RONDA — After East Wilkes’ Bailey Stanley missed the second of two free throws midway through the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game, the ball was up for grabs and about to go out of bounds.
In a split-second decision, teammate Layla Winters hustled over to the live ball and saved it. With a second chance, the junior received the ball back and knocked down an easy basket.
Those types of hustle plays contributed to the Lady Cardinals’ 51-42 win against North Stokes to clinch an outright Northwest 1A Conference title for the second-straight season.
“I could sit and talk about all twelve and what they’ve done at some point during the year and that’s really what’s afforded us this championship,” said East Wilkes head coach Matt Campbell. “We don’t have a true go-to whose going to drop 20 a night but we’ve got a whole group who fulfill roles — they give two, two and-a-half minutes as hard as they can go and sometimes we call on them to do a lot more but it’s been a fun group.”
It’s the first time the Lady Cardinals (18-4, 11-0) have won back-to-back regular season titles since doing so in 1991 and 1992. They’ve also won the last two tournament championships.
Friday was also senior night for East Wilkes’ six seniors — many of whom have played vital roles since their freshman years during the 2020-21 season.
“This is a special group and what they’ve put into this, to send this senior class out with that is special,” said Campbell. “They’ve had a lot of success, and the younger players have come in and helped us and fulfilled their roles.”
The win did not come easy as the Lady Vikings were in search of their 20th win of the season and looked to be in good shape to keep hopes of a conference title as they led 20-17 at halftime.
That’s when several seniors made key buckets, which started with a Peyton Mastin put back and began a pivotal 12-2 run to start the second half.
Fellow twelfth grader Payton Spicer highlighted the run with back-to-back 3-pointers and Stanley pushed the lead to eight at 30-22 with a three-point play.
“I was really pleased with the way Payton came out and played in that second half because we were sputtering. But to see the ball go in, it helped us pick up our
defensive intensity, but those were two huge threes that she hit,” said Campbell. “You never know who’s going to score what — we’re Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a little bit as far as what people are averaging. That’s a testament to how unselfish they are and how they want to play team basketball.”
North Stokes (19-4, 9-2) got as close as three (35-32) less than a minute into the fourth quarter on a Kaydence Woods layup.
The Lady Cardinals responded when Mastin found senior teammate Kyleigh Lane for a bucket.
Kierstin Johnson, who joined Spicer as East Wilkes’ leading scorer with 11 points, extended the lead to nine (48-39) on a put back with 2:29 to play. The senior registered a double-double as she added 11 rebounds.
In addition to Johnson and Spicer, Mastin joined them in double figures with 10 points (and seven assists); Lane chipped in six for East Wilkes, which closes out the regular season this coming Friday at Starmount.
Gabbi Greer paced North Stokes, which hosted South Stokes on Tuesday, with 10 points and Lexie Knight chipped in nine. Caroline Mabe and Woods added seven and six points, respectively.
Tuesday’s game
The Lady Cardinals cruised to a 60-27 win over Alleghany last Tuesday to maintain their perfect mark in NW 1A play.
East Wilkes built a 24-5 halftime lead and then pushed the advantage to 41-12 after three quarters.
Kyleigh Lane paced a balanced attack (all 10 Lady Cardinals who dressed on Tuesday scored) with 12 points off the bench and Peyton Mastin added 11.
Lauren Macemore tacked on seven points and Payton Spicer and Layla Winters scored six apiece.
Freshman Elizabeth Collins led the Lady Trojans (1-20, 0-11) with nine points.
In addition to facing East Wilkes, Alleghany also traveled to Starmount last Wednesday.
The Lady Rams captured a 66-53 win for their third-straight victory (the streak was snapped in a 52-44 loss to South Stokes on Friday).
Starmount, now 5-5 in NW 1A play and 6-16 overall, received a team-high 34 points from Molly Swaim and 10 from Mackenzie Cox.
Carley Money and Madison Cox chipped in seven points apiece. Money also grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds while Maggie Ray and Swaim had eight boards apiece.
East Wilkes 51, North Stokes 42
North Stokes 8 12 10 12 — 42
East Wilkes 9 8 18 16 — 51
NORTH STOKES: Caroline Mabe 3 1-2 7; Kinley Mabe 1 0-0 3; Lexie Knight 3 3-6 9; Gabbi Greer 3 2-4 10; Leigha Wyrick 2 0-0 5; Emma Lawson 1 0-0 2. Team Totals: 16 6-12 42.
EAST WILKES: Peyton Mastin 4 2-4 10; Payton Spicer 4 0-0 11; Kelsea Absher 0 0-0 0; Kyleigh Lane 3 0-0 6; Kierstin Johnson 5 1-2 11; Bailey Stanley 1 2-3 4; Olivia Stanley 0 0-0 0; Lauren Macemore 1 1-2 3; Layla Winters 2 0-0 4; Kaylin Talley 0 0-0 0. Team Totals: 21 7-12 51.
THREE-POINTERS: North Stokes: Greer 2, K. Mabe, Wyrick.. East Wilkes: Spicer 3.
East Wilkes 60, Alleghany 27
Alleghany 8 12 10 12 — 27
East Wilkes 9 08 18 16 — 60
ALLEGHANY: Cita Gonzalez 0 0-0 0; Lily Camille 0 0-0 0; Abby Bottomley 0 0-0 0; Sarah Bare 2 0-0 5; Elizabeth Collins 1 7-8 9; Layla Turner 0 0-0 0; Amelia Annas 2 1-4 6; Paula Martinez 2 0-0 5; Ellie Crouse 1 0-0 2. Team Totals: 8 8-12 27.
EAST WILKES: Bailey Stanley 1 1-8 3; Peyton Mastin 3 4-4 11; Olivia Stanley 1 2-2 5; Lauren Macemore 3 0-0 7; Payton Spicer 2 1-3 6; Layla Winters 2 0-0 6; Kelsea Absher 0 2-4 2; Kyleigh Lane 4 4-5 12; Kaylin Talley 2 0-2 4; Kierstin Johnson 2 0-0 4. Team Totals 20 14-28 60.
THREE-POINTERS: Alleghany: Bare, Annas, Martinez. East Wilkes: Winters 2, Mastin, O. Stanley, Macemore, Spicer.
Starmount 66, Alleghany 53
Alleghany 12 09 14 18 — 53
Starmount 15 14 16 21 — 66
STARMOUNT: Maggie Ray 5; Abby Moxley 3; Mackenzie Cox 10; Carley Money 7; Emma Caudle 0; Molly Swaim 34; Madison Cox 7.
THREE-POINTERS: Starmount: Swaim 5, Moxley, Money.
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