West Stanly men take down Gray Stone

Published 12:26 pm Thursday, January 23, 2020

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Each season men’s basketball teams in Stanly look to post the best head-to-head marks against each other in search of the mythical county title.

West Stanly completed its county schedule Wednesday night with an 65-28 home win over Gray Stone.

Ethan Conner led the Colts (11-6) with 14 points while Austin Medlin, who was honored before the game for scoring his 1,000th career point Friday night at Anson, added 11 points.

David Almond led the Knights (0-11) with seven points.

With the win, West Stanly improved to 6-1 in county matchups with the only loss coming at South Stanly. The Bulls are 3-1 in county games with the only loss for South coming against West.

West head coach John Thompson said former coach Rudi Heath, for whom Thompson was a long-time assistant, always used to say if a team is going to be good, it has to be good in its own backyard first.

“We would have liked to have gone 7-0, but South Stanly is a heck of a team…we’re glad to get through the county the way we have but we have to get some business done in the conference,” Thompson said.

The Colts have seven games left in the regular season including six conference matchups, which the West coach said the team has to play with energy in those games.

“We’re not talented enough to not play with great energy. When we do, we can be really good…playing with a sense of urgency especially on the defensive end,” Thompson said.

West Stanly hosts Mount Pleasant Friday night while Gray Stone hosts South Stanly Friday.

About Charles Curcio

Charles Curcio has served as the sports editor of the Stanly News & Press for more than 16 years and has written numerous news and feature storeis as well. He was awarded the NCHSAA Tim Stevens Media Representative of the Year and named CNHI Sports Editor of the Year in 2014. He has also won an award from Boone Newspapers, and has won four North Carolina Press Association awards.

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