Tanya Chilton | The News

Scott Meredith scored 10 points against the Wildcats Tuesday.

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PILOT MOUNTAIN — The East Surry Cardinals boys varsity team lost its first conference match Tuesday against the West Stokes Wildcats by a score of 55-44.

East Surry Cardinals Head Coach Jason Anderson said his team played a very tough conference team and showed resilience.

“As young as my team is especially with my depth on the bench, once we settled down, we showed we could play with them.”

In the first quarter, West Stokes scored 16 points to the Cards 8; in the second, they outscored the Cards by seven; and in the third quarter, the Cards changed strategy and outscored the Cats by 11.

Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals kept the Cats within reach, but they still outscored them by seven points winning by nine points.

“We had a good run in the third quarter and cut the score to within two,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the Cards set some traps, but the Wildcats beat them successfully.

“They beat our traps. I was pleased with the team’s effort although it ended up an 11-point game.”

The Cats did not panic during the third quarter quarter when the Cards found a run but instead they found an open man, Anderson said.

“They (Wildcats) have been in the top of the league since they have been at it. They gave us a handful but we gave them one, too.”

Anderson said the Cards, though playing a tough conference team, did a good job in the second half after reaching a 37-22 halftime score.

Anderson said the Cards were able to turn around the 15-point deficit after the half by changing “offensive strategy and put charges on Spainhour and we attacked the inside. If you hold that team to six points in quarter, I don’t think that will happen much more this season.”

Anderson added Tuesday night was two offensive teams playing good defense.

Cards lead scorers were: Scott Meredith 11; Alley 10; Pardue 9; Seth Brim 8; Long 3; Gilbert 2; and Johnson 1.

Wildcats Head Coach Dan Spainhour said that Alston Furr had 19 points; Josh Spainhour 12; Zach Hartle 10; and Reid Goodson 8.

The Cardinals will play Friday at home against Surry Central and will be facing a good defensive team, Anderson said.