No matter how hard St. Stephens High’s boys tried to mount a comeback on Friday night, Alexander Central staved them off.
The visiting Cougars beat the Indians 51-40 to move a half-game behind idle Hickory in the Northwestern 3A-4A basketball race.
Alexander Central is 13-5 overall and 6-1 in the league and Hickory is 6-0, while St. Stephens (12-7, 4-3) fell into a third-place tie with Watauga with the loss.
The Cougars started the game off well, leading by 12 points at the end of the first quarter, but the Indians tied it midway through the third quarter.
“I think whatever team was being most aggressive had the most success,” said Alexander Central head coach Ed Wills. “The other team would go on a run and you’ve got to respond to it. Fortunately we did.”
The Cougars had big games from Nathan Birkedal and Tyler Crouch, who each scored 14 points.
Alexander Central bruised the Indians in the first quarter, jumping to a 17-5 lead.
St. Stephens made two of 10 shots in the opening quarter and the Cougars hit seven of 10, including a 3-pointer by Birkedal.
In the second quarter, the Indians’ Chris Hefner knocked down a 3-pointer and three forced turnovers helped St. Stephens claw within 17-13 with about five minutes left in the half.
The Cougars settled down and closed out the second quarter with a 6-2 run that included four points by Church to lead 23-15 at the half.
St. Stephens went on a six-point run in the third quarter, started by Jordan James’ two free throws.
The Indians’ Zach Bumgarner tied it at 23 midway through the quarter before the Cougars regained the momentum.
Two pivotal 3-pointers from Birkedal got Alexander Central the lead again, and the Cougars scored five straight points to close out the quarter and lead
35-25.
“We just had great composure,” Birkedal said of his team’s ability to respond to the pressure.
St. Stephens went on a 9-4 run in the final quarter, led by Zach Houston, Drew Starkey and Dillon Spencer.
But the Cougars rebounded and stayed in front. Jonas Watts had four points and Alexander Central went up 45-38 with about 90 seconds left to play.
After that, the Indians got as close as five points, after Spencer drained a long-range jumper, but the Cougars made 6-of-6 free throws to stay in front.
ALEXANDER CENTRAL 73
ST. STEPHENS 31
Defense wrote the story for the Cougars’ girls, who improved to 14-4 overall and 6-1 in the conference. They’re a half-game back of Hickory in the standings.
“We played hard,” said Alexander Central head coach Matt Taylor, whose school last won 14 or more games in 1995-96. “One of our thoughts coming into (the game) was to play efficiently and play effectively. … We played efficiently for sure.”
A full-court press by the Cougars kept the Indians (3-15, 0-7) scoreless until 54 seconds were left in the first quarter. Alexander Central had five steals and went up 15-3.
Madi Suddreth, Kelsie Rhyne and Marah Cockrell each scored five points for the Cougars in the second quarter. They led 36-12 at the half.
Suddreth had five points in the third quarter, when the Cougars padded their lead.
Suddreth led Alexander Central with 17 points, with Rhyne adding 14 and Cockrell 12.
Briana Thornburg’s 12 points led the Indians.
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