GRANITEQUARRY— Sun Valley played like the second-place team in the South Piedmont Conference Friday night.
East Rowan played like the seventh-place team.
And that was pretty much the story in East’s 75-53 loss to the Spartans.
A 13-3 run to close the third quarter was all Quinton Toxey’s team needed to pull away from the feisty Mustangs, whose seniors played their final game in front of the home fans.
Thus, Sun Valley finishes the regular season 17-6 and 12-4 while East is just the opposite (4-12, 6-17). Which means that in the first round of the SPCTournament Tuesday night, 2 plays 7. Another matchup of these clubs.
Toxey was expecting a tougher game than his team got Friday night.
“We only beat them by 8 at our place and we knew it was Senior Night,” he said. “East is always a tough place to play. We told our guys before we came down here that they were one of the best shooting teams in the league.”
Sun Valley shot out to a quick 16-8 lead but four different Mustangs — Justin Miller, Taylor Weber, Brent Whitley and Matt Butler — helped East score eight straight to knot things at 16.
East trailed 36-28 at halftime and was still down eight, 44-36 when Sun Valley finally exploded. It was 57-39 after three and the Spartans cruised from there.
“We fought them pretty hard,” said Mustang coach Mark Flynn. “But they’re so fundamentally solid, you can’t give them an inch. They can put five good players on the court at any time.”
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NOTES:Miller led East with 17 points while Weber had 12. ... Weber had 11 rebounds, eight in the first half. ... Tuesday’s playoff game begins at 7 p.m. ... Toxey has coached a 24-5 team but said, “As far as chemistry, this is the best team I’ve coached.”
SUNVALLEY (75) — Knick 17, Winchester 16, Orbison 10, Wenger 8, McKinney 6, Hatley 6, Baldridge 4, Alexander 4, Oxner 4.
EASTROWAN (53) — Miller 17, Weber 12, Brady 9, Cornelius 6, Misenheimer 4, Whitley 2, Talbert 2, Butler 1, Ledbetter, Belk.
Sun Valley 16 20 21 18 — 75
East Rowan 13 15 11 14 — 53
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