Monday, January, 14, 2013 — In Rocky River Conference play on Tuesday night, both Stanly teams were at home as West Stanly hosted Union Academy and North Stanly was at home against Monroe.

Girls

North Stanly 44

Central Academy 27

The North Stanly girls kept their winning streak alive with a stifling defensive effort Friday night at home against the Central Academy Cougars, earning their seventh-straight win 44-27.

Gentry Grubb led the Comets (10-5, 3-3 RRC) with 22 points, hitting 4-of-9 shots from behind the three-point arc.

Rae Moore led the Cougars (4-10, 1-4) with eight points.

Central Academy jumped out to an early 7-2 lead over the first three minutes of the quarter, scoring 13 points on 7-of-12 shooting and holding North to 3-of-17 from the field in the opening period.

North rallied in the second quarter, taking the lead with 5:26 on the clock on a Grubb two-pointer and the Comets never trailed again, building a 28-19 halftime lead.

The Comets’ pressure defense forced a number of turnovers and limited the Cougars to just 5-of-35 shooting over the final three periods of the game, including a 9:27 scoreless stretch that included the entire third quarter.

“Our effort was great tonight and we rebounded well,” North head coach Greg Speight said.

The North coach also talked about his team’s defensive efforts, saying that Central had to shoot contested shots because of North getting a hand in the face of the Cougars’ shooters.

Speight also said he was pleased with the team’s record this season, saying that his team “has been in close games we could have won and won close games as well. Our effort has been good and we are getting better.”

The win puts North Stanly a half-game ahead of Piedmont for fourth place in the Rocky River standings.

The Comets will take the floor in non-conference action Thursday night at South Stanly.

CA    13    6    0    8    27

NS    12    16    9    7    44

CA – Isley 7, Carbone 5, Moore 8, Manus 3, Nichols 2, McCormick 2.

NS – Gentry Grubb 22, Huff 5, Beadle 4, Poolos 2, Speight 6, Chandler 5.

Piedmont 54

West Stanly 35

The West Stanly girls suffered their fifth straight loss, evening their road record this season to 3-3 with a 54-35 loss at Piedmont on Friday night.

Macey Webb led the Colts (6-8, 1-4 RRC) with eight points.

Abbey Mills was tops in scoring for Piedmont (6-7, 2-3) with 19 points, with Jessica Prince adding 10 points.

West Stanly will be on the road Friday night at Cuthbertson (8-7, 4-1).

WS    8    5    7    15    35

P    14    15    14    11    54

WS – Fincher 7, Morgan 3, Moses 3, Summers 1, Webb 8, Swaringen 4, Chapman 4, Wilson 5.

P – Morton 2, Purser 6, Wilson 2, Harris 2, Bowen 3, Jessica Prince 10, Abbey Mills 19, Price 3, Wiley 8.

Boys

Central Academy 57

North Stanly 45

The North Stanly boys’ basketball team took their home floor on Friday night in search of their second Rocky River Conference win of the season but had to attempt to accomplish that task without two starters, Kasey Caulder and T’Zaddi Sylvester.

With both teams struggling to score in the first half, a third-quarter spurt by the visiting Central Academy Cougars directly led to a 57-45 loss for the Comets.

T.J. Smith led North Stanly (4-11, 1-5 RRC) with a double-double, scoring 19 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, both team highs.

Cougar junior guard Ryan Grigston led Central Academy (6-8, 2-3) with 19 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter holding off a late Comet run. The junior was 8-of-9 from the free-throw line in the game.

Neither team could find the touch shooting-wise in the first half as both teams finished the first 16 minutes tied 12-12. The Comets shot 4-of-26 in the first half (15.4 percent) while the Cougars were 4-of-27 (14.8 percent).

In the third quarter, Josh Daugherty came off the bench to hit a three pointer that gave Central a 19-18 lead wit 4:13 left and a chance to set up their full-court press. The defense paid off as the Cougars went on a quick 7-0 run, forcing a North Stanly timeout with 3:42 left in the period. Central outscored North 11-0 over the remainder of the third to lead 34-18 after three quarters.

Central led by as much as 20 with five minutes left in the game before North rallied to cut into the lead. The Comets shot well in the fourth (8-of-14) and narrowed the gap to nine points several times in the period but Grigston knocked down 7-of-8 shots at the foul line to seal the win.

“I’m not disappointed with our effort and I’m proud that our guys cut the lead late,” North head coach Chris Misenheimer said.

Misenheimer also said that his team offensively got good shots but that they just did not fall and were the reason for the team’s struggles on offense.

North Stanly will step out of conference play on Thursday night to take on South Stanly.

CA    6    6    22    23    57

NS    7    5    6    27    45

CA – Donaldson 6, Threatt 4, Morrison 4, J. Daniel 3, Daugherty 5, Hamilton 8, Fisher 2, Courtland 6, Ryan Grigston 19.

NS – T.J Smith 19, Tyler Burris 10, Misenheimer 6, Little 5, Greene 5.

Piedmont 53

West Stanly 40

Former West Stanly head coach Rudi Heath led his new team, the Piedmont Panthers, into Friday night’s game in Unionville against the Colts.

With Piedmont fighting to keep pace with Cuthbertson at the top of the Rocky River standings, the Panthers had three in double figures and earned a 53-40 win over the Colts.

B.J. Hill led West Stanly (5-9, 2-3 RRC) with 17 points while Ryan McCormick returned to the lineup for the Colts to add seven points.

Brady Meggs paced the Panthers (13-1, 5-0) with 17 points, while Qualen Blakeney and Cameron Tripp each added 11 points.

“We did some things well tonight but we just can’t turn the ball over and miss free throws against a good team like Piedmont,” West head coach John Thompson said.

“[Piedmont’s] two big guys are as good as we have faced all year, and they have guards who are very solid and are smart with the basketball.”

The loss drops West Stanly into a three-way tie with Forest Hills and Central Academy for fourth place in the Rocky River Conference standings.

West Stanly has most of next week off due to first semester finals and will not play again until Friday night when the Colts take on Cuthbertson (14-1, 5-0) in Waxhaw.

WS    14    8    8    10    40

P    13    14    15    11    53

WS – B.J. Hill 17, McCormick 7, Grubbs 3, Rowe 3, Whitley 3, Hathcock 2, Helms 2, Eudy 2, Burgess 1.

P – Brady Meggs 17, Qualen Blakeney 11, Cameron Tripp 11, Anthony 8, Hyatt 4, Funderburk 1, Stringer 1.