Even though the Lincolnton Wolves scored an imposing 67 points on Friday, the Newton-Conover Red Devils still came out on top. Newton-Conover secured a 71-67 W over Lincolnton. That's two games straight that Newton-Conover has won by exactly four points.
Newton-Conover's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Owen Cannon led the charge by scoring 27 points along with two steals. Javier Lineberger was another key contributor, scoring 20 points along with six rebounds.
Despite the loss, Lincolnton still got an impressive performance from LJ Smith IV, who scored 41 points along with three steals. That was a full 61.2% of Lincolnton's points, marking the sixth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Landen Lyerly, who scored nine points along with two blocks.
The win makes it two in a row for Newton-Conover and bumps their season record up to 7-5. As for Lincolnton, their loss ended a five-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 10-2.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Newton-Conover on the road again on Wednesday and play against East Burke at 7:30 p.m. on January 10th. As for Lincolnton, they will square off against Bandys at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Bandys is on a four-game streak of home wins, Lincolnton a four-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court.
