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Black Hawks bury Mustangs
Smoky Mountain's men's basketball game at North Buncombe on Jan. 18 was over almost before its started.
The Black Hawks jumped to a 16-0 lead in the first four and a half minutes, and the Mustangs were never in it the rest of the way.
With Justin Reggi scoring 20 points, the Hawks breezed to a 62-44 Mountain Athletic Conference victory. Ryan Rotundo added 11 points, and Lewis Icenhower had 10.
Dustin Nicholson scores two points for Smoky Mountain in last week's 62-44 loss at North Buncombe. – Herald photo by Carey Phillips
John Salzano led SM with 14 points.
"They just came out and jumped all over us," Coach Scott Hartbarger said. "We told our kids they would have to be focused and ready to go. We played better after that, but we couldn't overcome the first quarter."
Scott Watkins and Reggi set the tone for the night when they opened the scoring with a pair of three-pointers. Greg Pitts capped the opening surge for the 16-0 lead at the 3:45 mark.
Rotundo's inside basket made it 24-4 with 2:14 on the clock, and the margin was 24-6 at the quarter break.
The biggest lead of the half was 38-17 on Reggi's trey with 2:28 remaining.
The Mustangs closed the half on a 9-2 run cutting the gap to 40-26 at the break on Salzano's basket in the closing seconds.
The Hawks started the second half much like they did the game as a 12-1 run produced a 52-27 lead with 3:17 left in the third period. Reggi and Adam Cole both scored four in the spurt.
The Hawks led 56-31 entering the fourth quarter, and built the margin to 60-33 when Icenhower scored with 6:09 on the clock.
Salzano hit two field goals and 10 of 12 foul shots.
Tyson Crawford finished with eight points, Cory Siler followed with seven, Dustin Nicholson netted six, Cody Maney added four, Deron Fowler scored three and Matt Gibson had two.
North pulled away from a 28-28 halftime tie to win the JV game 61-47.
SM's Kalin Haskett scored 10 points.
"I was proud of our kids," Hartbarger said. "They played hard. I think it's starting to sink in that they've got to be physical and aggressive."
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