Mustangs face Wheatmore next; Patriots will battle A.L. Brown
HobbsDailyReport.com
East Lincoln High’s boys keep moving forward with a gallop.
The top-seeded Mustangs earned another home state 2A playoff basketball game by eliminating No. 17 Lexington 78-51 on Thursday night.
East Lincoln is at home again on Saturday night (7 p.m.), playing No. 8 Wheatmore (21-7) after it advanced by winning at home 80-74 over No. 24 South Point.
Sidney Dollar had 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists to spark East Lincoln’s seventh straight win. Justin Kuthan added 21 points, John Bean had 18 points and six steals and Allden Horne added 10 points and four assists.
Derrick Dearmon led the Yellow Jackets (18-10) with 18 points.
The Mustangs led 18-17 after one quarter and 32-29 at the half, opening the game by outscoring Lexington 26-10 in the third quarter for a 58-39 edge.
East Lincoln recognized senior Ben Zirkle before the game for setting a season record for assists (222), previously held at 221 by Chazz Surratt.
If the Mustangs win again on Saturday, they will face No. 13 East Rutherford (21-5) or No. 12 Walkertown (21-7) in the fourth round on Tuesday at East Lincoln.
No. 6 Mountain Heritage 74, No. 11 Maiden 69, OT
Callin Randolph’s 3-pointer at the buzzer in regulation tied it at 66 for Mountain Heritage, which then won a second round home game in overtime.
Maiden had a lead of as big as 12 points in the second half but closed the year with losses in two of its last three games and in three of its last five.
The Blue Devils finished 9-3 on the road this season, Danny Anderson’s fourth as head coach.
Anderson collected career win No. 700 on Jan. 22 in a home win over Lincolnton (708-246 in 36 seasons; 69-37 at Maiden, four seasons).
Mountain Heritage (21-2) advances to play at No. 3 Shelby (22-5) on Saturday night.
No. 10 North Davidson 62, No. 26 Patton 57
Themus Fulks hit four key free throws in the final 25 seconds, finishing with 44 points, as the Knights (24-5) held off the visiting Panthers (15-12)_ in a second round game in Welcome.
Patton was down 29-10 in the second quarter but rallied to within a point with one minute to play.
Finn Rigsbee scored 19 points to lead Patton and Bryson Holsclaw and Vance Jackson each added 14 points.
North Davidson goes to No. 2 Forest Hills (26-2), the defending state 2A champ, for a third round game on Saturday night.
Patton closed its eighth season under head coach Dennis Brittain, who has guided it to 106 wins and six straight playoff bids.
3A
No. 3 Freedom 81, No. 19 Greensboro Smith 56
With Jakari Dula and Michael Logan combing for 51 points, the Patriots (27-2) won a second round game at home.
Freedom led 17-8 after one quarter and 41-32 at halftime and finished with four double-figure scorers – Dula with 26 points, Logan with 25, James Freeman with 15 and Fletcher Abee with 12.
Nic McMullen, Khalid Hinds and Jordan Williams each scored 10 for Greensboro Smith (14-13).
Freedom meets No. 11 A.L. Brown on Saturday night in Morganton (8 p.m.) with the winner moving on to a Tuesday game against No. 10 Mount Tabor (20-8) or No. 2 Cox Mill (26-2).
The Patriots have won 78 of their last 87 games.
No. 9 Southern Guilford 67, No. 8 Hickory 51
Julius Burch and Jimmy Cooper had 47 points for visiting Southern Guilford as it eliminated the Red Tornadoes (23-5) in the second round.
Southern Guilford led by four points entering the final quarter.
Burch scored 25 points and Cooper had 16 of his 22 in the opening half.
Davis Amos led Hickory with 15 points, Jaylen Harper added 14 and Cody Young had 12.
Southern Guilford plays a third round game Saturday at top-seeded Southwest Guilford (28-0).
The Red Tornadoes won at least 20 games for the fifth straight season and they are 136-34 since Andy Poplin came aboard as head coach six years ago.
— Information for the roundup include a report from Chip Ashley of the East Lincoln coaching staff.
