By Mike London
Salisbury Post
Fifth in a series of reports on local basketball …
GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan’s girls graduated four starters and six of the top seven from the 21-victory team that won the Christmas Tournament and went 11-5 in the South Piedmont Conference in 2024-25.
East’s special Class of 2025 included the Rowan County Player of the Year (Mary Church) and the Rowan County Athlete of the Year (Sadie Featherstone). Girls like that don’t come along every day.
East head coach Bri Evans, a former Catawba star who became a mom for the first time in May, will miss the Class of 2025, but she isn’t sitting around singing the blues. East will look a lot different without Featherstone and Church diving around, but she’s confident the Mustangs aren’t going to suddenly fall off a cliff. The cupboard isn’t bare.
“Last season’s team was a really good team, but it wasn’t built overnight,” Evans said. “It was a building process. We got better every year. And we’ve got an advantage now we didn’t have a few years ago. We were deep enough last year that a lot of girls in our program got an extra year of jayvee experience. They’re prepared to be good varsity players.”
Senior point guard Lily Kluttz is the only returning starter. A Catawba softball recruit who was the Rowan County and South Piedmont Conference Player of the Year as a shortstop, Kluttz is pass-first and pass-second and has never been asked to score big. She scored in double figures only once last season and averaged about 5 points per game.
But she does have some offensive skills and could average double digits this season.
“She’s got the green light and we will look for her to score more,” Evans said. “She’s got a great mentality for basketball. She doesn’t get too high or too low. She is always calm, cool and collected.”
The other girl on the roster who has played major minutes for the Mustangs in varsity games is Stepp. She was in the rotation last year and scored 53 points. She’s a defensive pest. She’ll make some 3s, and she’s excited and noisy, whether she’s on the court or on the bench.
“Always lots of energy from Izzy and lots of vocal leadership,” Evans said.
Ava Alderman and Ava Quick are seniors who have gotten varsity minutes. They are posts who will be counted on for rebounds and interior defense. Alderman contributed 23 points last season.
Kaley “KP” Pfister is a senior who played very little last year, but Evans believes the two-time Rowan County Golfer of the Year is ready to help replace some of the points that Church, Featherstone and Kady Collins scored in 2024-25.
“She can finish inside,” Evans said.
Senior Jaelyn Earnhardt is known mostly for her role on East’s perennial county golf champs, but she’s making a hoops comeback. She didn’t play last year, but she was a good jayvee player earlier in her high school career.
The junior class includes Maicy Miller (Kori’s sister), Lelu Hill and Ivy Oglesby.
Miller scored 11 in East’s opening win against Trinity. Hill is an athletic track and field jumper. Evans is counting on Oglesby for rebounds and put-backs.
The only varsity sophomore is going to be important. Mariah Lawing is an athletic guard. She’ll take some of the ball-handling and pressure-beating load off of Kluttz, and she’ll do some scoring. She contributed 16 points in her first two varsity games.
“She’s also excellent on defense,” Evans said.
East’s leading scorer may be Bristol Smith, a tall freshman who debuted with 23 points at Trinity and scored 12 in the loss at North Stanly that followed. Smith had a strong volleyball season as a varsity freshman.
“Bristol can be a dominant post presence,” Evans said. “She could make some noise in the SPC right away.”
With the addition of Lawing and Smith, the Mustangs should have a chance to win their share.
“We’re going to work hard every day and we’re going to compete right down to the buzzer,” Evans said. “That’s who were are. That doesn’t change.”
