Coach Randy Bingham’s Mustangs, down 10 points early in the second half, rallied for an important 49-46 basketball victory over Central Cabarrus at the East gym on Friday.

East, 12-5 overall and 6-3 in the 3A South Piedmont Conference, stayed in third place, one game back of Northwest Cabarrus (7-2), which took over the lead by beating Harding Friday. West Rowan is second at 6-2.

Central, tied with East coming into the game, slipped to 8-5 and 5-4.

Morgan, East’s 5-10 junior center, showed signs of getting back into top shape after spraining an ankle in December. She scored 10 points, her first double-figure game since Dec. 13, grabbed eight rebounds, stole the ball a couple of times, and contributed a steal and an assist.

“I think Stephanie’s just now getting back healthy, and I look for Stephanie to do some good things,” said Bingham.

“It’s doing real good now; it’s getting better and better day by day,” said Morgan, who’s wearing an ankle brace. “You’re kind of hesitant when you go out there, because you don’t know what you can do. I felt like that I’m getting on up there and trying as hard as I can when I’m out there.”

“She played a good ball game. She was real solid,” added Bingham. “She played smart in there. Her fouls came early, which I had to sit her down for in the first half. I was real pleased with Stephanie. Her and Mary Clark (Roberts) did a super job.” Roberts had six rebounds off the bench.

Post players Morgan, Lora Williams and reserves Roberts and Michelle Haynes combined for 22 of East’s points.

The inside game was important because the team’s scoring leader, guard Nicole Loggins, couldn’t hit from outside. The senior suffered through a 1-for-15 night, scoring once in close on an assist from Morgan in the fourth quarter.

It was a good sign, however, for East that the team could win an important game with Loggins scoring way below her 15.8 average. The Western Carolina signee also found other ways to hurt the Vikings in the second half, when she had four big assists and four rebounds.

“I just don’t want to live through it many nights. It’ll make your hair gray,” quipped the gray-haired Bingham about Loggins’ off-night as a shooter. “I thought she stepped up her defense tonight.”

Morgan, who had a 5-for-8 shooting night, did most of her damage in the second half with six points and five rebounds. Her basket with 2:30 to go on an assist from Williams gave East its biggest lead of the night at 47-41.

Central cut that lead down to 47-46 on Kim Woodward’s three-point play and Serlethea Smith’s short jumper.

When East reserve Tiffany Poole missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the foul line with 29 seconds left, it appeared the Vikings might have a chance to take the lead. However, Loggins went high in an attempt to put the ball back in the basket. Instead the ball deflected off her hands to Williams, who scored for the three-point lead.

Central missed several scoring chances down the stretch, and point guard Brooke Misenheimer got clutch rebounds as East held on for the win.

East trailed 28-20 at halftime and 30-20 in the opening seconds of the second half.

“I thought the biggest problem we had was getting into any kind of offense to offset what they were doing on defense,” said Bingham of the first half. “We kept doing stupid things with the ball. We never got the ball inside, where it should have gone. The second half, I thought Stephanie did a good job of coming up to the high post, and Emily (Rich) and Mary Clark, and Michelle when she was in there a little bit. ... I thought our girls outplayed them the second half. I thought they definitely outplayed us in the first half.”

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NOTES: East dominated the boards in the second half and wound up with a 43-32 rebound advantage. Morgan, Loggins and Rich each pulled down eight rebounds, while Misenheimer and Roberts had six each. ... Rich scored 12 points before fouling out with 4:16 to play. Misenheimer, who had made two of East’s three 3-pointers, added 11. ... Smith and Evan Miller led the Vikings with 14 points apiece. ... East also beat Central 58-48 in the conference opener for both teams on Nov. 30. ... Central outshot East, going 17-for-48 (35.4 percent) on field goals to the Mustangs’ 20-for-59 (33.9 percent). ... East hosts Piedmont on Tuesday, while Central goes to Northwest Cabarrus in a big rivalry.

CENTRAL CABARRUS (46) — Hardin 4, Miller 14, Smith 14, Morris, Killough 2, Woodward 9, Van De Venter 3.

EAST ROWAN (49) — Loggins 10, Rich 12, Morgan 10, Williams 7, Misenheimer 11, Poole, Haynes 2, Roberts 3.

C. Cabarrus 13 15 5 13 — 46