By Mike London mike.london@salisburypost.com First in a series of previews on local basketball teams .
.. GRANITE QUARRY — Bri Johnson Evans enters her fourth season as East Rowan’s head girls basketball coach with no shortage of optimism.
There’s a reason for the optimism. She will guide an experienced team — eight seniors, six juniors. The plan is for all the freshmen and sophomores to gain experience on the jayvees, which is quite a luxury for any girls basketball program.
“It’s a completely different mindset this season because of all the experience we have,” Evans said. “It just feels different. We’ve got good numbers and good players.
” East’s records under Evans have been trending in the right direction. There was a 6-15 season that was followed by 11-13, and then last season’s 12-12. The Mustangs were a classic middle of the pack team.
They split their 16 South Piedmont Conference contests. Statistically, East has been virtually the same squad three straight seasons — averaging 42 to 43 points per game, while allowing between 48 and 50. East plays good team defense, even better than it looks.
The Mustangs’ stats from last season are skewed somewhat by two lopsided losses to 3A state champ West Rowan, which clobbered everyone, and a 77-33 loss to a talented and senior-heavy North Rowan team. East’s struggles have been on the offensive end. Too many turnovers and not enough made shots and free throws.
It’s not easy to win basketball games t.