High school basketball: West girls and boys struggle at Lake Norman

Published 12:23 am Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Staff report

MOORESVILLE — Lake Norman overwhelmed West Rowan 90-43 in boys basketball on Monday.

Lake Norman has Division I commits in 6-foot-5 guard Tre McKinnon (Appalachian State) and 6-foot-10 forward Trent Steinour (Clemson) and had no trouble with the Falcons (0-2).

A dozen players scored for the Wildcats (5-0), with McKinnon getting 23 and Steinour 18. McKinnon hit the boards and got out on the break and reached a scoring milestone in the fourth quarter. He became the leading scorer in program history, and the game was briefly stopped to acknowledge him and his family.

Steinour was even more impressive, as he was mobile enough and skilled enough to grab defensive rebounds and go coast-to-coast for dunks.

Both stars could have gotten a lot more, but Lake Norman substituted liberally after the first quarter.

Lake Norman led 11-2 right away, treated fans to flurries of slams and held a 37-10 lead after a quarter.

West outplayed Lake Norman reserves in the second quarter to close the gap to 51-29 at halftime, but when the starters returned to the floor to begin the second half, the Wildcats immediately went on a ferocious 24-0 run.

Jalen Moten came off the bench to score 12 for the Falcons. Josiah Young got most of his 10 early, while Brant Graham made two 3-pointers and scored eight.

West Rowan      10    19    3    11   — 43

Lake Norman    37   14     28  11    — 90

WEST scoring — Moten 12, Young 10, Graham 8, Ford 5, Donaldson 4, Kennedy 2, Tucker 2.

•••

MOORESVILLE — Lake Norman’s experienced girls proved way too strong for a young West Rowan girls team.

The Wildcats (5-0) won 90-15, with the second half played with a running clock.

Lake Norman’s press created so many easy buckets that it was 41-2 after a quarter and 72-4 at halftime.

The Falcons are 0-2.

West Rowan     2    2    5    6    — 15

Lake Norman  41   31   9    9    — 90

WEST scoring — Allen 4, Smith 3, Everhart 2, Sawyer 2, Hoffner 2, Carter 2.