The East Mecklenburg Eagles won the last time they faced the Sun Valley Spartans, and things went their way on Friday too. East Mecklenburg came out on top against Sun Valley by a score of 52-45. Given East Mecklenburg's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 106th, while Sun Valley is ranked 342nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
East Mecklenburg's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Bryson Heath, who scored 16 points along with 5 assists and 3 steals. The match was Heath's fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ahmari Hicks, who scored 15 points.
Sun Valley's loss came despite strong showings from Nathan Tavares and Will Calhoun. Tavares scored 17 points along with 9 rebounds, while Calhoun scored 10 points along with 7 rebounds. Tavares scored a full 37.8% of Sun Valley's points, the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Even though they lost, Sun Valley were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as East Mecklenburg only pulled down five.
The victory makes it two in a row for East Mecklenburg and bumps their season record up to 4-1. As for Sun Valley, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 2-3.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. East Mecklenburg will take on Piedmont at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Sun Valley, they will stay at home for another game and welcome Mallard Creek at 7:30 p.m. on December 6th. Mallard Creek knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three contests -- so hopefully Sun Valley likes a good challenge.
