2-25-22 roundup: High school basketball, Middle school basketball, Pro basketball and soccer, American Legion baseball
By Richard Walker
Eight local teams – four boys and four girls – will play in Saturday’s third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association basketball playoffs.
Crest and North Lincoln in 3A boys, Lincoln Charter in 2A boys, Bessemer City in 1A boys, Ashbrook and East Lincoln in 3A girls and Lincoln Charter and Shelby in 2A girls will seek advance to the March 1 Western semifinals with Saturday victories.
And all eight teams have previous experience at advancing this far in the playoffs.
The most experience belongs to Crest, who is making its 15th appearance in the third round of state dating all the way back to the original Crest High School that is located in a building now owned by Gardner-Webb University.
The school, which is an acronym for Cleveland Rural Education Stands Together, the school first opened in 1960 at what was Boiling Springs High School on Main Street in that town. Then nicknamed “Falcons,” those Crest teams coached by Cleveland County Sports Hall of Famer Ed Peeler went 2-1 in 1963 and 1965 1A playoffs, advancing to the eight-team 1965 1A state tournament that was held at Durham High School.
When the current Crest High was opened in 1967, the Chargers quickly became a basketball power with Peeler still the coach. The first featured the school’s greatest basketball player – future ACC great and Naismith Hall of Famer David Thompson – and its first third-round participant as it made the first of the school’s three trips to the old Western N.C. Activities Association final in 1971.
And while Crest lost in 1971, it won the 1973 and 1974 titles – beating crosstown rival Shelby in the process – for its first two and so far only basketball state championships.
Once Crest and other old WNCHSAA schools joined the NCHSAA in 1977, the Chargers became a power and have advanced to the third round nine times in the years since. Crest lost to eventual state champion Washington (with future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins in 1978), advanced to the district final in 1983, 4A regionals in 1992, the 2005 3A final, sectional finals in 2006, 2007 and 2013 and were Western 3A runner-ups in 2015 and 2021.
The most dominant recent area power have been Lincoln Charter’s boys, who are making their eighth straight appearance in the third round of the state playoffs, highlighted by a 2017 1A state title and last year’s 1A runner-up finish.
Bessemer City is also making its eighth third round state playoff appearance but its the Yellow Jackets’ first since 2004. Previously, Bessemer City has made advances this far in the playoffs in 1928, 1957, 1970, 1972, 1991, 1994 and 1995. The 1972 and 1991 teams finished as 2A state runner-ups.
North Lincoln is making its third third round appearance.
Of the four girls teams remaining, East Lincoln and Shelby are making their seventh third round appearance, Ashbrook its fifth and Lincoln Charter its second.
East Lincoln is snapping the longest drought as the Mustangs made all six previous appearances from 1973 to 1995 highlighted by an unbeaten state champion in 1973 when the NCHSAA held its first girls state tournament and held it an open classification event. East Lincoln also finished third in the 1974 open classification state tournament.
Here are Saturday’s pairings for the teams from Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties:
2A girls
WEST
#1 Randleman vs. #8 Lincoln Charter
#4 East Rutherford vs. #5 Shelby
3A girls
WEST
#1 Carson vs. #9 Ashbrook
#4 North Davidson vs. #5 East Lincoln
1A boys
WEST
#6 Bessemer City vs. #14 North Rowan
2A boys
WEST
#2 Lincoln Charter vs. #7 Monroe
3A boys
WEST
#5 Ben Smith vs. #20 North Lincoln
#3 Crest 71 vs. #6 Enka
Middle school basketball
Gaston County Conference standings through Feb. 24:
(Boys)
Southwest 9-0
Belmont 7-2
Grier 7-2
Holbrook 7-2
York Chester 6-3
Mount Holly 5-5
Cramerton 4-5
Stanley 3-6
Bessemer City 1-8
W.C. Friday 1-8
Chavis 0-9
(Girls)
Holbrook 9-0
Belmont 7-2
W.C. Friday 7-2
Cramerton 6-3
Southwest 6-3
Chavis 5-4
Stanley 4-5
York Chester 2-7
Mount Holly 2-8
Bessemer City 1-8
Grier 1-8
(Monday’s games)
Cramerton at Belmont
Chavis at Bessemer City
W.C. Friday at York Chester
Grier at Stanley
Holbrook at Southwest
Pro basketball
The Charlotte Hornets opened the second half of the season like they wanted to forget the way they ended the first half.
After losing nine of their last 10 games before the All-Star break, the Hornets took full advantage of their seven days off and returned Friday with a blistering 125-93 victory over the Toronto Raptors in front of 17,577 at Spectrum Center.
It marked the first game in which Charlotte had led after all four quarters of a game since Jan. 28 as the Hornets never trailed and once built as much as a 41-points lead.
Terry Rozier (23 points, 9 assists), Kelly Oubre (23 points), Montrezl Harrell (20 points, 10 rebounds), LaMelo Ball (13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists), P.J. Washington (13 points), Miles Bridges (11 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) and Mason Plumlee (8 points, 10 rebounds) led a balanced Charlotte attack.
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 (W 97-87)
Wed. 19 at Boston (W 111-102)
Fri. 21 OKLAHOMA CITY (W 121-98)
Sun. 23 ATLANTA (L 91-113)
Tue. 25 at Toronto (L 113-125)
Wed. 26 at Indiana (W 158-126)
Fri. 28 L.A. LAKERS (W 117-114)
Sun. 30 LA CLIPPERS (L 90-115)
FEBRUARY
Wed. 2 at Boston (L 107-113)
Fri. 4 CLEVELAND (L 101-102)
Sat. 5 MIAMI (L 86-104)
Mon. 7 TORONTO (L 101-116)
Wed. 9 CHICAGO (L 109-121)
Fri. 11 at Detroit (W 141-119)
Sat. 12 MEMPHIS (L 118-125)
Tue. 15 at Minnesota (L 120-126, OT)
Thu. 17 MIAMI (L 107-111, 2 OT)
Fri. 25 TORONTO (W 125-93)
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
Pro soccer
Major League Soccer expansion franchise Charlotte FC makes its debut on Saturday at 6 p.m. when it visits D.C. United.
“You feel the energy in trainings,” Charlotte coach Miguel Ramirez recently told reporters. “You feel a special energy that is the competition.”
Charlotte’s March 5 home opener at Bank of America Stadium against L.A. is already a sellout but Ramirez thinks Saturday’s game will have them ready for that historic contest.
“The game is always the best teacher,” said Ramirez, who at 37 is the youngest coach in MLS. “Competition is always the best coach.”
Here’s the full Charlotte FC schedule for the 2022 season:
Feb. 26 at D.C., 6 p.m.
March 5, LA, 7:30 p.m.
March 13, at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.
March 19, New England, 7 p.m.
March 26, Cincinnati, 6 p.m.
April 4, at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
April 10, Atlanta, 1:30 p.m.
April 16, at New England, 7:30 p.m.
April 23, at Colorado, 9 p.m.
April 30, at Orlando, 7:30 p.m.
May 7, Miami, 3:30 p.m.
May 14, Montreal, 7 p.m.
May 22, Vancouver, 5 p.m.
May 29, at Seattle, 9:30 p.m.
June 11, New York, 3 p.m.
June 18, at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
June 25, at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
June 30, Austin, 7 p.m.
July 3, at Houston, 8:30 p.m.
July 9, Nashville, 7 p.m.
July 16, at Miami, 8 p.m.
July 23, at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
July 30, Columbus, 7 p.m.
August 3, D.C., 7 p.m.
August 6, Chicago, 7 p.m.
August 13, at LAFC, 10:30 p.m.
August 17, at New York City, TBD
August 21, Orlando, 7 p.m.
August 27, Toronto, 7 p.m.
September 3, at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
September 10, New York City, 7 p.m.
September 17, at Chicago, 8 p.m.
October 1, Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
October 9, at New York, TBD
American Legion baseball
The 2022 North Carolina American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony inducting the 2021 class will be held on Saturday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Cherryville Post 100 Legion hut. Tickets are $10. Call Jerry Hudson (704-460-4855), Tony Robinson (980-329-7200), Mike Robinson (704-473-9310), Ned Yates (704-618-3644), Jill Pueit (704-842-4804) or Danny Eaker (704-435-2717) to reserve your seat. The inductees will be Mike Ellis of Ahoskie Post 102, Sam Homesley of Cherryville Post 100, Mike Robinson of Cherryville Post 100 and Jerald D. Rollins of Greenville Post 39.