RONDA — 81-44.
A young fan in East Wilkes’ student section last Tuesday night displayed a sign (along with a couple of others) that featured the score of the previous matchup against Elkin, which the Cardinals won on Jan. 5 just five miles down the road.
East Wilkes made it a clean sweep on its home court with a 69-50 win in a game that featured two teams in desperate need of a win.
The Cardinals, who snapped a six-game skid with the victory, improved to 2-7 in Northwest 1A Conference play (they also lost 71-31 at South Stokes on Friday night). The Buckin’ Elks, who dropped to 0-8 in league play (4-15 overall), have now lost 12 straight after being defeated by Surry Central on Friday.
But the 19-point margin of victory by East Wilkes (7-12) can be a bit deceptive.
Elkin cut what had been a 17-point deficit to just four after three quarters.
On the strength of a pair of 3-pointers from Charlie Pelkey, a triple from Lorne Edwards and a put back from Aaron Caudle, the deficit was cut to 47-43. The senior’s basket culminated a 16-3 Elkin run.
Owen Combs finished as the game’s co-leading scorer with 15 points, but the Cardinal senior had two plays (outside of scoring) in the final quarter that helped turn the tide back in East Wilkes’ favor.
The Buckin’ Elks had a great opportunity to make it a one-possession game on the first play of the fourth as Caudle drove to the basket.
Caudle was met by Combs, who came up with the block. Two possessions later, teammate Phoenix Blackburn connected on a field goal to make it a six-point lead.
After Payton Luffman scored a pair of buckets to extend the lead to 55-47, Combs came through again.
First, Combs knocked down a basket out of a timeout and then pushed the lead to 15 (62-47) with just under four minutes to play when he drove down the floor and found a wide open Seth Lambert.
The junior, who joined Combs as the Cardinals’ leading scorer, knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner.
Brady Hall extended the lead to as many as 21 (69-48) with a basket off a Reid West assist.
Despite the final margin, the two teams were very close though as there were seven lead changes in the first half.
Edwards, who paced Elkin with 13 points, gave the visitors a 17-16 lead.
Already with an 8-0 run the first quarter, the Cardinals used another good-size run to take control. A basket from Reece Dobbins and a triple from Combs jumpstarted what became a 14-0 run.
The Cardinals, who also received 14 points from Andrew Tharpe and six from Blackburn, led 30-20 at the break.
In addition to Edwards, Pelkey added 10 points and Tyler Jenkins and Caudle chipped in nine and seven points, respectively.
Note: In addition to snapping a six-game skid, the Cardinals earned a season sweep of their geographic rival for the third-straight year; they’ve also won seven of the last eight meetings.
East Wilkes 69, Elkin 50
Elkin 12 8 23 7 — 50
East Wilkes 15 15 17 22 — 69
ELKIN: Tyler Jenkins 3 0-0 9; Lorne Edwards 5 1-4 13; Charlie Pelkey 3 2-2 10; Aaron Caudle 3 1-2 7; D.J. Brown 0 1-3 1; Lucas Keller 1 0-0 2; Peyton Luffman 1 0-0 2; Reagan Whitley 1 1-2 3; Gavin Ward 1 1-2 3; Greg Ramseur 0 0-0 0. Team Totals: 19 7-15 50.
EAST WILKES: Owen Combs 4 4-9 15; Payton Luffman 2 0-0 4; Phoenix Blackburn 2 2-2 6; Andrew Tharpe 5 3-4 14; Seth Lambert 4 5-6 15; Mason Sparks 1 0-0 2; Brady Hall 2-2-2 6; Reece Dobbins 1 0-0 2; Hayden Phillips 0 0-0 0; Grayson Sparks 0 0-0 0; Jaxon Osborne 0 0-0 0; Logan Brown 2 0-0 4; Reid West 0 0-0 0; Levi Sadler 0 1-2 1 . Team Totals: 25 16-25 69.
THREE-POINTERS: Elkin: Jenkins 3, Edwards 2, Pelkey 2. East Wilkes: Combs 3, Tharpe 2, Lambert 2.
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