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SM remains unbeaten with WAC victory over Knights
Cort Smith scored all 17 of his points in the first half, and Jackson Simmons finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds Friday as Smoky Mountain stayed undefeated with a 69-48 Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball victory over North Henderson at the SM gym.
North’s Chris Vanlandingham had 27 points, but that was nine under the average of Western North Carolina’s leading scorer. Brad Buckner added 11 for the Knights.
The Mustangs (15-0, 3-0) had not played in their gym in a month. It was the first time they had been at home since becoming the state’s top-ranked 2-A team.
“It felt good to be home,” Coach Jimmy Cleaveland said. “It was a great home-court advantage. Our crowd was into it, which was real exciting for our kids.”
The coach said his team’s defense on Vanlandingham was a key to the win.
“We just wanted somebody else to have to make some plays,” Cleaveland said. “Martin (Davis) and Colton (Hunt) did a good job on him. We knew he was going to get his points.”
Smith dominated inside during the first half, and his three-point play gave SM a 7-4 edge just more than three minutes into the game.
The remainder of the first quarter saw eight lead changes. John Brown’s driving layup beat the buzzer to put the Mustangs ahead for good at 19-17.
Vanlandingham had his team within 24-23 when he scored with 4:54 on the clock.
Brown’s three-pointer started an 11-3 run, including four each by Smith and John Luke Carter, for a 35-26 advantage at the 2:09 mark.
Carter’s three-pointer with 44 seconds on the clock allowed the Mustangs to take a 40-29 lead to the dressing room.
Martin Davis’ fast break layup made it 48-36 with 4:16 to go in the third quarter, which ended with the Mustangs leading 51-43.
Leading by 11 midway through the fourth period, SM spread the court forcing the Knights to foul. The strategy worked to perfection as the Mustangs closed the game on a 12-2 run with all of those points coming from the line. Brown had four in the spurt.
Smith hit seven field goals and three free throws. Simmons made five field goals and six foul shots.
Brown contributed nine points, Davis added eight, Carter followed with seven, C.J. Fortner and Colton Hunt both scored four, Ridge Parris had two, and Adam Henson and Jeremy Cauley both made a free throw.
Brown handed out six assists, and Hunt came up with three steals.
The Mustangs shot 40.4 percent from the floor.
“We had a great team effort defensively and on the boards,” Cleaveland said. “Our inside game was tough all night long. It was an outstanding effort all the way around.”
The SM JVs improved to 10-2 with a 60-26 win. They led at quarter breaks by scores of 16-4, 34-10 and 55-15.
Hunter Hodgin scored 10 points for the Mustangs.
“We came out ready to play,” Coach Brandon Pendergast said. “We jumped on them early. Defensively, it was probably our best game of the season.”
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