15-1, 5-1) are coming off their first loss of the season, a stunning 66-21 defeat last Friday at Cedar Ridge. Granville Central’s boys (7-9, 3-6) lost 68-54 at Cedar Ridge.

Against DSA, Carrboro’s boys’ jumped on the Bulldogs as soon as the visitors managed an opening basket for their only lead of the game. The Jags reeled off 13 straight points and never trailed again.

Carrboro’s 6-6 James Scott dominated the Bulldogs inside, powering for a game-high 17 points. The Jaguars’ also had plenty of deadly outside shooting from its backcourt, with Mclean Phipps adding 12 points, Matt Mackinnon 8, Martin Alcox 8 and Trai Sharp 7.

DSA was led by 11 points from James Marshall and 10 by Bryce Griffin.

In the girls’ game, DSA got almost all of its points from Ariel Wilson (35 points) and Crystal Clark (12). Coach Sheremy Clanton’s Jaguars were more balanced, with Diamond Tyson scoring 24 and Lynette Mason 11 to lead seven players who scored.

Elsewhere in the Carolina-12 this week, the Northwood girls team will look to extend its undefeated steak in league games with back-to-back contests. Cameron Vernon’s Chargers (10-3 overall, 6-0 conference) host the N.C. School of Science and Math (9-9, 0-7) on Thursday and then DSA on Friday.

Coach Donald Williams’ boys’ team, which saw a three-game win streak snapped with Friday’s 58-43 loss to South Granville, hosts NCSSM at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and DSA at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Both matchups follow the girls’ games.

Chapel Hill at home Friday

Both of Chapel Hill High School’s basketball varsities, both ranked in the current state polls, will try to maintain their shares of the Carolina-6 Conference lead when they host Southern Vance on Friday.

CHHS plans a triple-header Friday: the JV boys’ playing at 4:30 p.m., followed by coach Sherry Norris’s team (14-1, 1-0 conference) at 6 p.m. and Tod Morgan’s boys’ (12-3, 1-0) at 7:30 p.m.

Southern Vance’s females have been a bit of a surprise this year, starting off 12-1 overall and 1-0 in the Carolina-6. Led by 21 points from Breona Jones, the Lady Raiders opened their league schedule last week with a 67-31 blowout of Northern Vance.

Southern Vance is No. 5 in the latest 3A girls’ poll from NCpreps.com, while Chapel Hill is No. 4.

The Chapel Hill boys, No. 9 in the newsobserver.com rankings, have yet to lose to a 3A team this season and have won five straight games.

Wildcats face tough stretch

East Chapel Hill this week enters perhaps the most challenging part of its PAC-6 4A Conference schedule – playing the league’s top three boys’ teams in an eight-day span.

The Wildcats will play at Durham Hillside on Friday and then on Jan. 22 will host Person, which features blue chip forward Tyrone Outlaw. On Jan. 25, East hosts Durham Jordan, currently the PAC-6 leader.

East Chapel Hill has yet to win a conference game. The Wildcat girls are 3-12, 0-3 conference, while the boys are 9-7, 0-4.