Lake Norman Publications

Stellar seasons aligning for both Mustangs hoops squads



Point guard Jeremiah Jones is just one member of East Lincoln to have battled through injury this year, but the Mustangs are undefeated in conference play. /Doug Coats

DENVER – East Lincoln Mustangs basketball has become synonymous with success, and while there’s a decade’s-worth of evidence to support that claim, never has it been more apparent than this season.

Both varsity teams – the guys and girls – have lost just twice since the season started days before Thanksgiving. Now, with less than a month remaining before postseason play tips off, the Mustangs are settling in for the stretch run.

“I thought we had a chance to be pretty good based on how well we played in the summer,” boys head coach Jon Hancock said of his preseason expectations.

After a 14-2 start that includes a perfect 6-0 mark in Western Foothills 3A conference play, the East Lincoln boys have left “pretty good” in the rearview mirror. 

Girls head coach Jason Otey echoed Hancock’s comments, speaking of his team’s play in summer ball as well. 

“I thought we had a chance to be pretty good,” he said. “I knew we’d be very competitive because we had a lot coming back. We’ve got a lot of veterans who have played a long time in this program and we had a really good summer.”

At 13-2 overall and 5-0 atop the Western Foothills standings, a postponement for the girls against St. Stephens is the only thing separating the Mustangs’ teams from identical records.

In finding success both teams have overcome adversity, albeit in different forms. 

“Winning the big games had kind of become our Achilles’ heel,” Otey said. “Like last year with Newton-Conover. We played really well but we couldn’t get it done, and then of course in the playoff game with Shelby we didn’t exactly play well.” 

The East ladies tested themselves early this season, hitting the road to Gastonia to face a perennial power in Ashbrook on Dec. 1, and the results were no different. The Mustangs jumped out to a 15-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, but that advantage was gone by halftime. They couldn’t preserve a two-point lead through three quarters either, falling 57-54 to the Green Wave.

Taliyah Thomas is one of three Lady Mustangs scoring in double figures.

The Mustangs got a shot at redemption against Ashbrook on their home court in Denver a week later, and that’s when Otey saw his team take a big step.

“In the big games we hadn’t been able to get out of our own way or get out of our own heads, and that was the challenge this year to see if we could take that step,” he said. “We were able to do that the second time against Ashbrook and we were able to do that when we didn’t shoot very well at Hickory but we still found a way to win.”

That early-season loss at Ashbrook sparked a nine-game winning streak, which included those back-to-back wins over Ashbrook and Hickory, as well as a 17-point victory over Lincoln Charter in the semifinals of the East Lincoln Winter Jam.

For Hancock and the East Lincoln guys, injuries have taken key players off the court, but a deep roster has helped the Mustangs overcome them. 

“We’ve battled through a number of injury issues,” Hancock said. “Jeremiah Jones had knee surgery so we weren’t sure how that was going to hold up and then Palmer Crichton missed six straight games with his ankle. Even in the preseason we had Drew Bean get hurt and Logan Craig miss a bunch of time with an ankle.”

Jones, who hurt his knee playing football in the fall, missed the season-opener and then played his way back into game-shape while the Mustangs rattled off nine wins in a row to start the season. While Jones wasn’t sidelined for long, another injury – Crichton’s twisted ankle – preceded the only two losses of the season to date. 

Crichton went down just before Christmas and it caught up to the Mustangs in the annual East Lincoln Winter Jam. In a tournament regularly featuring some of the best programs from around the area, East Lincoln suffered a 1-point loss to SouthLake Christian Academy in the semifinals and followed that with a 5-point defeat to 4A Lake Norman in the third-place game. 

Since, the Mustangs have launched another streak, winning five in a row heading the fourth week of January. Their matchups at North Lincoln were postponed to Wednesday, Jan. 26, and the home Hickory games to Feb. 2.

“I think we still can get better because we haven’t had much time truly together,” Hancock said. “Hopefully we can stay healthy down the stretch, get more comfortable playing together and continue to improve as the season goes on.”

Both East Lincoln teams have sights set on a conference championship, but the coaches agree there’s still plenty of work to be done in the final month of the regular season.

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