WENDELL - East Wake head boy’s basketball coach Darrin Stinson was inconsolable after his Warriors lost a thriller to Bunn at home on Friday.

The final score was 59-57.

Fans on both sides packed the East Wake High School gym for a game that more resembled a conference championship battle than the non-conference match-up than the contest really was.

The Warriors jumped off to a fast start, and it was all East Wake for most of the first quarter.

Scoring drives by Zavier Strickland, Robert Tomes and Chris Pernell, who hit a three-pointer within the first minute of action, put the Warriors ahead 9-0 right out of the gate.

Bunn’s Montrel Cooke scored the Wildcats’ first points of the game from the free throw line.

East Wake maintained a comfortable lead until Bunn’s Tavon Perry started a series of three-point shots to pull Bunn to within five points.

The run gave Bunn some momentum. The team continued to fire, and another 3-point shot by Cooke tied the score at 14 with just over a minute to go in the first quarter. Bunn managed to pull ahead of East Wake, 16-15, by the end of the first period.

Bunn continued to fire 3-point shots throughout the second quarter, surging ahead of East Wake 25-18 with four minutes left.

The Warriors battled back, and as the first half wound down East Wake’s Shaquille Leach closed the gap with a crowd-pleasing, buzzer-beating dunk.

As the players retreated to their halftime huddles, it was a two point game, with Bunn in the lead 31-29.

The second half of the game was a festival of 3-point shots that brought the crowd to their feet. The game was tied five times during the second half, but Bunn remained lethal from behind the arc and managed to maintain the slimmest of leads.

East Wake, showing poise at the free throw line, took advantage of Bunn fouls to stay within range. With eight seconds left in the game the Warriors hit twice from the line to pull within two points.

Stinson called two time outs in the last seven seconds, but his team, could not overcome a stubborn Bunn team that refused to break.

The two-point loss was a bitter pill for Stinson, who had little to say beyond the fact he was proud of his team for working hard and never giving up. He also praised the Bunn team for dictating the fast pace of the game.

“My players put forth a great effort,” he said. “All of the kids poured their hearts into the game and made some great shots down the stretch.”

This loss left the Warriors with a 1-3 record.

East Wake plays its conference opener this Friday, Dec. 9, at Knightdale at 7 p.m.