Despite losing both of its top two scorers from the last three seasons, the East Burke girls basketball team is back.
Not that the Lady Cavaliers ever went away, of course.
Three-time defending NCHSAA 2A West Regional finalist East Burke continued its push toward what it hopes is a fourth consecutive conference regular-season championship thanks to Tuesday’s 59-43 victory at rival Draughn.
The Lady Cavaliers (13-4, 6-1 Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conf.) won for a seventh straight time over the Lady Wildcats as they ran their current win streak to eight games over the past month-plus in the contest, which settled a tie for second place at the midpoint of league play.
EB jumped to a 5-0 lead in the opening minute, then rattled off a subsequent 12-0 scoring run to seize a 21-5 advantage late in the opening period as it basically decided the outcome early.
Belle Gwyn, Frankie Gwyn, and Addie Brittain — who returned wearing a brace after missing three games with a knee injury — each drilled 3-pointers in the guests’ early outburst, which was also fueled by EB grabbing 10 of the first 11 total rebounds in the game en route to a 32-24 final edge on the glass.
“That’s been an issue with us is we’re starting off slow scoring-wise and our defense has kept us in games,” said Lady Cavs coach Crystal Bartlett. “But I thought tonight was a lot better. We were ready to go and hit a couple shots. We’ve got great drivers, but when we can hit from long range, it’s hard to stop us.
“The one person that gets lost a lot that’s been playing really well lately is Saleen Franklin. She’s had to go against some tough post players, and she’s done a great job on them. She really locked down (Kenley Berry) tonight. She plays great defense, helping out on drives, rebounding. … We focus on our rebounding because we don’t have a tremendous amount of size. The biggest thing for us is to make sure we win the boards every night.”
The Lady Cavs also switched defenses often, stifling Draughn (12-5, 5-2 WPC) with halfcourt man-to-man and zone looks while sprinkling in some fullcourt pressure.
It all led to the Lady ’Cats getting only as close as six points down the rest of the way at 31-25 on a Jacey Davis runner early in the third period.
Belle Gwyn — who made four 3s and had a team-high 18 points and game-high 10 rebounds — supplied the immediate answer to Davis’ basket with one of her own, which sparked a 20-5 EB scoring run that saw the guests lead by as much as 21 at 51-30 in the opening minutes of the fourth.
Freshmen Sarabeth Bradley and Frankie Gwyn also shined for the guests, with Bradley going 8 for 9 at the free-throw line in the second half to post 17 points, nine rebounds, and four assists and Gwyn finishing with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Brittain and Franklin (three assists) both added five points and four rebounds.
Davis canned three 3s and poured in a game-high 21 points for Draughn, while fellow senior guard Taylor Holder went for 10 points, four steals, and three assists, and Berry added seven points and a team-best six rebounds.
Both teams had finished the previous week with wins on Jan. 16 as EB outscored visiting East Rutherford 18-9 in the final period to claim a 56-45 victory and Draughn steamrolled host Chase, 63-9.
Bradley scored 22 and Belle Gwyn added 13 to pace the Lady Cavs, while Berry (15), Davis (14), Holder (12), and Bailey Winkler (10) all hit double figures for the Lady Wildcats in their win.
EB next Tuesday (Jan. 27) is scheduled to host Hibriten, who gave the Lady Cavs their lone league loss to date, 75-68, last month in Lenoir.
“We know we have to win out to have a chance at that conference championship,” Bartlett said. “That’s going to be a huge game.”
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East Burke’s Tyler Brown (5) goes up for a shot between Draughn
defenders Christian Hubbard (2) and Reagan Gragg on Tuesday
evening.
JAMES LYNCH JR. / THE PAPER
EB, Draughn boys both win once
Carter Bennett made three consecutive 3-pointers as the East Burke boys took a 15-0 lead on Tuesday night at Draughn and never looked back in a 75-45 road triumph.
It came four nights after the Cavaliers (5-11, 5-2 WPC) led visiting East Rutherford by a 22-15 margin at the half but were outscored by 14 points in the third period and lost their chance to tie for the league lead with a 57-44 setback.
Still, EB maintains a tie for second place in the league with Hibriten, whom it defeated in the first meeting and holds the tiebreaker over.
Bennett (three rebounds, three assists) ended up with six made 3s en route to sharing game-high honors with Tyler Brown (four assists, three steals) at 19 points against the Wildcats (2-14, 1-5 WPC). Luke Demiter added a monster 14-point, 14-rebound double-double for the Cavs.
“It’s nice when the shot goes in from outside. It was a great start, and that’s what you want, especially on the road,” said EB coach Jerome Ramsey. “I think we did an OK job against their (man-to-man defense). … Defensively, I like what we did in that first half. We were paying attention, stayed pretty connected in terms of our communication. I liked how we guarded them, especially some of their scorers.”
Indeed, the Cavs limited the county’s leading scorer, Draughn sophomore guard Cayden Lewis, to two first-half free throws and 13 points in all, nearly a half-dozen below his season average.
Lewis also paced the Wildcats with five steals and three assists, while Titus Dodd had 10 points and Hunter Ellis corralled a team-leading five rebounds.
Lincoln Burns scored 11 points and was EB’s only player in double figures against East Rutherford.
Draughn ended last week by outscoring host Chase by a 25-14 margin during a pivotal third quarter to earn its first league win, 79-76.
Lewis made six 3s and scored 28 points, while classmates Henry Cooper added 22 and Dodd 19 (on five 3s).
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Freedom’s Kobe Johnson (3) makes a layup against Hickory during
Wednesday’s home contest. The Patriots led the Red Tornadoes most
of the way before losing at the buzzer in overtime.
JAMES LYNCH JR. photos / THE PAPER
Patriots lose OT thriller after back-to-back league wins
The Freedom boys didn’t trail until visiting Hickory hit a free throw to begin overtime on Wednesday at Crump-Rogers Gymnasium, but the Patriots ultimately fell by a 97-96 final thanks to a buzzer-beating putback from the Red Tornadoes’ Jah’kyran Weaver.
The nonconference loss snapped a season-long five-game winning streak for Freedom (13-4, 4-0 Northwestern 6A/7A Conf.), which received a game-high 38 points from senior Kobe Johnson to go with 19 and 16, respectively, from juniors King Johnson and Jaden Watkins. The Patriots also got 12 points from senior Kaden Davis.
Hickory put four players in double figures as well, led by 33 points from 6-foot-7 senior center Jace Blocker. Juniors Hayden Hillman (18 points), Landon Forrest (14), and Javian White (13) were the Red Tornadoes’ remaining double-digit scorers.
Freedom built a 22-12 advantage after the opening quarter before Hickory battled back to tie things at 30-all with 2:46 left until halftime. Following a timeout, Kobe Johnson and Watkins recorded back-to-back baskets, with Johnson also scoring six more points before the end of the period to help the Patriots carry a 45-38 lead into the break.
Kobe Johnson then took over in the second half, scoring 10 points in the third quarter, 12 in the fourth, and six in the extra session. He was particularly effective at the free-throw line, where he made 18 of 20 attempts including his last 10 in the fourth quarter and OT.
Nevertheless, Hickory capped each of the final three periods with a last-second field goal. A steal and the subsequent layup from Forrest just before the third-quarter buzzer cut Freedom’s lead to 65-63, while a 3-pointer from White with 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation forced OT with the game tied at 84 apiece.
White also nailed two foul shots to put the Red Tornadoes up 86-84 in OT before King Johnson knocked down a 3. However, Hickory responded with a technical free throw and a jumper from Hillman before Kobe Johnson knotted the score at 89-all with a pair of foul shots.
After Hickory reclaimed the lead courtesy of two more free throws from White, a triple from Davis and two foul shots from Kobe Johnson made it 94-91 in favor of the hosts with 1:59 to play. Johnson later swished two more at the charity stripe to extend the advantage to 96-91 with 47.4 seconds left.
The Red Tornadoes scored the game’s final six points, though, getting a layup from Forrest, a steal and the eventual basket from Zay McCathern, and the game-winning putback from Weaver.
Freedom previously defeated league foes South Caldwell and Alexander Central on Jan. 16 and Tuesday, respectively, to move into sole possession of first place in the NWC. The Patriots knocked off the Spartans by a 75-55 score in Sawmills before cruising to a 77-51 home victory over the Cougars.
Kobe Johnson and Watkins each scored 21 points on Jan. 16 to go with 12 from King Johnson and 10 from Davis, while King Johnson had 23 points, Kobe Johnson had 16, and Watkins and Daivyon Feaster-Hicks scored eight apiece against Alexander.
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Freedom’s Cynica Caldwell (15) looks to score under the basket
against Hickory on Wednesday.
JAMES LYNCH JR. / THE PAPER
In girls action, Freedom (8-10, 2-2 NWC) built an early double-digit lead and held on for a 40-32 road win over South Caldwell last week before dropping home games to Alexander Central and Hickory by respective scores of 64-30 and 39-19.
Senior Alayhia Bates was the Lady Patriots’ leading scorer with 11 points against the Lady Spartans, with junior Aniah Queen adding nine and senior Ava Cooke scoring eight. Freedom was up 14-2 after the opening quarter, 18-10 at the half, and 29-17 entering the fourth period before winning by an eight-point final margin.
Freedom was then outscored in all four quarters on Tuesday despite a game-high 18 points from Cooke, while the Lady Patriots were paced by seven points apiece from Bates and fellow 12th grader Kaitlyn Hagmann during Wednesday’s contest, which the Lady Red Tornadoes led 15-4 after the first period, 22-9 at halftime, and 25-16 through three quarters before pulling away for a 20-point triumph.
Patton squads sweep Chase at home
The Patton boys snapped a three-game losing skid with Tuesday’s 74-58 home win over Chase as they moved back above .500 in Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conference action to cap the first half of league play.
After leading by just four at halftime, the Panthers (10-7, 4-3 WPC) cruised 31-14 in the third period to lead by more than 20 and sew up the win, with which they matched last season’s overall total.
Olando Norman scored a game-high 21 points, and he was joined in double figures by Kyle Taylor (11). Laine Barrier added eight points, and Brady Davis, Nathan Waters, and Noah Tallent each scored six.
In its previous game, Patton scored just two points in the opening period and never recovered in a 75-59 home loss to Hibriten on Jan. 16. Despite the loss, four Panthers scored in double figures: Taylor (15), Waters (13), Norman (11), and Davis (10).
The Patton girls (5-12, 2-5 WPC) mirrored those two outcomes, falling 59-20 to Hibriten before defeating Chase, 57-47.
Lady Panthers sophomore post Leah Clark scored a career-high 23 points in this week’s win, while Hayden Hein added 10 points, Emma Rolland had eight, and Melina Bernabe scored six.
Mia Chapman’s six points paced Patton against Hibriten.
NCSSM-M boys, girls lose twice
The NCSSM-Morganton boys and girls squads both were swept in their last two games, with the Dragon boys falling 78-29 at Piedmont Community Charter on Jan. 15 and 78-42 to Jackson Day at home on Tuesday and the girls team (2-10, 1-7 Catawba River 1A/2A/3A Conf.) losing by margins of 45-10 and 65-18, respectively, to the same two schools.
Senior forward Nate Gutschall paced the NCSSM-M boys (3-9, 2-6 CRC) with 11 points against Piedmont Community Charter in the only recent game for which NCSSM-M individual statistics were available.
