1-14-22 roundup: High school basketball, Pro football, basketball and soccer, College basketball
By Richard Walker
Three local products completed their NFL seasons this, including two who were making their debuts.
Veteran Jonathan Bullard, a 2012 Crest High graduate, completed his sixth NFL season with 21 tackles in nine games (four starts) for the Atlanta Falcons.
Tanner Muse (South Point 2015) made his NFL debut in his second year in the league with four tackles in six games for the Seattle Seahawks; Muse had missed the 2020 season after needing toe surgery when he was a member of the Las Vegas Raiders.
And Chazz Surratt (East Lincoln 2016) made his NFL debut by playing in nine games for the Minnesota Vikings.
None of those three teams made the NFL playoffs.
Here’s the complete 2021-22 NFL playoff schedule:
(AFC 1st round)
1. Tennessee (12-5) – bye
5. Las Vegas (10-7) at 4. Cincinnati (10-7), 4:30 p.m. Saturday
6. New England (10-7) at 3. Buffalo (11-6), 8:15 p.m. Saturday
7. Pittsburgh (9-7-1) at 2. Kansas City (12-5), 8:15 p.m. Sunday
(NFC 1st round)
1. Green Bay (13-4) – bye
7. Philadelphia (9-8) at 2. Tampa Bay (13-4), 1 p.m. Sunday
6. San Francisco (10-7) at 3. Dallas (12-5), 4:30 p.m. Sunday
5. Arizona (11-6) at 4. Los Angeles (12-5), 8:15 p.m. Monday
(AFC, NFC semifinals)
Jan. 22-23
(AFC, NFC championship games)
Jan. 30
(Super Bowl)
Feb. 13
Pro basketball
Facing a team that had lost 10 straight games, the Charlotte Hornets looked poised to win their fifth straight game for the second time this season.
Instead, the Orlando Magic showed a resilience one wouldn’t expect from a team with an 8-35 record and rallied for a 116-109 win at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center.
Charlotte (23-20) lost for the first time this season after it led at the end of the first three quarters and squandered solid efforts from LaMelo Ball (23 points, 8 assists), Miles Bridges (20 points), Terry Rozier (19 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists), Gordon Hayward (18 points) and Mason Plumlee (10 points, 10 rebounds).
The Hornets also dropped to 19-3 in games in which they led entering the fourth quarter.
Here is the Charlotte Hornets’ full regular season schedule (with results):
OCTOBER
Wed. 20 INDIANA (W 123-122)
Fri. 22 at Cleveland (W 123-112)
Sun. 24 at Brooklyn (W 111-95)
Mon. 25 BOSTON (L 129-140, OT)
Wed. 27 at Orlando (W 120-111)
Fri. 29 at Miami (L 99-114)
Sun. 31 PORTLAND (W 125-113)
NOVEMBER
Mon. 1 CLEVELAND (L 110-113)
Wed. 3 at Golden State (L 92-114)
Fri. 5 at Sacramento (L 110-140)
Sun. 7 at LA Clippers (L 106-120)
Mon. 8 at L.A. Lakers (L 123-126, OT)
Wed. 10 at Memphis (W 118-108)
Fri. 12 NEW YORK (W 104-96)
Sun. 14 GOLDEN STATE (W 106-102)
Wed. 17 WASHINGTON (W 97-87)
Fri. 19 INDIANA (W 121-118)
Sat. 20 at Atlanta (L 105-115)
Mon. 22 at Washington (W 109-103)
Wed. 24 at Orlando (W 108-99)
Fri. 26 MINNESOTA (W 133-115)
Sat. 27 at Houston (L 143-146, OT)
Mon. 29 at Chicago (L 119-133)
DECEMBER
Wed. 1 at Milwaukee (L 125-127)
Sun. 5 at Atlanta (W 130-127)
Mon. 6 PHILADELPHIA (L 124-127, OT)
Wed. 8 PHILADELPHIA (L 106-110)
Fri. 10 SACRAMENTO (W 124-123)
Mon. 13 at Dallas (L 96-120)
Wed. 15 at San Antonio (W 131-115)
Fri. 17 at Portland (L 116-125)
Sun. 19 at Phoenix (L 106-137)
Mon. 20 at Utah (L 102-112)
Thu. 23 at Denver (W 115-107)
Mon. 27 HOUSTON (W 123-99)
Wed. 29 at Indiana (W 116-108)
JANUARY
Sun. 2 PHOENIX (L 99-133)
Mon. 3 at Washington (L 121-124)
Wed. 5 DETROIT (W 140-111)
Sat. 8 MILWAUKEE (W 114-106)
Mon. 10 MILWAUKEE (W 103-99)
Wed. 12 at Philadelphia (W 109-98)
Fri. 14 ORLANDO (L 109-116)
Mon. 17 at New York 1:00
Wed. 19 at Boston 7:30
Fri. 21 OKLAHOMA CITY 7:00
Sun. 23 ATLANTA 7:00
Tue. 25 at Toronto 7:00
Wed. 26 at Indiana 7:00
Fri. 28 L.A. LAKERS 7:00
Sun. 30 LA CLIPPERS 1:00
FEBRUARY
Wed. 2 at Boston 7:30
Fri. 4 CLEVELAND 7:00
Sat. 5 MIAMI 7:00
Mon. 7 TORONTO 7:00
Wed. 9 CHICAGO 7:30
Fri. 11 at Detroit 7:00
Sat. 12 MEMPHIS 7:00
Tue. 15 at Minnesota 8:00
Thu. 17 MIAMI 7:00
Fri. 25 TORONTO 7:00
Sun. 27 DETROIT 7:00
Mon. 28 at Milwaukee 8:00
MARCH
Wed. 2 at Cleveland 7:00
Sat. 5 SAN ANTONIO 7:00
Tue. 8 BROOKLYN 7:00
Wed. 9 BOSTON 7:00
Fri. 11 at New Orleans 8:00
Mon. 14 at Oklahoma City 8:00
Wed. 16 ATLANTA 7:00
Sat. 19 DALLAS 7:00
Mon. 21 NEW ORLEANS 7:00
Wed. 23 NEW YORK 7:00
Fri. 25 UTAH 7:00
Sun. 27 at Brooklyn 7:30
Mon. 28 DENVER 7:00
Wed. 30 at New York 7:30
APRIL
Sat. 2 at Philadelphia 12:30
Tue. 5 at Miami 7:30
Thu. 7 ORLANDO 7:00
Fri. 8 at Chicago 8:00
Sun. 10 WASHINGTON TBD
High school basketball
Four local players have selected to play in the March 26 Carolinas Classic North/South All-Star game in Wilmington.
Cramer boys senior Will Kelly, Crest boys senior Mari Adams, Kings Mountain boys senior Zeke Cannedy and Shelby girls senior Kate Hollifield have been invited to play in a game that pits 10 players from North Carolina against 10 players from South Carolina in boys and girls all-star contests.
Friday’s results:
(Boys)
Cramer 74, North Gaston 49: Will Kelly (16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 2 charges taken), Mason Craig (15 points), John Hill (12 points, 10 rebounds), Frankie Verdezas (8 points) and Jacob Joyner (8 points, 3 assists) led Cramer.
Cramer also won the JV game 61-52 led by Quinton Rybczyk (23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists), D.J. Cross (10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals), Campbell Pierce (9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals) and Amari Littlejohn (8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals).
South Point 55, Forestview 34: Nate Aguilar (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals), Deviyus Harris-Byrd (11 points), Antwon Corbin (10 points, 5 rebounds) and Brandon Alfonse (7 blocks) led Forestview.
Huss at Crest (ppd., Jan. 22)
Kings Mountain 80, Ashbrook 50
East Gaston 75, Burns 63
Corvian Community 72, Piedmont CC 51
East Lincoln 68, North Iredell 66: Drew Bean and Palmer Crichton had 12 points apiece, Jeremiah Jones and Landon Glezen had 10 each and Logan Craig had nine points and seven assists for East Lincoln.
Gaston Day 70, Concord Academy 65: Chris Britt had 27 points, Callum Richard 22 and Evan Montanari 12 for Gaston Day.
Gaston Christian 70, Metrolina Christian 54
Lincoln Charter 83, Mountain Island Charter 62
(Girls)
North Gaston 39, Cramer 38: Whitney Brown had 19 points and Bailey Perry eight for North Gaston and Dasia Harris had 16 points and Hadley Womack 14 for Cramer.
Forestview at South Point (ppd., Jan. 26)
Huss at Crest (ppd., Jan. 22)
Kings Mountain 45, Ashbrook 41: Khalia King (20 points) and Saniya Wilson (16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists) led Kings Mountain and Kennette Bess had 15 points, Yazarhi Mason 13 and Madison Cole 10 for Ashbrook.
Burns 35, East Gaston 21
East Lincoln 59, North Iredell 46
Maiden 61, Lincolnton 31
Concord Academy 69, Gaston Day 12
Lincoln Charter 61, Mountain Island Charter 13
College basketball
Davidson 87, Richmond 84: Mike Jones’ 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left gave Davidson its 13th straight victory.
Pro soccer
Charlotte FC on Friday announced midfielder Riley McGree has joined Middlesbrough FC on a permanent transfer. The Australian, who joined as the Club’s second-ever signing in October 2020, spent the last year and a half on loan at Birmingham City where he made 30 appearances for the Blues in the English Championship. Middlesbrough currently sit 7th place in the English Championship, the country’s second division. The club, an original member of the Premier League, is looking to return to the English topflight for the first time since 2017.
High school indoor track
Seven area schools participated in the first Polar Bear Indoor Track Meet at Kings Mountain High School on Thursday.
The top Kings Mountain boys performances:
D.J. Black (1st 55m dash, 1st 300m dash, 1st 4x200m relay)
Andre Willis (1st 55m High Hurdles)
Parker Key (1st 3200m)
Nicholas Harrison (1st Pole Vault)
Marty Lovingood (1st Long Jump)
Andre Willis, Hunter Cruise, J.J. Thurman (1st 4×200 relay)
The top Kings Mountain girls performances:
Alexis Jackson (1st High Jump, 1st Long Jump, 1st Triple Jump)
Rayna Brown (1st Pole Vault)
Taylor Smith (1st Shot Put)
Divinity Ervin (1st 3200m)
Taniya Brown (1st 55m High Hurdles)
Brooke Waseman (1st 300m dash)
Navaeh Brown (1st 55m dash)
Navaeh Brown, Nyadria Phillips, Lawren Thomas, and Brooke Waseman (1st 4×200 relay)
Kings Mountain’s next meet is Jan. 20 at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem.