12-2-21 roundup: High school football and basketball, Pro football and basketball, College football and basketball, Middle school boys soccer, volleyball and wrestling
By Richard Walker
State championship pairings will be finalized for N.C. High School Athletic Association football teams after Friday’s regional finals across the state.
The state announced earlier this week the following state championship times, dates and sites:
Class 1A: Dec. 11 at noon (Kenan Stadium, North Carolina)
Class 2A: Dec. 11 at 3 p.m. (Carter-Finley Stadium, N.C. State)
Class 3A: Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. (Kenan Stadium, North Carolina)
Class 4A: Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. (Carter-Finley Stadium, N.C. State)
Here’s a closer look at the area’s two playoff games:
(Class 3A)
South Point at Dudley
Series: First meeting
South Point playoff history: 33rd appearance (57-26-2 record)
Storyline: The teams are in regional finals for the first time since 2016 when South Point won the N.C. 3A state title and Dudley the N.C. 4A state title. South Point has won five state titles – the 1971 WNCHSAA co-title and NCHSAA titles in 1979, 2003, 2009 and 2016. Dudley won six state titles – 1951 and 1966 NCHSAC titles and NCHSAA championships in 2007, 2008, 2013 and 2016.
(Class 2A)
East Surry at Shelby
Series: First meeting
Shelby playoff history: 58th appearance (136-41-5 record)
Storyline: Both teams have enjoyed recent playoff success as Shelby has won six state titles in the last eight seasons (2A or 2AA) and East Surry is a three-time defending 1AA champion. Shelby also is in its eighth regional final in nine years and East Surry is in a regional final for the fourth straight season.
Here are Friday’s full NCHSAA regional finals pairings:
1A
(East)
#1 Tarboro (12-1) vs. #6 Pender (9-3)
(West)
#3 Mitchell (12-2) vs. #4 Robbinsville (10-3)
2A
(East)
#1 Princeton (13-0) vs. #10 Wallace-Rose Hill (12-2)
(West)
#1 Shelby (13-1) vs. #2 East Surry (13-0)
3A
(East)
#6 J.H. Rose (10-4) vs. #13 Jacksonville (11-2)
(West)
#3 Dudley (13-1) vs. #16 South Point (11-3)
4A
(East)
#6 Cardinal Gibbons (12-2) vs. #20 Rolesville (9-5)
(West)
#1 Hough (14-0) vs. #10 Julius Chambers (13-1)
S.C. High School League state finals pairings (all games at Benedict College):
(Thursday)
Class 4A – South Pointe 41, Beaufort 7
(Friday)
Class 3A – Daniel vs. Camden, 2 p.m.
Class 2A – Gray Collegiate vs. Silver Bluff, 7 p.m.
(Saturday)
Class 1A – Southside Christian vs. Bamberg-Ehrhardt, noon
Class 5A – Gaffney vs. Dutch Fork, 5 p.m.
High school basketball
(Thursday’s games)
Boys results:
R-S Central 78, Burns 50
Cramer 66, East Gaston 51: Will Kelly (18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists), Mason Craig (15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists), Jacob Joyner (13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists) and John Hill (11 points, 12 rebounds). Cramer also won the JV game 49-38 behind Quinton Rybczyk (15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals), Campbell Pierce (11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals) and Michael Hunt (8 points, 1 block).
Lincoln Charter 63, 1 of 1 Academy 52
Girls results:
R-S Central 77, Burns 34
East Gaston 37, Cramer 31: Halle Chaffin had nine points and Heather Longnecker eight for East Gaston and Hadley Womack had nine points and Madison Lee seven for Cramer.
Lincoln Charter at 1of1 Academy, no report
(Wednesday’s games)
Boys results:
East Lincoln 43, Ashbrook 33: The Mustangs outscored Ashbrook 15-6 in the fourth quarter to break open a close game. Jeremiah Jones had 13 points and Keandre Walker 10 for East Lincoln. Logan Mason’s 12 points led Ashbrook.
Bessemer City 67, Chase 58: Keyshawn Adams (27 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks), Randal Pettus (25 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals) and Terrance Smith (7 rebounds, 3 assists) led Bessemer City.
North Gaston 66, Cherryville 57
Highland Tech 73, Huss 71
Kings Mountain 81, Burns 58: Zeke Cannedy had 36 points, Maddox James 24 points and Curtis Simpson had 16 rebounds for Kings Mountain.
South Point 58, Lincolnton 47: Cooper Ray (22 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds) and Tyler Woloson (13 points, 7 rebounds) led South Point and Brittian Burney’s 14 points.
North Lincoln 73, Newton-Conover 43
Cramer 81, North Henderson 60: Will Kelly (35 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals), Mason Craig (14 points, 5 rebounds), Frankie Verdezas (11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) and John Hill (6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) led Cramer. Cramer also won the JV game 58-34 behind Quinton Rybczyk (30 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal), John Adams-McClendon (9 points, 14 rebounds, 1 steal), Campbell Pierce (5 points, 6 assists, 4 steals) and Amari Littlejohn (2 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals).
Roberson 55, Crest 48
Girls results:
Ashbrook 58, East Lincoln 55
Bessemer City 55, Chase 11: Janiya Adams (28 points, 11 steals, 6 assists), Tionna Pettus (11 points, 15 rebounds) and Janecia Meeks (11 points) led Bessemer City.
North Gaston d. Cherryville
Huss 67, Highland Tech 24
Kings Mountain 40, Burns 30: Khalia King (15 points, 3 rebounds), Saniya Wilson (13 points, 3 assists, 12 steals) and Alayna Patrick (6 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists) lead Kings Mountain and Tishiona Strong (19 points) led Burns.
Lincolnton 54, South Point 44: Alexis Hough had 16 points and Camelia Holland 14 for Lincolnton and Amya Graham (18 points, 13 rebounds), Lexi Birtwistle (11 points) and Maddie Frank (7 points, 7 rebounds) led South Point. Lincolnton also won the JV game 33-15 as Annie Risk (12 points, 16 rebounds, 4 blocks) led South Point.
Newton-Conover 59, North Lincoln 16
North Henderson 63, Cramer 53: Lexi Gunter had 33 points for North Henderson and Hadley Womack (15 points) and Madison Lee (8 points) led Cramer.
Roberson 58, Crest 37
Here’s the rest of the week’s schedule:
(Friday)
Ashbrook at Highland Tech
Bandys at North Lincoln
East Gaston at North Gaston
Forestview at Bessemer City
Hough at Huss
Lincoln Charter at Kings Mountain
Lincolnton at East Lincoln
Mountain Island Charter at Hopewell
Shelby at Crest (ppd., no date)
South Point at Catawba Ridge (ppd., Dec. 13)
West Lincoln at Cherryville
(Saturday)
Avery at West Lincoln
College basketball
Combine Academy 86, Gaston College 83: For the second time this season, Gaston College tangled with Combine Academy Prep in an exciting, high-scoring battle. And for the second time this season, the home team came out on top as Combine Academy Prep rallied from a 20-point first half deficit before taking the win at Combine Academy Prep’s Lincolnton gymnasium.
Damon Davis (25 points, 5 assists), Dee Merriweather (15 points), Kalil Camara (14 points, 8 rebounds) and Da’marco Watson (12 points, 6 assists) led the Rhinos. Guard Jacob Cooper, who’s being recruited by several NCAA Division I schools including nearby Gardner-Webb, had a game-high 28 points for Combine Academy Prep. Big Ten Conference recruit Jayden Brewer (19 points) and Murray State commitment Corneilous Williams (12 points) also had big games for the Goats.
Pro football
Here is the Carolina Panthers’ 2021 schedule (with results):
Sept. 12 New York Jets (W 19-14)
Sept. 19 New Orleans (W 26-7)
Sept. 23 at Houston (W 24-9)
Oct. 3 at Dallas (L 28-36)
Oct. 10 Philadelphia (L 18-21)
Oct. 17 Minnesota (L 28-34, OT)
Oct. 24 at New York Giants (L 3-25)
Oct. 31 at Atlanta (W 19-13)
Nov. 7 New England (L 6-24)
Nov. 14 at Arizona (W 34-10)
Nov. 21 Washington (L 21-27)
Nov. 28 at Miami (L 10-33)
Dec. 5 BYE WEEK
Dec. 12 Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Dec. 19 at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Dec. 26 Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Jan. 2 at New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Jan. 9 at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m
Pro basketball
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 6:00
Mon. 6 PHILADELPHIA 7:00
Wed. 8 PHILADELPHIA 7:00
Fri. 10 SACRAMENTO 7:00
Mon. 13 at Dallas 8:30
Wed. 15 at San Antonio 8:30
Fri. 17 at Portland 10:00
Sun. 19 at Phoenix 8:00
Mon. 20 at Utah 9:00
Thu. 23 at Denver 9:00
Mon. 27 HOUSTON 7:00
Wed. 29 at Indiana 7:00
JANUARY
Sun. 2 PHOENIX 7:00
Mon. 3 at Washington 7:00
Wed. 5 DETROIT 7:00
Sat. 8 MILWAUKEE 7:00
Mon. 10 MILWAUKEE 7:00
Wed. 12 at Philadelphia 7:00
Fri. 14 ORLANDO 7:00
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
College football
Here’s this weekend’s Carolinas Division I football schedule:
(Saturday)
Sun Belt championship – Appalachian State at Louisiana, 3:30 p.m.
ACC championship – Pittsburgh vs. Wake Forest, 8 p.m.
Middle school boys soccer
Gaston County Conference standings through Dec. 2 games:
Cramerton 10-0
Grier 9-1
Belmont 8-2
Holbrook 6-3
Mount Holly 6-4
Stanley 5-5
York Chester 3-6
Bessemer City 2-7
W.C. Friday 2-7
Southwest 1-8
Chavis 0-9
(Thursday’s games)
Cramerton 1, Belmont 0: Tristan Holt scored the game’s lone goal and Isaac Aycock recorded 3 saves in goal for the shutout for Cramerton.
Chavis at Bessemer City, no report
W.C. Friday at York Chester, no report
Grier 5, Stanley 1
Holbrook at Southwest, no report
END REGULAR SEASON
(Playoffs)
Monday’s semifinals
No. 4 (Holbrook) at No. 1 (Cramerton)
No. 3 (Belmont) at No. 2 (Grier)
Wednesday’s final
At highest remaining seed
Middle school volleyball
Gaston County Conference standings through Dec. 2 games:
Cramerton 10-0
Mount Holly 9-1
Stanley 7-2
Chavis 6-3
Holbrook 5-4
Belmont 5-5
W.C. Friday 4-6
Southwest 3-6
York Chester 2-8
Grier 1-8
Bessemer City 0-9
(Thursday’s games)
Cramerton 3, Belmont 1: Arydn Thornburg, Lilly Coletta, Addison Townsend , Julianna Mott, Jordan Gates, Cailey Evans, Ava Cabe and Finley Watson led Cramerton.
Chavis at Bessemer City, no report
W.C. Friday 3, York Chester 0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-13)
Grier at Stanley, no report
Holbrook at Southwest, no report
END REGULAR SEASON
(Playoffs)
Monday’s semifinals
No. 4 (Chavis) at No. 1 (Cramerton)
No. 3 (Stanley) at No. 2 (Mount Holly)
Wednesday’s final
At highest remaining seed
Middle school wrestling
Gaston County Conference wrestling standings through Nov. 30:
W.C. Friday 8-0
Cramerton 7-1
Belmont 7-1
York Chester 6-2
Holbrook 5-3
Chavis 3-5
Stanley 3-5
Mount Holly 3-6
Grier 2-6
Southwest 1-8
Bessemer City 0-8
(Friday’s matches)
Belmont at Grier
Bessemer City at W.C. Friday
Chavis at Cramerton
York Chester at Holbrook
Stanley at Mount Holly
(Tuesday, Dec. 7)
Cramerton at Belmont
Chavis at Bessemer City
W.C. Friday at York Chester
Grier at Stanley
Holbrook at Southwest
END REGULAR SEASON
(Championship)
Sat. Dec. 11 at South Point HS