It may have taken overtime to finish the job, but the Highland Tech Rams ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They walked away with a 61-54 victory over East Gaston. The win was all the more spectacular given Highland Tech's disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 487th, while East Gaston is ranked 233rd).
Highland Tech's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Elijah Whitted, who scored 22 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Whitted has scored all season. Yoel Mussie was another key contributor, scoring 19 points along with nine rebounds.
East Gaston's loss came despite strong showings from Trenton Sherrill and Jayce Rowe. Sherrill scored 19 points, while Rowe scored 16 points. That was a full 35.2% of East Gaston's points, marking the eighth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Highland Tech is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a massive bump to their 7-12 record this season. As for East Gaston, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 12-7.
Highland Tech will take on Burns at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Burns has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 671 points over their last ten matches. As for East Gaston, they will head out on the road to challenge Thomas Jefferson at 10:30 p.m. on Friday.
