NORWOOD —The West Stanly Colts got off to an early 8-0 lead and never trailed for the rest of the game in what became a blowout 73-49 road win at cross-county foe South Stanly.
Colts senior Austin Medlin recorded a team-high 21 points, followed closely by fellow senior Trevor Kelly, who garnered 15 of his 17 points from behind the 3-point arc. Senior Jake Bartell added 13 for the Colts (2-0, 0-0 RRC), while junior Jacob Lisk notched seven points off the bench.
“We got off to a slow start on defense, where we were scoring but just not playing hard on defense as far as rebounding and giving up too much penetration,” West Stanly basketball coach John Thompson said. “I challenged them at halftime because we have to build everything from the defensive end.”
The Colts responded by only allowing the Bulls (0-2, 0-0 YVC) to score seven points in the third quarter.
Much of West’s game plan involved shooting 3-pointers throughout the entire matchup; the Colts converted nine of them while the Bulls only made three.
“We can shoot it but we rely on the three too much sometimes, so we need to start inside-out,” Thompson said. “If we can penetrate or get the ball to our post, and then kick the ball to our threes — attack the basket first and then knock down the three.”
Leading the Bulls in scoring was forward Carson Lowder and his team-high 20 points — the junior was the only player on his team to reach double-digit scoring. Junior Collin Smith had eight points while senior Brandon Teller had six points.
Rocky River Conference play will officially begin for West on Jan. 13 when the Forest Hills Yellow Jackets (2-0, 0-0 RRC) travel to Oakboro. Two days later, the Colts are scheduled for a road game at Central Academy of Technology and Arts (0-2, 0-1 RRC).
“We have to get better defensively and with our shot selection, which was shaky at times tonight,” Thompson said. “But if we clear these things up, our senior-heavy team with guys who work hard has a really good chance.”
Meanwhile, South will look for its first win of the season when the Bulls’ Yadkin Valley Conference campaign begins with a home game versus Chatham Central (1-0, 0-0 YVC) on Jan. 15. That contest will be followed by the Bulls’ first conference road test of the year, a trip to Uwharrie Charter Academy (1-0, 0-0 YVC) on Jan. 19.