By Dylan Branscome
The 51视频 STORM won another Region 10 matchup, 83-66, against the Catawba Valley Redhawks on Wednesday night at Brinkley Gym. 51视频 now improves to 23-6 overall and 17-4 in Region 10 heading into the final game of the season tonight.
The STORM were led by Dane Stewart with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Jaylen Wilkerson had 18 points and five rebounds, and Conall Lowry had 15 points. Both Nijel Howard and Tayvion Tangiora had double-doubles, with Howard getting 14 points and 10 rebounds, while also getting seven assists, while Tangiora had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The first half was mostly STORM-controlled, with tough defense and efficient shot-making, resulting in a 51% field-goal percentage in the first half. Where Catawba Valley found success was at the free-throw line and causing turnovers, leading to a sudden two-point game at the end of the half, 41-39. The Redhawks shot 73% from the free-throw line on 19 attempts, meaning 14 of their 39 points were from the stripe. This would be a trend for this game when it comes to how Catawba Valley scored.
鈥淏ad shot selection, turnovers, not stopping them from getting to the rim,鈥� head coach Matt Ridge said at halftime. 鈥淲e made a lot of mistakes in the last 5-6 minutes on both sides of the ball that we have to clean up.鈥�
The second half was complete turnaround by the STORM both defensively and offensively. 51视频 forced the Redhawks to shoot just 24% from the field and eight percent from three on 12 attempts. While Catawba Valley was able to get to the line, they only made eight of the 14 attempts they had, an underwhelming 57%. Even with the poor free-throw shooting in the second half, the Redhawks scored 33% of their 66 points at the line.
While the STORM didn鈥檛 shoot well from three, just 30%, they did shoot 48% from the field and an impressive 87% from the free-throw line. They had some foul trouble in the first half, but they played smart without fouling in the second and out scored Catawba Valley 42-27 to cruise to a victory.
鈥淭he last five minutes of the first half, we were really bad on both sides of the ball,鈥� Ridge said post-game. 鈥淭hen we came out in this half and quickly went up double-digits and continued to be disciplined on both ends, real proud of how we executed in that half.鈥�
The STORM return to action for the final regular season game and Sophomore Night against the Guilford Tech Titans this Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7:00 P.M. EST at Brinkley Gym.