GRANITE QUARRY — Night and day.
That was difference between East Rowan’s first and second quarters Friday night — and ultimately — between winning and losing its boys basketball game against visiting Northwest Cabarrus.
Let the record show the Mustangs played three strong periods and one miserable one en route their 13th straight loss.
“It’s been that way the whole year,” said first-year coach Derek Kurinsky after East (2-15 overall) tumbled to 0-6 in the NPC. “We play great for three quarters and then one quarter kills us. When we put four quarters together we’ll win some ballgames.”
It’s hard to imagine things getting much worse for the Mustangs. They’ve already lost leading scorer Matt Belk (17 points, 10 rebounds per game) to a season-ending injury. What Kuransky is left with is a youthful team that can expect to take at least a few more lumps.
“Thirteen straight? Hey, that’s our lucky number,” he said. “At some point you have to laugh about it.”
Northwest (5-12, 3-3 NPC) wasn’t laughing in the early going. A pair of layups by Kenny Abel and 3-pointers by guards Eric Taylor and Caleb Miller helped East take a 16-12 lead after one quarter.
But the Trojans stormed back with an aggressive 1-2-1-1 half-court zone that may have intimidated East into careless turnovers. In any case, the visitors opened the second period with a 14-0 run that all-but-decided the match. They outscored East 34-10 in the quarter and sat on a 46-26 halftime cushion.
“Turnovers really hurt us tonight,” Abel said after contributing 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots. “That and we let them hit 3’s.”
That and East turned the ball over 22 times. That and Taylor, the team’s best point guard, picked up his third personal foul midway through the second quarter and was forced to sit for a spell.
“Even though Eric’s a freshman, he can’t be in foul trouble,” said Kuransky. “He knows that. But here’s the best thing about freshmen: they’ll be sophomores next year.”
East drew within 53-42 following Abel’s three-point play halfway through the third quarter. But moments later it was 71-48, thanks in part to Chris Lyerly’s steal and fast-break layup.
“We had to step up on defense and not let them play their transition game,” said Miller. “But we didn’t.”
Instead, Northwest ran the court like it had a police escort. Lyerly and Randy Johnson each finished with 19 points and two others reached double figures.
“They were a lot quicker that we were,” said Kuransky. “They beat us to the stop, they sped the ball down the court and their transition was too much. We couldn’t get back to stop them.”
It all left Kuransky and the Mustangs wondering if and when the season will stop spinning.
“The ball’s gonna bounce our way one of these games,” he said. “We’re gonna get another win this year. You’ll see.”
NORTHWEST CABARRUS (86) — Lyerly 19, Johnson 19, Godwin 13, Lindsey 12, Nance 7, Thomas 6, Caldwell 4, Swinton 2, Patterson 2, Argo 2.
EAST ROWAN (71) — Abel 18, Miller 14, Shepherd 10, Taylor 8, Talbert 8, Whitley 6, Lefko 3, Cunble 2, Harwood 2, Shipp.
Northwest 12 34 31 9 — 86
East Rowan 16 10 28 17 — 71
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