ALBEMARLE — Just 11 days after opening the basketball season with a narrow win over Albemarle, West Stanly topped the Bulldogs once again last Friday with a 42-41 victory.
The Bulldogs (0-4, 0-0 Yadkin Valley) entered the fourth quarter with a 32-29 edge after leading the visiting Colts (4-1, 0-0 Rocky River) from the start.
With the score tied five minutes into the final quarter, momentum swung the Colts’ way after a technical foul called on Albemarle led to a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer for West Stanly.
“You could just see and feel the energy on the bench,” West Stanly coach John Thompson said. “It’s amazing when the ball goes through the basket how much that helps. We struggled offensively all night, so when you hit one of those big shots it does give you a lift because that was the turning point of the game.”
Colts junior Matthew Parker’s free throw gave his team the 42-36 lead before Bulldog senior Ali Currie scored five quick points during a 15-second stretch.
Albemarle pressured the Colts’ inbounds pass with under a second left, but West Stanly’s pass sailed over the heads of the Bulldog defenders.
Despite a posting season-low in points, West Stanly walked off the court with its fourth win of the season.
“I think both teams played really good defense but were out of sync offensively,” Thompson said. “We got a little bit impatient at times on offense. As inexperienced as we are, we’ve done that a couple of times. When we slowed it down, we started getting better shots, and there were a few really good looks that just didn’t fall.”
Parker led the Colts in scoring with eight points. Senior Jacob Lisk added seven, and sophomores Jared Barbee and Jesse Boone each had six.
Currie had a team-high 13 points for Albemarle, while senior Jabari Brooks scored 10 points and senior Omare Price notched nine.
Thompson told SCJ that his team’s plan of sticking to a zone defense paid off.
“(The Bulldogs) were wanting us to come out of that zone and we didn’t want to come out,” he said. “I told my guys during the timeouts that I would let them know when to come out and to just sit back and take advantage of this.”
West Stanly was set to host the Piedmont Panthers of the 4A West Region’s Southern Carolina Conference on Tuesday.
Coach Chauncey Bruton and the Bulldogs hosted Anson on Tuesday in search of their first win.