By Bret Strelow
Salisbury Post
Alstin Vanderford gave his younger brother a hug during a ceremony prior to East Rowan’s home game against Northwest Cabarrus.
Justin Vanderford then walked over and handed the commemorative gameball to his mother.
The Vanderfords are known more for scoring than distributing, but they made passing a priority Friday night.
Justin Vanderford became the school’s all-time leading scorer on the second day of the Sam Moir Christmas Classic, and East honored him before its first-place showdown with Northwest.
He joined his older brother, the previous record holder, and East coach Greg McKenzie at midcourt.
Alstin Vanderford, who scored 1,346 points in his varsity career, had no problem deferring to his sibling.
“It was really special because he means a lot to me,” Justin Vanderford said.
Vanderford scored 22 points in a victory that allowed East to claim sole possession of first place in the NPC, and he has 1,418 points in his career.
The Mustangs might have to honor another player in the near future. Kenan McKenzie needs 32 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
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THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE: Northwest outrebounded East by a 38-25 margin, and the Trojans had 22 offensive boards.
The Mustangs received a lift from reserve forward Antonio Ruiz, who finished with seven rebounds. He had three on the defensive end in the first quarter, when Northwest collected six offensive boards.”It’s tough to keep overcoming that rebounding deficit, but you have to go with who you are,” Greg McKenzie said. “That’s our team.”
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TOUGH ROAD: The Mustangs have a chance to roll through the first half of their NPC slate unbeaten ó they face sixth-place Statesville on Tuesday.
East’s schedule gets tougher. Wins against Northwest Cabarrus, West Rowan, Mooresville and Lake Norman ó the next four teams behind the Mustangs in the standings ó occurred at home.
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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com.