WENDELL - The East Wake High School men’s basketball team improved their record to 1-2 on their home court when they handily defeated Harnett Central 61-50 on Friday.

The Trojans put up a fight, and at any time during the match-up could have pulled ahead, but a tough Warrior defense and aggressive offense kept East Wake a step ahead until the final buzzer sounded.

The Warriors were still playing without senior center Robert Tomes — who before injuring his knee in the game against Bunn was averaging about 12 points per game — but quickly took an 11-3 lead over the Trojans on back-to-back 3-point shots by guards Chris Pernell, a senior, and Josh Siler, a freshman.

Harnett Central battled back to tie the score at 11 early in the second quarter.

Controlling the pace of the game, East Wake surged ahead.

Another Pernell 3-point shot, and two perfect rounds from the free throw line by junior guard Alex Cowan and senior forward Mitchell Beck led the Warriors to a 28-16 point spread at the end of the first half.

When play resumed, both teams were cold, but Pernell turned up the heat, hitting the first of several East Wake 3-point shots. By the midway point in the third quarter the Warriors had taken a 20-point lead.

Harnett Central responded with a pair of 3-pointers to close the gap, but it wasn’t enough to cut into the Warriors’ comfortable lead.

With momentum on their side, the Warriors stepped up the pace.

Fans went wild as Cowan made a fast break down court and leaped up to score a crowd-pleasing dunk, but failed to score after the ball bounced out.

Harnett Central never gave up and as the game clock wound down. The Trojans managed to score from the floor and from the free throw line, but it wasn’t enough to recover from the 11-point deficit that became final.

Cowan was the Warriors’ high-scoring player with 12 points.

Senior Shaquille Leach finished the game with 11 points. Siler and Pernell had 9 points each and Quincey Jackson scored 8.

Warrior coach Darrin Stinson said his team took care of the ball in the first three quarters, and that was the difference in a win or a loss.

“We only had eight turnovers in the first three quarter, but had nine in the fourth quarter and let them cut it to 10 points,” Stinson said. “We played good three quarters. We just got a little sloppy and gave up what we were doing in the end.”

Stinson said in Tomes’ absence it was a big help to have Cowan back in the lineup. Cowan had missed the Garner and Knightdale games after suffering a slight concussion in the Dec. 6 game against Wake Forest-Rolesville.

“He helped us out tremendously with the ball, and overall we just played better defense and shot the ball better,” Stinson said.