GRANITEQUARRY — North Rowan’s boys basketball team continues to build on the best start in school history, surging to 15-0 with an 83-66 win in the East Rowan gym on Wednesday night.

The previous best season-opening run by a green machine was eight straight wins in 1995-96.

The Cavs are also closing in on an even more impressive record — the longest winning streak in school history — period. For now, that distinction belongs to coach Bob Hundley’s 1985-86 3A state champions (29-2), who reeled off 17 straight between one-point losses to South Mecklenburg and Thomasville.

Coach Kelly Everhart’s current Cavs could etch their mark in the history books if they win their next three contests against 2A Central Carolina Conference foes, Salisbury, East Davidson and Ledford.

Speaking of streaks, the Cavs’ third consecutive victory over the Mustangs this season gives them 19 wins in a row against East and 24 out of 25. East last beat North in the 1994 Christmas Tournament and last took a season series from the Cavs in 1992.

Appropriately enough, the Cavs played streakily in their latest road venture.

“We were like two different teams,” sighed Everhart. “At times we struggled, but at other times, we had fantastic spurts.”

Calling what the Cavs did in the third quarter a spurt was like calling Niagara Falls a drip. The Cavs were illegal. In that quarter, they made 12 of 14 shots, including three 3-pointers in a two-minute span by Bryan McCullough (15 points), Marcus Reddick (19 points) and Chris Phillips.

At other times, though, the Cavs were pretty ordinary, playing so-so post defense and even getting beaten down the floor by the Mustangs, who, to their credit, went after this one hard.

“We went through the motions in stretches and that surprised me,” said Everhart, “because our practice on Tuesday was just fantastic. I expected us to really get after it tonight and have a great defensive game.”

East, anxious to redeem itself for a wretched 40-point offensive output at Piedmont on Tuesday, took the initiative early.

“We just really wanted to play them tough,” said East senior Taylor Weber, who had a tremendous game with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

“Hey, everybody’s up to play us, but we love the challenge,” responded Phillips, who steered his team home with 11 points and 12 assists. “East surprised us. They had a good game plan. For a while, they had more fastbreaks than we did.”

East (5-12) led 18-15 after the first quarter and North didn’t jump ahead for good until Graham Hosch drove for a three-point play midway through the second quarter for a 27-24 lead. A scrappy East squad was still down just 38-32 at halftime.

But North cut loose in that third quarter, pouring in 27 points as MarcusLawing grabbed five boards and Reddick and McCullough rained in nine points each without a miss.

East guard Justin Miller (23 points) tried to hold back the tide with three 3-pointers in the period, but his one-man show was like waving a sword at a flight of nuclear missiles striking from all directions.

“That’s the thing,” said Phillips. “We’re so versatile. So many people on this team can do it.”

North’s lead was up to 65-47 heading to the fourth. But then the Cavs relaxed again and East clawed back to 71-62 with four minutes left on a circus layup (plus a foul) by Miller. East actually had a great chance to get within six, but Miller missed his free throw and then Weber missed a pair.

Down the stretch, Phillips took charge, proving just how tough the Cavs are going to be in the state playoffs, even without Dre Byrd.

“We did the little things,” said Phillips. “Everyone made the extra pass and got in the right spot.”

“This was Chris’ best game as far as being our leader,” said Everhart. “He was vocal. He was the one who said, ‘Hey, let’s step it up’ when someone needed to say it. He’s just a real key for us.”

Meanwhile, the Mustangs, who have lost five straight, are seeking consistency.

“We were ready to play and we were about 500 times better than at Piedmont,” said East coach Mark Flynn. “We moved on offense. We stayed mentally tough. We could have beaten a lot of people the way we played tonight. But North? There were times when we just couldn’t stop those guys. They made some really tough shots.”

And they made them in streaks.

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NOTES: No one wants to trade schedules with Flynn. He’s got West Rowan’s powerhouse on Friday and it will be the Mustangs’ sixth game in a two-week span. ... Weber, who plays AAU ball with many of the North stars, is as amazed as anyone at East’s weird good game-bad game season. “North shot the ball great and still beat us about the same margin as we lost at Piedmont,” he said. “That shouldn’t happen.” ... Lawing, healthy again, grabbed 13 rebounds. ... McCullough made his last six shots. ... Hosch tallied 14, a career high, as five Cavs reached double figures. ... East’s Adam Cornelius handled the ball well against North’s press. ... Miller went over 800 points for his career.

NORTHROWAN (83) — Reddick 19, McCullough 15, Hosch 14, Phillips 11, Lawing 11, Witherspoon 6, Farmer 5, House 2, Peoples, Davis.

EAST ROWAN (66)— Miller 23, Weber 18, Belk 8, Brady 6, Cornelius 5, Misenheimer 2, Butler 2, Whitley 2, Talbert, Ledbetter.

North Rowan 15 23 27 18 — 83

East Rowan 18 14 15 19 — 66