KANNAPOLIS— Northwest Cabarrus turned the tables on the Mustang boys basketball team Tuesday night.
The Trojans shot 45 percent from the field and made 9-of-22 3-pointers, cruising to their third win of the season by a count of 77-68. Northwest’s victory avenged an 88-56 loss at East Rowan earlier this season in which the Mustangs enjoyed far more success.
“Last time at home we had an extraordinary night shooting the ball,”East head coach Mark Flynn said. “I told the guys that we can’t always depend on that, that we’ve got to step up in other areas. We didn’t do it.”
The Mustangs (5-15 overall, 3-10 South Piedmont Conference) shot a respectable 41 percent from the field but made only 4-of-12 shots from long range, their specialty. They also turned the ball over 18 times. Seven miscues in the second quarter helped the Trojans break the game wide open.
Northwest (3-17, 2-11) trailed by as many as six in the first quarter thanks to Justin Miller’s consecutive 3-pointers. But Chris Lyerly and Randy Johnson answered from the arc to knot the score at 19-all heading into the second quarter.
Once there, turnovers to begin and end the period did in East. Kevin Andrews scored on a steal and layup, Lyerly hit another 3-pointer and Ben Burgess and Jacob Swinton scored on putbacks.
The Mustangs pulled within 32-28 late in the quarter on Trey Ledbetter’s fast-break layup before two more turnovers led to eight quick points, six on Lyerly and Burgess 3-pointers.
“They shot the lights out,”Flynn said. “Our defense was kind of shoddy. There were a lot of times when we didn’t have a hand in their face. Give them credit, though. There were a lot of times we did.”
Taylor Weber, playing like a man possessed on the offensive end, scored eight points to open the third quarter and keep East in the game. He finished with a game-high 19 points and 16 rebounds, fighting for every loose ball, but just when he got the Mustangs within striking distance, Northwest struck back.
Matt Price and A.J. Hendry bombed consecutive 3s, Swinton hit in the post and KeithCaldwell connected on a fast-break layup for a 10-0 run that had Flynn asking for a timeout.
“We’ve got a good bunch of guys. They can play,”Trojans head coach Greg McKenzie said. “We worked so well as a team tonight, and when we do that, we’re tough to defend.”
East went nearly four minutes without a field goal in the third quarter before Adam Cornelius’ pullup jumper cut the lead to 61-45. Then Johnson nailed a 3 at the buzzer to give Northwest a 66-49 margin heading into the fourth quarter.
East got three straight hoops from Matt Belk,Weber and Cornelius, pulling within 66-55 with 6:30 to play. Then, needing to catch up in a hurry, the Mustangs started to press and Northwest handled it — emphatically.
Andrews and Lyerly scored off fast-break layups, then Andrews got another layup on a nice cut to the basket. He ended an 8-0 run with an impressive slam dunk, again beating the East defense down the floor.
“They executed and we just didn’t get it done on defense,”Flynn said. “Their transition game played a big part in the win.”
The easy scores also thrilled the Trojan fans, especially the rare slam.
“It was great for Kevin to get that dunk,”McKenzie said. “Earlier in the year we were turning the ball over, missing the layups. It’s important for us to finish at the end of a break.
“Pass, pass, pass, and then we’d get a layup,”McKenzie said. “We were clicking tonight, making our shots.”
Just like East was the last time around.
NOTES: It just seemed like East was getting killed on the boards — the Mustangs actually won the rebounding battle 38-28, although many of East’s putbacks missed, while the Trojans made the most of theirs, scoring 11 second-chance points. … Northwest’s final field goal was Andrews’ dunk at the five-minute mark, and the Trojans had just three free throws the rest of the way. East scored 13 points in that stretch to narrow the final margin. … The Mustangs travel to A.L. Brown on Friday.
EAST ROWAN (68) — Weber 19, Miller 13, Belk 7, Butler 7, Cornelius 6, Talbert 5, Ledbetter 4, Misenheimer 4, Brady 3, Whitley.
NORTHWESTCABARRUS (77) — Andrews 17, Johnson 14, Lyerly 13, Caldwell 8, Burgess 7, Hendry 6, Price 6, Swinton 4, Patterson 2, Nance, Dairson, Maxwell.
East Rowan 19 14 16 19 — 68
NWCabarrus 19 23 24 11 — 77
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