3-14-22 roundup: College basketball and baseball, High school baseball and softball, Pro golf, basketball and soccer

By Richard Walker

One week after joining the official National Junior College Athletic Association rankings for the first in school history in any sport, Gaston College moved up to No. 8 in the Division II poll that was announced on Monday.

The Rhinos went 3-1 last week to give them a 20-win season with a 21-1 overall record. Gaston College also holds a comfortable lead Region 10 West Division with a 14-1 region record; Two teams are tied for second with 7-4 region records.

Gaston College was ranked No. 10 last week when it received the first official NJCAA ranking in school history for any sport. The Rhinos last week also were ranked No. 4 in the www.thejbb.net poll and No. 7 in the PPR Juco report. Both of those rankings for this week will come out on Tuesday.

The Rhinos return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. at USC Lancaster before hosting USC Lancaster next Sunday at 2 p.m. in the first game this season at Gastonia’s Sims Legin Park that will become the Rhinos’ permanent home field.

College basketball

Here’s the full pairings for the 2022 NCAA tournament:

FIRST FOUR (at UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio)

(Tuesday’s games)
MIDWEST: No. 16 Texas Southern (18-12) vs. No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-11)
EAST: No. 12 Wyoming (25-8) vs. No. 12 Indiana (20-13)

(Wednesday’s games)
WEST: No. 11 Rutgers (18-13) vs. No. 11 Notre Dame (22-10)
SOUTH: No. 16 Wright State (21-13) vs. No. 16 Bryant (22-9)

FIRST ROUND

EAST REGION
(Thursday’s games at Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas)
No. 1 Baylor (26-6) vs. No. 16 Norfolk State (24-6)
No. 8 North Carolina (24-9) vs. No. 9 Marquette (19-12)
(Thursday’s games at Moda Center, Portland)
No. 5 Saint Mary’s (25-7) vs. No. 12 Wyoming/Indiana
No. 4 UCLA (25-7) vs. No. 13 Akron (24-9)
(Friday’s games at Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee)
No. 6 Texas (21-11) vs. No. 11 Virginia Tech (23-12)
No. 3 Purdue (27-7) vs. No. 14 Yale (19-11)
(Thursday’s games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis)
No. 7 Murray State (30-2) vs. No. 10 San Francisco (24-9)
No. 2 Kentucky (26-7) vs. No. 15 Saint Peter’s (19-11)

SOUTH REGION
(Friday’s games at Viejas Arena, San Diego)
No. 1 Arizona (31-3) vs. No. 16 Wright State/Bryant
No. 8 Seton Hall (21-10) vs. No. 9 TCU (20-12)
(Friday’s games at PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh)
No. 5 Houston (29-5) vs. No. 12 UAB (27-7)
No. 4 Illinois (22-9) vs. No. 13 Chattanooga (27-7)
(Thursday’s game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis)
No. 6 Colorado State (25-5) vs. No. 11 Michigan (17-14)
No. 3 Tennessee (26-7) vs. No. 14 Longwood (26-6)
(Friday’s games)
No. 7 Ohio State (19-11) vs. No. 10 Loyola, Chicago (25-7)
No. 2 Villanova (26-7) vs. No. 15 Delaware (22-12)

MIDWEST REGION
(Thursday’s games at Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas)
No. 1 Kansas (28-6) vs. No. 16 Texas Southern/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 8 San Diego (23-8) vs. No. 9 Creighton (22-11)
(Thursday’s games at KeyBank Center, Buffalo, N.Y.)
No. 5 Iowa (26-9) vs. No. 12 Richmond (23-12)
No. 4 Providence (25-5) vs. No. 5 South Dakota State (30-4)
(Friday’s games at Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee)
No. 6 LSU (22-11) vs. No. 11 Iowa State (20-12)
No. 3 Wisconsin (24-7) vs. No. 14 Colgate (23-11)
(Friday’s games at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C.)
No. 7 USC (26-7) vs. No. 10 Miami, Fla. (23-10)
No. 2 Auburn (27-5) vs. No. 15 Jacksonville State (21-10)

WEST REGION
(Thursday’s games at Moda Center, Portland)
No. 1 Gonzaga (26-3) vs. No. 16 Georgia State (18-10)
No. 8 Boise State (27-7) vs. No. 9 Memphis (21-10)
(Thursday’s game at KeyBank Center, Buffalo, N.Y.)
No. 5 UConn (23-9) vs. No. 12 New Mexico State (26-6)
No. 4 Arkansas (25-8) vs. No. 13 Vermont (28-5)
(Friday’s games at Viejas Arena, San Diego)
No. 6 Alabama (19-13) vs. No. 11 Rutgers/Notre Dame winner
No. 3 Texas Tech (25-9) vs. No. 14 Montana State (27-7)
(Friday’s games at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C.)
No. 7 Michigan State (22-12) vs. No. 10 Davidson (27-6)
No. 2 Duke (28-6) vs. No. 15 Cal State Fullerton (21-10)

Here are the pairings for the 2022 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Augusta, Ga.:

(Saturday’s quarterfinals)
No. 3 Lincoln Memorial 100, No. 6 Georgia College 65
No. 2 Queens 86, No. 7 Columbus State 84
No. 1 Augusta 106, No. 8 Belmont Abbey 77

No. 4 UNC-Pembroke 74, No. 5 Flagler 70

(Sunday’s semifinals)
Queens 81, Lincoln Memorial 76
Augusta 82, UNC-Pembroke 76

(Tuesday, March 15 championship)
7 p.m. – Queens vs. Augusta (Winner advances to March 22-26 Elite 8 in Evansville, Ind.)

Pro golf

Gastonia’s Harold Varner III finished tied for sixth in THE PLAYERS Championship that concluded on Monday.

Varner started the day one shot off the lead at eight under par and remained at eight under par to finish tied for sixth.

Cameron Smith won the tournament with a 13 under par score after finishing nine under par in the last two rounds.

Sunday’s leader Anirban Lahiri finished second at 12 under par.

High school baseball

(Monday’s results)
Ashbrook 16, Highland Tech 1 (5 innings): Winning pitcher Cooper Merritt and Chandler Meeks (4 hits) and Cooper York (3 hits, 6 RBIs) led Ashbrook.

Mountain Island Charter 4, Corvian Community 1: Jack Osterndorf (1 hit, 1 run, 1 RBI), Evan Borman (1 hit, 1 RBI), Tanner Leeson (1 hit) and pitchers Nathan Hunter (4 innings, 4 hits, 3 strikeouts) and Grayson Keistler (3 innings, 1 hit, 5 strikeouts).

THIS WEEK’s REMAINING SCHEDULE:
(Tuesday)
Ashbrook at Crest
Huss at Kings Mountain
North Gaston at Forestview
South Point at Cramer
Bessemer City at Highland Tech
East Gaston at Thomas Jefferson
Shelby at Cherryville
Hickory at North Lincoln
Statesville at East Lincoln
Bandys at Lincolnton
West Lincoln at Bunker Hill
Metrolina at Gaston Christian
Starmount at Lincoln Charter

(Wednesday)
Bunker Hill at East Lincoln
Clover, S.C. at South Point
Cramer at North Meck
Crest at Burns
East Rutherford at Forestview
Lincolnton at East Gaston
West Meck at Huss

(Thursday)
Burns at Kings Mountain
Community School of Davidson at Cherryville
Gaston Christian at SouthLake Christian
Lincoln Charter at Rocky River
Carolina Royals at Mountain Island Charter

(Friday)
Cramer at South Point
Crest at Ashbrook
Forestview at North Gaston
Kings Mountain at Huss
Cherryville at Shelby
Highland Tech at Bessemer City
Thomas Jefferson at East Gaston
North Iredell at North Lincoln
West Iredell at East Lincoln
Lincolnton at West Caldwell
West Lincoln at Newton-Conover
Mountain Island Charter at South Iredell

High school softball

(Monday’s results)
Mountain Island Charter 15, Piedmont CC 1 (5 innings)

Forestview 5 Lincolnton 3: Carson Upton pitched the complete game with 13 strikeouts for Forestview.

(Wednesday)
Cramer at East Lincolnton
Kings Mountain at Burns
North Lincoln at Bandys

(Thursday)
South Stanly at Mountain Island Charter

(Friday)
Crest at Cramer
Forestview at Ashbrook
Huss at South Point
Kings Mountain at North Gaston
Cherryville at Shelby
Highland Tech at Bessemer City
Thomas Jefferson at East Gaston
North Iredell at North Lincoln
West Iredell at East Lincoln
Lincolnton at West Caldwell
West Lincoln at Newton-Conover
Lincoln Charter at South Caldwell
Freedom at Burns

Pro basketball

The Charlotte Hornets recorded their third-largest comeback of the year to win 134-116 at Oklahoma City to improve their record to 34-35.

The Hornets trailed 47-29 with 10:26 left in the second quarter before making a 39-17 surge and never trailing again. It marks the fifth time out of nine rallies from a deficit of 10 more points that Charlotte has done so on the road.

Terry Rozier (30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), Miles Bridges (27 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists), LaMelo Ball (21 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists), Isaiah Thomas (12 points), Kelly Oubre (11 points), Cody Martin (11 points) and Mason Plumlee (5 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists) led the Hornets, who have a better road record (18-18) than home record (16-17) this season.

Charlotte begins a five-game homestand on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.

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 (L 126-127, OT)
Mon. 28 at Milwaukee (L 106-130)
MARCH
Wed. 2 at Cleveland (W 119-98)
Sat. 5 SAN ANTONIO (W 123-117)
Tue. 8 BROOKLYN (L 121-132)
Wed. 9 BOSTON (L 101-115)
Fri. 11 at New Orleans (W 142-120)
Mon. 14 at Oklahoma City (W 134-116)
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

Here’s the full Charlotte FC schedule for the 2022 season (with results):

Feb. 26 at D.C. (L 0-3)
March 5, L.A. (L 0-1)
March 13, at Atlanta (L 1-2)
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