Friday’s roundup …

OAKBORO — East Rowan girls basketball coach Kevin Holland watched his team take another important step at West Stanly.

East can win now even now even on an off night.  The Mustangs struggled some but still beat West Stanly’s Colts, 55-32.

“It wasn’t our best, but it’s nice to still be able to win,” Holland said. “We lost to them at home by 10 last year.”

Grace Eagle again led the Mustangs, scoring 19 points.  She’s scored 100 points in East’s six games.

Adalie Harrison scored 15. Freshman Mary Spry had seven points and 11 rebounds.

East led 12-0 after the first quarter.

“That was them having a hard time getting a shot to go in more than it was our defense,” Holland said. “They just missed too many shots to have a chance of keeping it close.”

Kailey Furr paced the Colts (2-3)  with eight points.

East (5-1) led at halftime, 26-12, and put the game away in the third quarter.

East has matched the victory total it had for all of last season.

“There are times when we look solid, but there are also times that drive me crazy,” Holland said. “The biggest thing is this group just keeps working. I’m really excited about our potential.”

EAST (55) — Eagle 19, Harrison 15, Spry 7, Houpe 4, Winford 4, Mitchell 4, Peeler 2, Honeycutt, Miller, Fleming, Ali, Fraley.

W. STANLY (32) — K. Furr 8, R. Furr 5, Greene 5, Donaghue 4, Barbee 3, Bishop 3, Moss 2, Tibbetts 2.

East               12     14    19    10   —55

W. Stanly        0     12     9    11    — 32

 

East boys

OAKBORO — Elton Hooper bounced back from an off game with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

The 6-foot-7 senior had four dunks and led the Mustangs to a 53-46 win at West Stanly. Hooper had five buckets in the fourth quarter.

Hooper scored only six in East’s loss to Concord on Tuesday, but he’s been really strong in all of the Mustangs’ victories.

East is 4-1. This is the best start for the program since the 2007-08 team won its first nine outings.

Steady senior guard Gabe Hinceman took care of the basketball, scored nine points and dished out six assists.

Christian Bennett is known as a football and track and field stud, but he’s also important to East basketball. He turned in his best game of the season with eight points and eight rebounds.

“Christian stepped up big for us tonight and played awesome with Brandon Jefferson out with sickness,” East head coach Kurt Misenheimer said. “Christian is a competitor and he’s extremely coachable.”

Freshman Cameron Padgett continues to make an impact and scored seven.

Nick Parker scored 22 for the Colts, while Hayden Greene had 12. West Stanly (4-1) came into the game undefeated and owns wins against Albemarle and North Stanly.

 

EAST (53) — Hooper 23, Hinceman 9, Bennett 8, Padgett 7, Jordan 5,  Shuping 1, Sprinkle.

W. STANLY (46) — Parker 22, Greene 12, Medlin 8, Hansen 2, Morgan 1, Kelly 1.

East                    11     10    11    21     — 53

W. Stanly           12     8    13    13    — 46