From the opening tip, the Golden Eagles looked to give West Stokes their best shot. The two teams came into the game as the 2nd and 3rd place teams in the Northwest 1A/2A Conference. The gym just wasn’t loud, it was electric. West Stokes had suffered only one conference loss all season, to none other than Winston-Salem Prep. So, to pull off the upset would have been huge. The first matchup between these two was in King last month, and it didn’t go well for the Eagles, losing by 19 points. But, something felt different about this game. The Eagles played at a high level and didn’t back down from the challenge. The Eagles can play like a top level team as they have done in the recent home games with Prep and West Stokes. There was a spark in the team that didn’t go out until the final buzzer. But on this night, West Stokes executed more efficiently and won 58-53. Yadkin Valley Sports reported that this was the closest Conference victory for the Wildcats so far this season, which really is something to take from this game.
Notable performers from the night for the Eagles were Ethan Wilmoth and Gabe Leftwich scoring 23 and 14 points respectively. Wilmoth also tallied eight rebounds and four assists while his younger cousin Zach Wilmoth added five points and grabbed seven boards. Josh Spainhour with 15 points and Austin Fleming with 13 came up big for West Stokes. Spainhour was perfect at the line in the fourth quarter hitting eight, and he kept the game just inches out of reach. The Wildcats improved to 16-3 overall, 12-1 conference play. The Golden Eagles fell to 13-8 overall, 7-6 conference play.
The Eagles face a tough road test against the Granite Bears of Mount Airy High tonight. The Bears will be out for vengeance after losing by nine at The Nest on December 16. It should be an exciting night of hoops.
Alex Fowler
Staff Reporter
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