PILOT MOUNTAIN — It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see both North Stokes and East Surry had a few first-game kinks to work out Tuesday night. The Cardinals took the Northwest 1A/2A Conference win 55-50, and while the effort for both sides was there and the atmosphere of a game normally played much later in the season, neither team looked exactly crisp.

“It was an ugly ball game,” East Surry coach Jason Anderson said. “It was definitely our first ball game of the year. Unfortunately, it was a conference game and I hate it for their guys because they played a great game. The effort was great on both ends for us and them, but I am going to tell you, we did not execute.”

After a sloppy first half ended tied at 20-20, East Surry’s Matt Covington hit three third-quarter 3-pointers to give his team breathing room.

Covington’s shooting was a big reason the Cardinals came out on top, as the senior scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half.

Covington’s third three of the third quarter gave the Cardinals a 32-26 lead, but North Stokes, led by all-conference performer Dylan Hall’s 20 points, wouldn’t go away, as a shot at the end of the quarter pulled the score to 35-32 East Surry.

East Surry senior Hunter Diamont, who was scoreless through the first three quarters, came on strong through an important stretch in the final period, scoring six straight points for the Cardinals to push the lead back to 47-41 East Surry.

But foul trouble nearly caused problems for the Cards, as starter Andrew Hunter fouled out at the beginning of the fourth quarter and was followed shortly by Diamont.

Anderson said he thought several underclassmen stepped up to fill the void of two of the team’s better players.

“I think our guys played with some savvy tonight,” Anderson said. “I come out of this game as a coach, yeah we didn’t execute well, but our kids played basketball well. They understood what the situation was and knew what to do when the time came and that’s what we did to win that ball game.”

Up 49-46 in the final two minutes, East Surry’s Logan Hoosier came up with a big steal, and knocked down both free throws to give the Cardinals their biggest lead of the game at 51-43.

Foul shots proved to be a crucial point of the game, as East Surry outshot their opponents 16-of-28 to just 4-of-18 for North Stokes.

Vikings coach David Anderson said it’s tough to win games when shooting that poorly from the line.

“The difference in the ball game for us, I don’t know what the exact number is, but we missed a ton of free throws and especially front ends of one-and-one’s,” he said. “When you miss those, it’s exactly like a turnover. I know it’s early and some of them just stepped off the football field, but you’ve got to stick it in the basket.”

Hall led all scores with 20 points, and was followed by Travis Booth and Patrick Hargrave with eight each. For East Surry, Covington was tops in scoring with 19, followed by Hoosier with 14 (eight in the first half) with Diamont and Ryan Johnson, who hit three big free throws down the stretch, with six points each.

The Cardinals will next travel to East Wilkes Monday.

Contact Thomas Smith at tsmith@mtairynews.com or 719-1920.

East Surry 55,

North Stokes 50

East Surry — 10 10 15 20 — 55

North Stokes — 10 10 13 17 — 50

East Surry — Matt Covington 19, Logan Hoosier 14, Diamont 6, Johnson 6, Fahrner 3, Gilley 3, Hunter 3

North Stokes — Dylan Hall 20, Booth 8, Hargrave 8, Tilley 7, Hopkins 5, Lewellyn 2