One week after winning the Yadkin Valley Conference regular season in a victory over North Stanly, the South Stanly Bulls boys’ basketball team took down the Comets again in the conference’s tournament championship over the weekend.
Extending a five-game winning streak, the Bulls (22-4, 9-1 Yadkin Valley) defeated the Comets (19-7, 8-2 Yadkin Valley) in a 63-44 finish at Mount Pleasant High School, coasting off a combined 41 points from senior Drew Gaddy and junior Gavyn Miller.
South had previously bested Union Academy (7-19, 4-6 Yadkin Valley) 70-59 in an earlier tournament round while North had gotten past Mount Pleasant (12-13, 7-3 Yadkin Valley) in a 60-51 finish.
On Sunday, both schools received a bid to play in their respective brackets in the 2023-24 North Carolina High School Athletic Association state playoffs.
Over in the 1A bracket, No. 7 South hosted the No. 26 East Wilkes Cardinals (10-14, 4-8 Northwest) on Tuesday night [the Bulls won in a 66-50 finish and will host No. 23 Mountain Island Charter on Friday].
Meanwhile, No. 10 North hosted the No. 23 Bandys Trojans (15-10, 7-7 Catawba Valley) in the 2A bracket [the Comets lost in a 58-56 finish].
Anson 88, West Stanly 70
Following a four-game winning streak last month, the West Stanly Colts (12-13, 5-7 Rocky River) are now the victims of four losses in a row.
The Colts lost on the road to Anson Bearcats (14-12, 5-7 Rocky River) on Feb. 20 in the first round of the Rocky River Conference Tournament.
Despite a rocky stretch of performances, West did receive a state playoff berth in the 2A bracket. On Tuesday, the No. 30 Colts traveled to face the No. 3 Newton-Conover Red Devils (20-7, 12-2 Catawba Valley) as an underdog [the Colts lost in a 80-58 finish].
Union Academy 82, Albemarle 79
The postseason of the Albemarle Bulldogs (3-21, 2-8 Yadkin Valley) ended on Feb. 19 as they lost on the road to the Union Academy Cardinals in the first round of the YVC Tournament.
Just one season after nabbing a winning record and third-place conference position, the Bulldogs finished their 2023-24 campaign with only three wins to go with a fifth-place spot in the final conference standings.
Mount Pleasant 76, Gray Stone 25
On Feb. 19, the Gray Stone Knights (1-20, 0-10 Yadkin Valley) were defeated in the first round of the YVC Tournament by the Mount Pleasant Tigers in a 51-point road loss.
The Knights were outscored 1347 to 605 throughout the course of a season where they managed to get one win in 21 contests.