East Rowan’s basketball teams opened with a hard-fought sweep against 1A North Stanly in New London on Monday night.

East’s girls trailed by six points with two minutes left but pulled out a 51-45 victory.
A 3-pointer by Shenell Pharr and a three-point play by Shenique Pharr keyed East’s comeback against a scrappy opponent. The Pharr twins are seniors and are expected to lead this year’s team, along with senior guard Jocelyn Lowe.
“It was a typical first game, not pretty,” East coach Danielle Porter said. “This was a good test. We had a surge late in the game to get the win and we showed some signs of what we’re capable of.”
Brittany Small, who stars in track and volleyball for East, is playing basketball for the first time since her freshman year and gives the Mustangs some size. She had six points and 12 rebounds.
Shenique Pharr had 18 points and four steals. Shenell Pharr had 12 points and six steals. Lowe had nine points and three assists.
Aliyah Scott scored 21 for the Comets.

East Rowan 51, North Stanly 45
EAST (51) —  Shenique Pharr 18, Shenell Pharr 12, J. Lowe 9, Small 6, Weisensel 4, McCree 2, S. Lowe, Harrison.
N. STANLY (45) — Scott 21, Hinson 10, Almond 6, Smith 6, Sells 2.

East Rowan 6 16 13 16 — 51
N. Stanly 14 9 11 11 — 45

In the boys game, the Mustangs got off to a slow start and North Stanly was hot from the 3-point line.
East rallied by shooting 15-for-16 at the foul line in the fourth quarter and by playing tighter defense. East outscored the Comets 24-9 in the fourth quarter.
“Naquis Caldwell played great defense and our seniors kept us calm in the fourth quarter after it was a little crazy those first three quarters,” new East Rowan coach Kurt Misenheimer said. “They were just making 3s left and right in the first half, but we settled down and pulled it out.”
Caldwell had eight points and 12 rebounds. Austin Love scored 16 points, and Bravon Goodlett had 15. Lucas Morton scored 10. Corbin Elliott rebounded well and Bryson Sprinkle provided a spark off the bench.
Stephen Misenheimer scored 20 for the Comets.

EAST ROWAN (58) — Love 16, Bravon Goodlett 15, Caldwell 8, Morton 10, Sprinkle 4, Elliott 3, Brevin Goodlett 2, Shuping, Taylor.
N. STANLY (50) — Misenheimer 20, P. Childress 13, Gibson 9, B. Childress 8.

East Rowan 11 13 10 24 — 58
N. Stanly 18 11 12 9 — 50