4-13-22 roundup: Pro basketball and soccer, College baseball, High school baseball, softball and track, Middle school baseball and girls soccer

By Richard Walker

For the second straight season, the Charlotte Hornets saw their season end on the short end of a road NBA play-in tournament loss.

A year after getting routed 144-117 at the Indiana Pacers in the league’s inaugural playoff tournament, the Hornets were blasted again on Wednesday in a 132-103 loss at the Atlanta Hawks.

Charlotte led only briefly in the first quarter before the host Hawks took control in front of a sellout crowd of 18,137 at StateFarm Arena behind All-Star guard Trae Young (24 points, 11 assists).

LaMelo Ball (26 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists), Terry Rozier (21 points), P.J. Washington (17 points, 6 rebounds) and Miles Bridges (12 points) led Charlotte, which had finished the regular season at 43-39 and seeded 10th.

The Hornets needed to win Wednesday and at Cleveland on Friday to advance as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Instead, Charlotte will see its streak of non-playoff seasons grow to six years as fuel speculation changes could be coming to the franchise.

Reports on Wednesday indicated general manager Mitch Kupchak’s contract is expected to end following this season and may not be extended by owner Michael Jordan. And since one of Kupchak’s first moves was to fire Steve Clifford and hire Hornets head coach James Borrego, the coach’s future could also be in jeopardy.

Here’s the schedule for this week’s NBA play-in tournament:

(Tuesday’s games)
East-7 Brooklyn 115, East-8 Cleveland 108 (Brooklyn becomes East-7)
West-7 Minnesota 109, West-8 L.A. Clippers 104 (Minnesota becomes West-7)

(Wednesday’s games)
East-9 Atlanta 132, East-10 Charlotte 103
West-9 New Orleans 113, West-10 San Antonio 103

(Friday’s games)
Atlanta at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m. (winner becomes East-8)
New Orleans at L.A. Clippers, 10 p.m. (winner becomes West-8)

Here’s the schedule for upcoming NBA playoffs:

(Eastern Conference)
1-Miami vs. 8-TBD
Game 1 at Miami: April 17
Game 2 at Miami: April 19
Game 3 at East-8: April 22
Game 4 at East-8: April 24
Game 5 (if necessary) at Miami: April 26
Game 6 (if necessary) at East-8: April 28
Game 7 (if necessary) at Miami: April 30

4-Philadelphia vs. 5-Toronto
Game 1 at Philadelphia: April 16
Game 2 at Philadelphia: April 18
Game 3 at Toronto: April 20
Game 4 at Toronto: April 23
Game 5 (if necessary) at Philadelphia: April 25
Game 6 (if necessary) at Toronto: April 28
Game 7 (if necessary) at Philadelphia: April 30

2-Boston vs. 7-Brooklyn
Game 1 at Boston: April 17
Game 2 at Boston: April 20
Game 3 at Brooklyn: April 23
Game 4 at Brooklyn: April 25
Game 5 (if necessary) at Boston: April 27
Game 6 (if necessary) at Brooklyn: April 29
Game 7 (if necessary) at Boston: May 1

3-Milwaukee vs. 6-Chicago
Game 1 at Milwaukee: April 17
Game 2 at Milwaukee: April 20
Game 3 at Chicago: April 22
Game 4 at Chicago: April 24
Game 5 (if necessary) at Milwaukee: April 27
Game 6 (if necessary) at Chicago: April 29
Game 7 (if necessary) at Milwaukee: May 1

(Western Conference)
1-Phoenix vs. 8-TBD
Game 1 at Phoenix: April 17
Game 2 at Phoenix: April 19
Game 3 at West-8: April 22
Game 4 at West-8: April 24
Game 5 (if necessary) at Phoenix: April 26
Game 6 (if necessary) at West-8: April 28
Game 7 (if necessary) at Phoenix: April 30

4-Dallas vs. 5-Utah
Game 1 at Dallas: April 16
Game 2 at Dallas: April 18
Game 3 at Utah: April 21
Game 4 at Utah: April 23
Game 5 (if necessary) at Dallas: April 25
Game 6 (if necessary) at Utah: April 28
Game 7 (if necessary) at Dallas: April 30

2-Memphis vs. 7-Minnesota
Game 1 at Memphis: April 16
Game 2 at Memphis: TBA
Game 3 at Minnesota: TBA
Game 4 at Minnesota: TBA
Game 5 (if necessary) at Memphis: TBA
Game 6 (if necessary) at Minnesota: TBA
Game 7 (if necessary) at Memphis: TBA

3-Golden State vs. 6-Denver
Game 1 at Golden State: April 16
Game 2 at Golden State: April 18
Game 3 at Denver: April 21
Game 4 at Denver: April 24
Game 5 (if necessary) at Golden State: April 27
Game 6 (if necessary) at Denver: April 29
Game 7 (if necessary) at Golden State: May 1

College baseball

Gaston College dropped its second straight Region 10 Division II baseball game Wednesday in a 3-1 loss at Cleveland Community College. Yetis’ pitchers Parker Kanupp and Matias Marchesini combined on a four-hit, 11-strikeout performance against the Rhinos, who are ranked in the top three of all three National Junior College Athletic Association Division II polls.

The Rhinos (33-4, 23-2 Region 10 West Division) return to action with three-game series this weekend at Sims Legion Park against division foe Southwest Virginia. The opener is Friday at 6 p.m., and a Saturday doubleheader begins at 1 p.m.

High school baseball

(Wednesday’s results)
Forestview 2, Crest 1

Kings Mountain 7, Cramer 0

North Gaston 9, Huss 0

Cherryville 11, Highland Tech 0 (5 innings)

Shelby 10, Bessemer City 0: Ryan McCracken (1-hitter with 10 strikeouts), Parker Dixon (2 hits), Elijah Rabb (1 hit), Luke Williams (1 hit), Cade Ledbetter (1 hit) and Dallas Marzett (1 hit) led Shelby.

East Lincoln 13, Foard 3 (6 innings)

North Lincoln 2, St. Stephens 1

Mountain Island Charter 2-10, Christ the King 6-9

Lincolnton 14, East Burke 7

East Gaston 3, Burns 0 (Tuesday): Parker Agosta pitched a 3-hitters and Logan Agosta, Parker Agosta, Aiden Cloninger, Riley Hawkins and Dylan Howell all had one hit for East Gaston.

(Thursday’s games)
South Point at Ashbrook
East Gaston at Burns
West Caldwell at West Lincoln
Lincoln Charter in Easter tournament
Davidson Day at Gaston Day
Bandys at East Lincoln

High school softball

(Wednesday’s results)
North Gaston 15, Ashbrook 0

Crest 18, South Point 3

Kings Mountain 8, Forestview 3

Shelby 14, Bessemer City 11

East Lincoln 6, Foard 0

North Lincoln 5, St. Stephens 1

West Lincoln 16, Newton-Conover 0

East Lincoln 7, West Lincoln 2 (Tuesday): Leah Correll (2-hitter), Taniyah Thomas (2 singles, 1 run), Taliyah Thomas (2-run home run), Betsy Eatmon (2 singles), Bailey Hardin (single), Jaelyn Freeston (double, 2 sacrifice flies), Tatum Martin (2 singles) and Hailey McFadden (single, RBI) led East Lincoln.

(Thursday’s games)
Cherryville at Highland Tech
East Gaston at Burns
Lincolnton at East Burke
West Lincoln at West Caldwell

High school track

Host Kings Mountain won the Cleveland County boys track championship on Wednesday.

The Mountaineers had a team score of 104 and were followed by Burns (82), Shelby (65) and Crest (18).

First-place Kings Mountain finishers were:

Nicholas Harrison with a personal best at 11-0 for pole vault
D’Andre Hoyle doubled medaled with a 40-7 Triple Jump and a 19-6 Long Jump
Parker Key triple medaled with a 4:56 mile, 11:32 two mile and was the anchor leg of the winning 4×800 relay with Hunter Cruise, Max Thompson, and Isiah Watts.
Andre Willis was also a triple medalist with a 15.83 110 high hurdles, 43.29 in the 300 hurdles, and was part of the winning 4×200 relay.
Dwayne Black was a double medalist with a 22.85 in the 200m and part of the 4×200 relay with Jeramanie Thurman and Zavion Smith making up the other two legs of that relay.

Middle school baseball

(Wednesday’s game2)
Holbrook 12, Grier 2: Winning pitcher Michael Bradbury (10 strikeouts) led Holbrook, whose offense was led by Bradbury (3 hits), Keola Ondayog (3 hits, home run), Aiden Smith (1 hit), Gavin Robinson (home run), Hayden Wilson (1 hit) and A.J. McClain (1 hit).

(Thursday’s games)
Bessemer City at York Chester
Chavis at Stanley
Cramerton at Southwest
W.C. Friday at Mount Holly

Middle school girls soccer

(Wednesday’s games)
Holbrook 2, Grier 1: Dawt Hniang and Makenzie McCaskill scored goals for Holbrook.

Mount Holly 9, Bessemer City 0: Alitzy Cortes-Nicolas (4 goals), Mallory Hall (2 goals), Sara Pawlish (2 goals), Reese Hawkins (1 goal) and Mia Toguchi (goalkeeping shutout) led Mounta Holly.

(Thursday’s games)
Bessemer City at York Chester
Cramerton at Southwest

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 (W 3-1)
March 26, Cincinnati (W 2-0)
April 2, at Philadelphia (L 0-2)
April 10, Atlanta (W 1-0)
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