Mustangs snap losing streak with victory over Warhorses at Pisgah

Justin Roper scored 19 points, and Jared Day added 16 leading Smoky Mountain to a 57-41 win over Owen on Dec. 22. They both did most of their damage from the outside with four three-pointers apiece.

Stewart Honeycutt paced the Warhorses with 11 points.

"I was really proud of our fullcourt press," Coach Scott Hartbarger said. "I was also pleased with the final four minutes when we wanted to run down the clock. We were patient and did not have turnovers."

He pointed out that Roper and Day both shot well from outside.

Consecutive three-pointers by Roper and one by Day staked SM to a 9-1 lead with 5:41 left in the first period.

Six different players scored in an 11-2 run for a 20-6 lead on a Jeff Davis free throw with 37 seconds left in the first quarter, which ended with the Mustangs leading 20-8.

Owen fought back with seven straight points, and two free throws by Jordan Stone cut the gap to 25-20 with 1:17 on the clock.

SM led 29-20 at intermission.

The effectiveness of SM's delay game kept the Warhorses from scoring a field goal in the fourth period until 2:40 on the clock.

In addition to their treys, Roper and Day both had two conventional field goals. Roper also made three foul shots.

Davis finished with seven points, Lance Gabbard netted five, Jake Day followed with four, and Michael Ayers, Josh Day and Sam Hammer all had two.

Pisgah 82 SM 60

Adam Robinson scored 18 points, and Dustin Young had 17 as Pisgah rolled past the Mustangs 82-60 on Dec. 21.

Justin Roper led the way for SM with 17 points.

"The first quarter killed us," Coach Scott Hartbarger said. "We came out flat and could never get back in it. I was pleased with our effort in the second half."

With Robinson and Young both scoring four points, the Bears jumped to a 10-1 lead just over three minutes into the contest.

Roper had SM's first field goal at the 4:59 mark.

Pisgah built the lead to 21-5 after two Cheyenne Keener free throws with 1:11 on the clock, and the Bears led 24-8 at the quarter break.

Jared Day's follow shot cut the gap to 26-15 with 6:11 left in the half, but the Mustangs could come no closer.

Pisgah used an 8-2 run for a 44-23 lead on two Jacob Warren free throws with 12.3 seconds on the clock and was up 44-25 at intermission.

Sam Hammer's three-pointer brought the Mustangs within 44-30 at the 7:07 mark of the third stanza.

Robinson and Young both had four points in a 10-2 run building the margin to 54-32 with 2:36 on the clock. Pisgah led 56-34 entering the fourth quarter.

The game's biggest lead was 62-38 on Kyle Stockton's fast break layup with 6:27 left in the game.

The Mustangs fought back as Hammer had six points and Roper four in an 11-2 spurt cutting the gap to 67-53 with three minutes left. They came as close as 69-56 with 2:04 to play.

Pisgah ended the game on a 9-2 run, including four free throws by Slade Singleton.

Roper hit seven field goals and three free throws.

Hammer finished with nine points, Lance Gabbard followed with seven, Michael Ayers and Silas Webb both netted six, Jared Day scored four, Stephen Brown and Paul Van Der Van added three apiece, Jake Day and Josh Day each had two and Landon Farley hit a free throw.

Back to Sports: 01/03/02.