Quick Hits: Cramer's Kelly hits a career milestone, but was it enough to get past Crest?
CRAMERTON — Brad LeVine expects to learn a bit about his Crest basketball team over the next two weeks.
A tough conference as is, the Chargers’ pursuit of a second Big South 3A title in a row became tougher courtesy of a schedule backlogged by postponements the result of COVID-19 protocols and recent winter weather. Crest will play seven games in 10 days, the first hurdle a dangerous one on the road at Stuart Cramer and sharpshooter Will Kelly.
“It's a dead man’s row, you might as wll just call it that,” LeVine said. “We’ll likely have to dig a little deeper into a bench. But we’ll just load them up and do it all over again. The kids know what this is and know what we expect.”
After one night, so far so good.
Kelly performed as advertised, filling the bucket for 40 points. However, it was Crest’s balance that won the night, outlasting the Storm for a 77-70 victory.
“We expected something like this coming in,” LeVine said. “I said earlier this season that (Stuart Cramer) was a top team in the league, and I believe we are. Kudos to Stuart Cramer, Kelly, Sloan … they played hard the entire time.”
Tied at 61, Crest standout Mari Adams uncharacteristically missed two free throws. However, the Chargers gathered the loose ball, with freshman Amari Adams hitting his older brother for the bucket and a foul. Mari Adams hit the free throw this time around, giving his team a 64-61 advantage.
Crest never trailed again, knocking down their free throws late and getting key buckets from Tylik Briscoe and Ray Hall. “I believe my senior leadership down the stretch was the difference,” LeVine said.
Briscoe led Crest with 18 points, A.J. Adams followed with 17 while Mari Adams had 16 in the Chargers’ win. Hall also had 15 for Crest.
Kelly — who scored his 1,500th career point in the contest — was joined in double figures by Jacob Joyner, who finished with 10.
With the win, Crest takes a 17-game conference winning streak into Wednesday’s clash with Kings Mountain. Both are undefeated in Big South 3A competition.
Boys basketball
Tuesday, Jan. 25
Bessemer City 61, Thomas Jefferson 45: Randall Pettus logged his second straight triple-double (19 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds), while Keyshawn Adams earned a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) to lead Bessemer City to a season sweep of Thomas Jefferson. Nazari Smarr had 14 points and six rebounds in a winning effort.
Burns 89, Highland Tech 74: Ryan Thompson’s 26 points helped the Bulldogs to a win over Highland Tech. The Rams’ Kevin Foster had a game-high 37 points in a losing effort.
Carolina International 78, Piedmont Community Charter 69
East Lincoln 63, Statesville 60: Drew Bean had 22 points while Logan Craig added 10 as the Mustangs held off Statesville to remain unbeaten in Western Foothills 3A.
Forestview 41, Ashbrook 34: Nate Aguilar had 13 points to lead Forestview past Gastonia city rival Ashbrook on Tuesday.
Gaston Day 67, Westminster Catawba 52: Chris Britt scored 24 points, Evan Montanari added 14 and Kurt Hunter followed with 10 as Gaston Day rebounded with a win over Westminster Catawba. Local product Derek Bradley had 15 points for Westminster Catawba in a losing effort.
Hickory 81, North Lincoln 48
Lincoln Charter 91, Langtree Charter 57: J.J. Moore had 17 points, Xavier Crawford followed with 15 and Marcus Farley Jr. had 13 to lead Lincoln Charter past Langtree Charter.
Northside Christian 77, Gaston Christian 57
Shelby 72, Cherryville 50
South Point 71, Hunter Huss 31: Four South Point players scored in double figures as the Red Raiders rolled past Hunter Huss. Jaquis Rumph led the way with 14 points and seven steals, with Sean Gore and Cooper Ray each scoring 12. Parker Natale added 11 points.
Kings Mountain 77, North Gaston 36: Zeke Cannedy scored 31 points and Maddox James added 18 as Kings Mountain rolled past North Gaston on Tuesday.
Lincolnton 81, Newton-Conover 60
Maiden 64, West Lincoln 56
Monday, Jan. 24
Mountain Island Charter 72, Pine Lake Prep 44: Jake Barber finished with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Cole Hart had 18 points as the Raptors thumped Pine Lake Prep.
Vandalia Christian 64, Cramerton Christian 52
Girls basketball
Tuesday, Jan. 25
Ashbrook 65, Forestview 33: Kennette Bess had a game-high 30 points, while Madison Cole had 12 in a rout of rival Forestview.
Bessemer City 50, Thomas Jefferson 46
Burns 41, Highland Tech 26: Robyn Whitworth’s 17 points led the way as Burns pushed past Highland Tech on Tuesday. Addie McCraw had 11 for Highland Tech in the loss.
Crest 67, Stuart Cramer 37
East Lincoln 61, Statesville 28: Hailey McFadden logged a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, with Madison Self also accomplishing the feat with 12 points and 18 rebounds as the Mustangs rolled past Statesville.
Hickory 60, North Lincoln 19
Hunter Huss 57, South Point 36: Myla Hoover scored 21 points, Brooklyn Swann followed with 18 and Anyssiah Love added 10 as Huss rolled past South Point.
Kings Mountain 49, North Gaston 32: Saniya Wilson scored 20 points, while Khalia King added 10 of her own to lead Kings Mountain to a win over North Gaston. The Lady Wildcats’ Sydnee Walls had 16 points in a losing effort.
Lincoln Charter 60, Langtree Charter 37
Maiden 45, West Lincoln 43: Chloe Norman had 19 points, but it wasn’t enough to take down Maiden on Tuesday night.
Northside Christian 55, Gaston Christian 37: Liana Mattera had 18 points to lead Gaston Christian, but it wasn’t enough in a loss to Northside Christian. Sara Plyer had 17 rebounds in the loss.
Shelby 77, Cherryville 15
Gaston Day at Westminster Catawba: No score reported.
Newton-Conover 69, Lincolnton 31
You can reach Joe Hughes at 704-914-8138, email jhughes@gastongazette.com and follow on Twitter @JoeLHughesII.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Quick Hits: Prep hoops in Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln — Jan. 26
