Basketball Recap: East Lincoln Now 14-1 over Last 15 Games

If St. Stephens wanted to avenge their loss from the last time they played East Lincoln, they should've done a better job of containing Emma Montanari. The East Lincoln Mustangs took their match on Friday with ease, bagging a 65-36 victory over the St. Stephens Indians thanks in part to Montanari, who went 7 of 13 on her way to 18 points along with six boards and six steals. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 2 blocks per game.

Taniyah Thomas

Steals

02/07/25 vs St. Stephens	3
02/04/25 vs Foard	7
01/31/25 @ West Iredell	5
01/28/25 vs Statesville	4
01/24/25 @ Hickory	3
+ 18 more games

Taniyah Thomas was another key player, going 5 for 9 to rack up 11 points and three steals. She has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 23 times she's played.

Loss or not, St. Stephens got some senior leadership from Kennedy Blevins and Sydney Barkley. Blevins posted 19 points in addition to seven rebounds and four steals, while Barkley put up four points along with nine boards and three blocks. That was a full 52.8% of St. Stephens' points, marking the 18th time in a row she's scored more than a third of the team's points.

East Lincoln has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 14 of their last 15 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-4 record this season. As for St. Stephens, their defeat was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 7-15.

Looking ahead, East Lincoln will venture away from home to square off against North Iredell at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in East Lincoln's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last eight games. As for St. Stephens, they will host Statesville at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday.