RONDA — For the second year in a row, East Wilkes is sweet 16-bound after its 81-38 win against Highland School of Technology on Friday night in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 1A girls basketball playoffs.
Barring a potential upset, Friday’s second-round playoff matchup signaled the final home game for six Lady Cardinal seniors who have come a long way since their freshman campaign during the 2020-21 season.
Several of those seniors started as freshmen and won just five games that year (an abbreviated one due to COVID-19) and then went on to win a pair of Northwest 1A Conference regular season championships and three conference tournament titles.
Now 23-4, East Wilkes traveled to No. 4 Albemarle (24-3), who were 70-55 winners over Union Academy, Tuesday night. The winner will face either No. 1 Mountain Heritage or No. 8 Hiwassee Dam in the fourth round.
“They’ve earned it. They’re a good group of girls who have put a lot of work in; I’m proud of the six seniors who have led this charge over the last couple of years — I’m tickled for them and tickled for the program,” East Wilkes head coach Matt Campbell said. “We shot the ball well tonight and created some pressure that led to some easy offense.
“I wanted us to get a little bit better on rebounding, getting second chance opportunities,” added Campbell. “I felt like we did a nice job of that, giving ourselves a couple of extra opportunities.”
Two seniors — Kierstin Johnson and Payton Spicer — helped No. 5 East Wilkes get things going in each half.
First, it was Johnson who helped the Lady Cardinals build a double-digit lead (14-3) midway through the first quarter. The senior scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half.
“I’ve talked to Johnson about getting rebounds and second chance opportunities and a lot of her points were coming off that early in the game,” Campbell said.
The Lady Rams (16-10) trimmed the deficit to as close as five with a three-point play from Reese Thomas but East Wilkes responded with a 15-0 run to the push the lead to 20 at 29-9 with a Kyleigh Price 3-pointer.
That run allowed the hosts to create a little separation, which ultimately turned into a 27-3 run and a 41-14 halftime lead.
While Johnson had the big first half start, Spicer started off the second half strong.
After a Lauren Macemore 3-pointer jumpstarted the third quarter, the senior connected on a layup off a turnover and then added a pair of baskets, which included a 3-pointer, to push the lead to 38 at 53-15.
Spicer scored nine of her game-high 14 points in the third quarter.
“Spicer made some huge shots there in the second half that kind of pulled that lead out where there was definitely no doubt,” said Campbell.
Spicer and Johnson certainly weren’t the only contributors.
The Lady Cardinals bench made multiple contributions in the win, which included 11 points from Kyleigh Lane.
The senior extended the lead to 71-33 with a jumper and recent JV call-ups Lilly Truitt and Emerson Simmons added triples to invoke a running clock.
“That’s one thing I feel like we’ve done a really nice job of is using our depth and helping us pull away from some teams like we were able to do tonight,” said Campbell.
Twelve players scored on Friday and eight had at least five points. Olivia Stanley and Macemore each finished with seven points while Bailey Stanley and Peyton Mastin added six apiece.
Bailey Maiers paced Highland Tech with 12 points and Addie McCraw added nine.
Tuesday’s first-round game
East Wilkes cruised to a first-round playoff win, 60-17, against Bradford Prep last Tuesday night.
The Lady Cardinals built a 21-4 lead after one quarter a 34-10 halftime advantage. Then the hosts limited the No. 28 Lady Bears to just seven points in the second half.
Payton Spicer led a balanced attack with 11 points and Peyton Mastin chipped in eight. Kyleigh Lane and Lauren Macemore added seven points apiece; Kierstin Johnson finished with six.
Bradford Prep, which concluded its season at 10-16, was led by six points from Raquel Feliciano.
#5 East Wilkes 81, #21 Highland Tech 38
Highland Tech 9 5 16 8 — 38
East Wilkes 22 19 26 14 — 81
HIGHLAND TECH: Bailey Maiers 3 3-3 12; Akela Taylor 0 3-6 3; Katie Fangman 1 0-0 2; Resse Thomas 2 2-2 6; Addie McCraw 4 1-2 9; Madeline Letts 2 0-0 6; Josie Searby 0 0-0 0; Joi Bryant 0 0-0 0. Team Totals: 12 9-13 38.
EAST WILKES: Bailey Stanley 3 0-0 6; Peyton Mastin 2 2-2 6; Lauren Macemore 3 0-0 7; Payton Spicer 6 0-0 14; Kierstin Johnson 6 0-0 13; Olivia Stanley 2 2-2 7; Layla Winters 0 0-0 0; Emerson Simmons 1 0-0 3; Kelsea Absher 0 0-0 0; Kyleigh Lane 4 2-2 11;Kaylin Talley 2 0-0 4; Kyleigh Price 1 2-2 5; Lilly Truitt 1 0-0 3; Hannah Mathis 1 0-0 2; Jaylee Chambers 0 0-0 0; Tesslea Colbert 0 0-2 0. Team Totals: 32 8-10 81.
THREE-POINTERS: Highland Tech: Maiers 3, Letts 2. East Wilkes: Spicer 2, O. Stanley, Macemore, Simmons, Lane, Price, Truitt, Johnson.
#5 East Wilkes 60, #28 Bradford Prep 17
Bradford Prep 4 6 2 5 — 17
East Wilkes 21 13 17 9 — 60
BRADFORD PREP: Kylie Marlow 0 0-0 0; Anani Delgado 0 3-4 3; Bailey Clark 0 0-0 0; Aliyah Elfrard 0 2-2 2; Zoe Clark 1 2-2 4; Raquel Feliciano 2 0-0 6; Zoeli Kassegne 0 0-2 0; Chenoa Kassegne 1 0-0 2; Sierra Dobson 0 0-0 0; Avery Brisseaux 0 0-0 0. Team Totals: 4 7-10 17.
EAST WILKES: Bailey Stanley 1 0-0 2; Peyton Mastin 4 0-0 8; Lauren Macemore 3 0-0 7; Payton Spicer 4 0-0 11; Kierstin Johnson 2 1-2 6; Olivia Stanley 2 0-2 4; Layla Winters 1 0-0 2; Emerson Simmons 0 0-0 0; Kelsea Absher 0 0-0 0; Kyleigh Lane 2 3-7 7; Kaylin Talley 2 0-0 4; Kyleigh Price 2 0-0 4; Jaylee Chambers 0 0-0 0; Lilly Truitt 1 0-0 3; Hannah Mathis 0 0-0 0; Tesslea Colbert 1 0-0 2. Team Totals: 25 4-11 60.
THREE-POINTERS: Bradford Prep: Fraliciano 2. East Wilkes: Spicer 3, Macemore, Johnson, Truitt
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