NORWOOD — Justin Gaddy pumped in a game-high 25 points here on Friday night in Norwood to ignite South Stanly to a 63-52 victory over Chatham Central in 1A Yadkin Valley Conference basketball action.
Coming in Chatham Central coach Robert Burke, whose club fell to 6-1 in the league and to 11-4 overall, knew it would be tough especially in the cracker jack confines of the Rowdy Rebel Bulls Gymnasium.
“It’s always a tough place to play down here at South Stanly, it’s a really small gym which makes it tough on visiting teams shooting wise that come from bigger ones,” said Burke. “And tonight we didn’t shoot the ball well offensively and I think that was part of the reason. Overall though, South Stanly played a really good game. They have some guys that can score and Gaddy was on his game.”
Still, Chatham Central trailed just 28-27 just over two minutes into the third quarter when Bears leading scorer Michael Moore went out with a knee injury after colliding with a Rebel Bull player on a pick play. Moore would return late in the period, but by then South Stanly had went on a run of 8-0 to balloon the lead to 36-27 and the locals were left to play catch up the remainder of the contest.
Lucas Skertich was a one man show in the fourth period with four treys, the last of which cut the deficit to 58-52 with :57 seconds left.
After holding South Stanly and coming up with a steal, Central missed an open trey and Gaddy would sink four foul shots down the stretch to cap a 5-0 run that iced the 63-52 triumph.
“When Michael went down we struggled offensively and South Stanly was able to get some separation,” Burke said. “But our kids battled and we gave ourself a chance down the stretch to win it. Lucas had a great fourth quarter and really stepped up big for us after struggling a bit early. It was a tough loss but we are still in good shape and have to be ready for Gray Stone Day on Tuesday night at home.”
Addison Tarlton canned a trey on the way to seven points and Gaddy added another three-ball and five points to send South Stanly up 12-8 after one.
The Bears battled the Rebel Bulls to a standstill in the second as the teams stalemated one another 14-all to give the hosts a 26-22 cushion at the break. Moore sank a trey on the way to five points in the stanza while Preston Cox drilled a three-pointer for the Bears. Gaddy countered with eight points on the strength of a pair of treys for the Rebel Bulls.
In the third with Moore out most of the period, Skertich tallied a pair of baskets and two free throws while Cox swished another trey. Jaquez Cooke answered with five points for the hosts as South Stanly won the quarter 13-9 to lead 39-31 entering the fourth.
Phillip Gaines would add five points including a trey to the 12 by Skertich and Moore a three-pointer but it wasn’t enough as Gaddy canned 12 of his own for South Stanly including a trey, and Tarlton chipped in seven and another three-ball, and Cooke four points as the Rebel Bulls won the frame 24-21 to cap the 63-52 win.
Skertich had 19 points for Chatham Central in the defeat while Moore chipped in 11 and Cox eight.
In addition to the 25 by Gaddy, South Stanly (5-2, 10-5) received 16 more from Tarlton and 12 from Cooke.