Bandys girls romp at East Burke, keep record perfect

After a tough start, the first quarter could hardly have turned out better for the visiting Bandys High girls or worse for East Burke on Friday night.

The Trojans ran off 16 of the game’s first 18 points and cruised to a 79-45 win to remain unbeaten (16-0, 7-0) and atop the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A standings.

The loss dropped East Burke (11-5, 4-2) into third place, one game behind Newton-Conover.

It appeared early the Trojans would have a tough night.

Already down a starter due to an injury that has kept senior guard Jesse Story sidelined, they lost another starter on their first possession. Brittany Moss hit a jumper from the corner, injured her ankle on the landing, and did not return.

But Bandys still riddled East Burke’s offense with an aggressive full-court press and forced the Cavs into three turnovers in their first five possessions. The Trojans led 6-1 after a 3-pointer by Madi Story, who had a game-high 26 points.

Bandys later began to roll. After Bailey Gragg hit a free throw for the Cavs, the Trojans’ Taylor Sigmon hit back-to-back buckets to start a 10-0 run. Sigmon had six points in the quarter and Chelsey Queen added four and Bandys grabbed a 22-10 lead after one quarter.

Using a size advantage inside, the Trojans hit 8-of-11 two-point shots, most coming in the lane, and out-rebounded the Cavs 8-4.

East Burke had eight turnovers and did not hit its first field goal until the final one minute, 43 seconds of the quarter.

 “I thought our press worked really well for us in that first quarter,” said Trojans head coach Beth Queen. “Early on, I was a little concerned because we got a few steals but we didn’t convert them. 

“I always have a bad feeling when we do that. Luckily, we got a few more turnovers and we started converting.”

The Trojans continued their hot shooting in the second quarter (9-of-14) and Chelsey Queen’s 3-pointer with just more than a minute left gave Bandys a 27-point lead.

After baskets by Madison Tallent and Gragg for East Burke, the Cavs were behind 44-21 at halftime.

 “We definitely didn’t come out from the get-go to play tonight,” said Cavs head coach Katie Bollinger, whose team had 12 turnovers and only 16 shot attempts in the first half.  “Turnovers killed us and we didn’t give ourselves and opportunity to run our offense.”

Bandys’ largest lead was 32 points several times in the second half, and the Trojans moved to 8-2 all-time against East Burke.

Story led a Trojans trio in double-figures and had four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Sigmon had 16 points and nine boards and Queen added 12. 

Lauren Arney put in 13 points and Tallant added 12 to lead the Cavaliers.

EAST BURKE 68, BANDYS 39

The Cavaliers (11-5, 4-2) held the Trojans scoreless for nearly 6 ½ minutes of the second quarter to break open a close game and give East Burke head coch Jon Hancock his 250^th career win.

“It’s really about having good players and assistants,” said Hancock, who has 83 wins at East Burke. “I’ve never scored a single basket… It’s more their achievement than mine.”

The Cavs struggled to a 23-22 lead early in the second quarter before Clay Byrd and Trever Hyatt combined to score 12 straight points to push East Burke to a 35-24 lead at the half.

Bandys (1-14, 0-7) cut the lead to 10 only once in the third quarter. but Hyatt’s 14 third-quarter points helped the Cavs lead 53-34 heading into the final quarter.

Hyatt finished with 33 points and 11 rebounds with Byrd adding 23 points. They scored 56 of the Cavs’ first 65 points.

Hayden Deal scored 10 in the first quarter to keep Bandys close and finished with 19 points.