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Defending champs roll past Mustangs
Pisgah, the defending state 2-A men’s basketball champion, extended its winning streak to 44 games Friday with an 82-56 Western Athletic Conference win at the SM gym.
Jonathan Whitson scored 26 points for the Bears, and Western Carolina signee Jake Robinson had 21. Also hitting double figures were Jarrod Conard with 14 and Jake Hollifield with 13.
The Mustangs (5-11, 1-4) were led by Tyson Crawford with 11 points.
“They’re pretty tough to handle,” Coach Scott Hartbarger said of the Bears. “They’re a solid basketball team. I was proud of our kids. Except for the last three minutes of the third quarter, I thought our effort was good. We handled their press pretty well.”
Dillon Dunford opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but that would be SM’s lone basket of the game.
Pisgah ran off the next 10 points, including five by Whitson, to lead 10-3 at the 5:03 mark.
The Bears closed the quarter with a 10-3 spurt, including four by Whitson, for a 27-15 margin.
The biggest lead of the half was 46-27 on a Whitson trey with 2:30 on the clock.
Cory Siler’s follow shot cut the gap to 46-34 at the 1:09 mark.
Pisgah led 52-37 at intermission.
Robinson’s eight points sparked a 14-2 spurt opening the second half giving the Bears a 66-39 advantage with 2:42 to go in the third stanza.
The game’s biggest lead was 72-42 when Hollifield scored with 20 seconds on the clock, and Pisgah led 72-44 entering the fourth quarter.
Crawford hit five field goals, including a three-pointer.
Dunford and Siler both finished with nine points, Taylor Gilleland followed with eight, Martin Davis netted five, Matt Hawkins contributed five, Rodney McCormick added four, Josh Jones scored three and Dayne Bowers had two.
The Mustang JVs are 7-8 after a 50-38 win. C.J. Fortner scored 13 points.
The score was 11-11 after the first quarter and 20-20 at halftime. SM led 29-24 through three periods.
“They’re playing really well together,” Coach Jim Hartbarger said. “They’re unselfish and working as a team. John Brown handled the pressure really well.”
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