4-7-22 roundup: Pro basketball, golf and soccer, College football, High school baseball and softball, Middle school baseball and girls soccer
By Richard Walker
Gastonia’s Harold Varner III is tied for 11th after shooting a one-under-par 71 in the opening round of The Masters on Thursday.
It is Varner’s first appearance in the prestigious tournament and the 2008 Forestview High graduate eagled one hole (No. 13) and birdied four others (Nos. 2, 8, 14 and 16) to highlight his debut performance in the event.
Varner qualified through his high world golf ranking (currently No. 40) and he is slated to tee off at 9:50 a.m. on Friday in the second round.
High school baseball
(Thursday’s results)
Cramer 15, Ashbrook 6
Burns 11, Highland Tech 3
Metrolina Christian 11, Gaston Christian 1 (6 innings)
Concord Academy 4, Gaston Day 3 (8 innings)
Freedom at Shelby
East Gaston 6, Cherryville 0 (Wednesday): Parker Agosta (11 strikeouts), Logan Agosta (3 hits), Liam Brady (3 hits) and Dylan Howell (3 hits) led East Gaston. East Gaston also won the junior varsity game 11-1 behind pitchers Logan Teno and Cameron Barnette and hitters Teno, Dylan Wright, Houston Summey, Tripp Abernathy, Jefferson Rodriguez and Brady Lamb.
Upcoming schedule:
(Friday)
Cramer at Ashbrook
Forestview at Huss
Kings Mountain at South Point
North Gaston at Crest
Thomas Jefferson at Bessemer City
East Lincoln at Statesville
North Lincoln at Hickory
Bunker Hill at West Lincoln
Lincolnton at Bandys
Langtree Charter at Lincoln Charter
Pine Lake Prep at Mountain Island Charter
High school softball
(Thursday’s results)
Crest 17, Ashbrook 0 (3 innings): Aidan Ledbetter and Riley Parker combined for the pitching shutout, Ella Shope had 3 hits, Alexis Shope and Riley Parker had two hits and Sara Rose Warlick and Taylor Black also had hits for Crest.
Burns 12, Highland Tech 2
East Gaston at Cherryville (ppd., April 28)
East Lincoln 12, Hickory 0 (Wednesday, 5 innings): Leah Correll (7 strikeouts) and Madison Currence (4 strikeouts) combined on a one-hitter for East Lincoln, whose offense was led by Taniyah Thomas (4 singles, 3 runs), Taliyah Thomas (double, 2 3-run home runs, 7 RBIs), Betsy Eatmon (2-run home run), Madison Currence (2 singles, stolen base, 1 run), Morgan Summey (double, 2 RBIs, 1 run), Jaelyn Freeston (double, RBI), Emery Pether (single), Erin Homesley (single, 2 runs) and Autumn Keziah (single, 1 run).
Upcoming schedule:
(Friday)
Cramer at South Point
Forestview at North Gaston
Kings Mountain at Huss
Thomas Jefferson at Bessemer City
East Lincoln at Statesville
North Lincoln at Hickory
Bunker Hill at West Lincoln
Lincolnton at Bandys
Lincoln Charter at Langtree Charter
Pine Lake Prep at Mountain Island Charter
College football
Charlotte 49ers head coach Will Healy announced the hiring of Cordae Hankton as the program’s running backs coach, the school announced on Thursday.
Hankton has spent the last four years at established power conference schools.
“Cordae is an all-around guy with experience in various avenues of life that will help him succeed here at Charlotte,” Healy said in a news release. “He comes from a football family and it shows through his foundation of discipline and development. We are excited to have him join our staff.”
Hankton comes to Charlotte from Texas where he served as Senior Offensive Analyst for coach Steve Sarkisian in 2021. Prior to his time with the Longhorns, Hankton spent two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant at Michigan State under Mel Tucker. In 2019, Hankton was an offensive graduate assistant at Colorado.
A former safety at Jackson State, Hankton was a successful coach at the high school level before joining the college ranks. In 2018, He served as defensive coordinator for John Ehret High School in Marrero, Louisiana. Prior to his time at John Ehret he was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Archbishop Rummel High School in New Orleans. He spent six seasons (2012-17) at Rummel, where he coached the linebackers. Rummel won back-to-back state championships in 2015 and 2016 and peaked at No. 13 in the nation in 2015, according to MaxPreps.
He lettered at Jackson State in 2006 and 2007. He worked on the New Orleans police force for five years (2009-13) before returning to school at Southern University at New Orleans to earn his bachelor’s degree in social work while kickstarting his coaching career.
Middle school baseball
Gaston County Conference standings through Thursday:
Stanley 5-0
Chavis 4-0
Mount Holly 4-0
Belmont 4-0
W.C. Friday 2-2
Bessemer City 1-2
Cramerton 1-2
York Chester 1-4
Grier 0-4
Holbrook 0-4
Southwest 0-4
(Wednesday’s games)
Stanley 6, Holbrook 2
Mount Holly 16, Southwest 0
(Thursday’s games)
Cramerton at Bessemer City (ppd., Tuesday)
Belmont 5, W.C. Friday 1: Zeke Pruitt struck out 10 in five innings for the win and Reid Wilson got the save with two striketous in two innings for Belmont. Pruitt also led Belmont with three hits and Gavin Smith, Aydan Bradley and Jonathan Kalmbach had two hits each.
York Chester 10, Grier 0: York Chester ended a 46-game losing streak that dated to 2016.
(Monday, April 11)
Belmont at Chavis
Mount Holly at Holbrook
Southwest at Grier
Stanley at W.C. Friday
York Chester at Cramerton
(Tuesday, April 12)
Bessemer City at Cramerton
(Wednesday, April 13)
Mount Holly at Bessemer City
(Thursday, April 14)
Bessemer City at York Chester
Chavis at Stanley
Cramerton at Southwest
W.C. Friday at Mount Holly
Grier at Holbrook
Middle school girls soccer
Gaston County Conference standings through Thursday:
Belmont 4-0
Cramerton 3-0
Stanley 4-1
W.C. Friday 3-1
Mount Holly 3-1
Chavis 2-2
Bessemer City 1-2
Grier 1-3
Holbrook 1-3
Southwest 0-4
York Chester 0-5
(Wednesday’s games)
Mount Holly 6, Southwest 0
Stanley 2, Holbrook 1
(Thursday’s games)
Cramerton at Bessemer City (ppd., Tuesday)
Belmont 9, W.C. Friday 0: Mackenzie Crill (5 goals), Tayler Culbertson (1 goal), Ellis Boyd (1 goal), Elle Louise Blee (1 goal), Karsyn Lowman (1 goal) and Bella Goodwin/Kaitlyn Ledford (goalkeeping shutout) led Belmont.
Grier 3, York Chester 2
(Monday, April 11)
Belmont at Chavis
Mount Holly at Holbrook
Southwest at Grier
Stanley at W.C. Friday
York Chester at Cramerton
(Tuesday, April 12)
Bessemer City at Cramerton
(Wednesday, April 13)
Mount Holly at Bessemer City
(Thursday, April 14)
Bessemer City at York Chester
Chavis at Stanley
Cramerton at Southwest
W.C. Friday at Mount Holly
Grier at Holbrook
Pro basketball
The Charlotte Hornets routed the Orlando Magic 128-101 to snap a two-game losing streak in front of 16,427 at Spectrum Center Thursday night.
Charlotte (41-39) has already clinched a berth in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament but remains the No. 10 seed; The Hornets are two games behind No. 7 Cleveland (43-37) and one game behind No. 8 Brooklyn (42-38) and No. 9 Atlanta (42-38) entering their final two games of the regular season.
Charlotte visits Chicago on Friday and host Washington Sunday.
In Thursday’s win in which the Hornets led by as many as 35 points, LaMelo Ball (26 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists), Terry Rozier (22 points, 8 rebounds), Kelly Oubre (16 points), Montrezl Harrell (14 points), Miles Bridges (13 points, 6 rebounds) and P.J. Washington (10 points, 6 rebounds) led Charlotte.
Ball also reached 300 career 3-pointers in 124 career games, which makes him the youngest player in NBA history to accomplish that feat.
The win was Charlotte’s 10th by 20 or more points this season, which is the most since the NBA returned to Charlotte in the 2004-05 season.
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 (W 116-106)
Sat. 19 DALLAS (W 129-108)
Mon. 21 NEW ORLEANS (W 106-103)
Wed. 23 NEW YORK (L 106-121)
Fri. 25 UTAH (W 107-101)
Sun. 27 at Brooklyn (W 118-110)
Mon. 28 DENVER (L 109-113)
Wed. 30 at New York (W 125-114)
APRIL
Sat. 2 at Philadelphia (L 114-144)
Tue. 5 at Miami (L 115-144)
Thu. 7 ORLANDO (W 128-101)
Fri. 8 at Chicago 8:00
Sun. 10 WASHINGTON 3:30
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, 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