By Richard Walker Two teams will pursue unbeaten seasons when the Gaston County Conference’s boys and girls championship games are played on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The girls championship on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Ashbrook High gymnasium, Holbrook (11-0) looks to extend its winning streak to 25 games and complete a second […]
By Richard Walker For the second time in school history, Gardner-Webb’s women’s basketball team will be playing in the NCAA tournament. The Runnin’ Bulldogs completed an unbeaten run through the Big South Conference on Sunday night with a 74-61 victory over High Point at Charlotte’s Bojangle’s Arena. Gardner-Webb improved to 29-4 overall with their 21st […]
By Richard Walker It was a tough day for Lincoln County’s state championship basketball hopefuls on Saturday. East Lincoln’s girls saw their title hopes and pursuit of an unbeaten season vanquished in a 49-42 Western 3A finals loss to West Rowan at the McDowell High School gymnasium. Coach Jason Otey’s finishes 31-1 and with the […]
By Richard Walker The two remaining area state playoff basketball hopefuls took as different a paths as you can take to reach today’s regional finals. But East Lincoln’s girls and Lincoln Charter’s boys are one step away from a March 11 date in their respective state championship games. East Lincoln’s girls entered the season with […]
By Richard Walker Next week’s Gaston County Conference middle school basketball championship finals matchups have been set after Thursday’s semifinals saw three favorites and one underdog take victories. In the boys final, unbeaten Southwest (11-0) will host No. 3 seed Holbrook (9-2) next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Huss High School gymnasium. And in […]
By Richard Walker South Point, Huss and Crest lead the 2023 All-Big South 3A Conference boys basketball selections in voting by league coaches. The Red Raiders, who took their first conference regular season title in school history, were represented by first team selection Greyson Kines and second team selections Sean Gore, Jaquis Rumph and Dylan […]
By Richard Walker A pair of Lincoln County schools are the area’s last remaining playoff teams after Tuesday’s regional semifinals. And both will pursue Western titles on Saturday. Lincoln Charter’s boys advanced to the Western final for the fifth time in eight years after knocking off East Gaston 73-57. The Eagles (25-11) previously finished as […]
By Richard Walker East Gaston High’s historic boys basketball playoff run continues on Tuesday when they face the area’s most experience postseason team in the Western N.C. 2A semifinals. East Gaston (25-2), which has never been this far in the playoffs in school history, will host Lincoln Charter (24-11) at 7 p.m. The Warriors’ historic […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb’s women’s basketball team completed a historic run through the Big South Conference on Saturday. The Runnin’ Bulldogs defeated USC Upstate 83-58 on “Senior Day” to complete the first 18-0 run through the league by a men’s team or women’s team in Big South Conference history. In fact, only seven other team […]
By Richard Walker Five area high school basketball teams advanced to next Tuesday’s Western semifinals. In Class 3A boys, Crest won 85-70 at South Point to advance the No. 13-seeded Chargers into a matchup at top-seeded Central Cabarrus. In Class 2A boys, East Gaston won its first-ever third round game 58-40 over visiting Hendersonville and […]
By Richard Walker Eight area high school basketball teams enter Saturday’s third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association still in pursuit of state titles. Boys teams from East Gaston and South Point are in the midst of historic seasons while Crest and Lincoln Charter and in somewhat familiar situations. The girls team from […]
By Richard Walker Former Forestview and Gaston Day standout Nate Hinton was invited to be a member of USA Basketball’s 12-man roster for the 2023 USA Men’s World Cup qualifying team. Hinton and his teammates have two games this week as the United State played Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay on Tuesday before playing Brazil in […]
By Richard Walker The winningest basketball coach in Gaston County history had his career come to an end in Tuesday’s first round of the 2023 state playoffs. Cherryville’s Scott Harrill, who announced his retirement earlier this month, had his Ironmen eliminated 95-60 by No. 3-seeded Eastern Randolph in the Class 1A playoffs. A 1989 Cherryville […]
By Richard Walker Whether you have state playoff experience or not, this week offers the opportunity to make history for 27 high school basketball teams from Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties as the N.C. High School Athletic Association tournament begins on Tuesday. Here are the pairings of area teams for Tuesday’s opening round games: -BOYS […]
By Richard Walker Cramer’s Charlie Sly was a superlative award from Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln counties area on Saturday as the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) concluded its 87th annual individual wrestling state tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum. The event ended with four team champions and 56 individual champions in the state’s four classifications. […]
By Richard Walker Twenty seven boys and girls high school basketball teams from Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties found out their 2023 N.C. High School Athletic Association tournament pairings for the upcoming playoffs. The tournament begins with opening round games on Tuesday, Thursday and next Saturday before regional semifinals on Feb. 28 and March 4 […]
By Richard Walker Basketball teams from East Gaston and Cramer high schools set history with their conference tournament victories on Friday night. East Gaston’s boys edged Bessemer City 76-75 in overtime for the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference title on Friday. It was the Warriors first conference tournament title since 2005 and coach Gene Farrar’s team […]
By Richard Walker In Friday night’s Big South 3A and Southern Piedmont 1A/2A boys and girls basketball title games, the regular season seeds mostly held in the first two rounds as history will be set in all four championship games. In the Big South 3A boys game at Huss, South Point will seek its first […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb basketball pioneer Laurence “Sonny” Johnson will be honored by his hometown in August. Johnson, the first African-American basketball player in Gardner-Webb history during the 1966-67 season, is part of the 2023 induction class of the Real Harlem Basketball Hall of Fame with 14 others on Aug. 12 at Salem United Methodist […]
By Richard Walker East Lincoln High’s boys and girls swimming teams won the Western Foothills 3A Conference titles and its all-conference teams. Here are the league championship results and all-conference selections and top honors: (Boys) Final Team Standings: 1. East Lincoln 373 2. St. Stephens 365 3. North Lincoln 262 4. Hickory 139 5. Statesville […]
By Richard Walker Regular season champion Gaston Christian and fourth-place finisher Gaston Day comprised five of the 16 players honored by the Metrolina Athletic Conference boys high school basketball all-league team. Gaston Christian, which went 12-2 in league play, was represented by Corey Gaines, Makoi Mabor Marier and Cameron Newman. And Gaston Day, which went […]
By Richard Walker Lincoln Charter repeated as girls Class 1A/2A N.C. High School Athletic Association champion on Friday. Also, Burns’ Jacob Jensen won top honors as the Most Outstanding Performer in the meet. He set a new 1A/2A State Meet Record in the 50 Freestyle with a 20.33-second clocking to win the event. He also […]
By Richard Walker N.C. High School Basketball Association regular seasons ended on Friday all across the state and conference tournaments are slated to begin on Monday. Once the league tournaments are completed the NCHSAA will announce state playoff pairings on Feb. 18 and begin play in that tournament on Feb. 21. Here’s the final regular […]
By Richard Walker South Point, East Gaston and Huss set basketball history for their respective high school programs on Friday night with convincing victories. South Point’s boys (21-3, 11-3) rolled past North Gaston 83-45 on Friday to wrap up the Red Raiders’ first regular season conference title in school history. Coach Kody Kubbs’ team will […]
By Richard Walker The N.C. High School Athletic Association basketball regular seasons come to a close tonight and two Gaston County boys teams and one Gaston County girls team are on the cusp of history. South Point’s boys (20-3, 10-3) needs only to win at North Gaston on Friday night to clinch at least a […]
By Richard Walker Eighty-nine Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln county products begin college baseball seasons all over the country this year, including four preseason All-South Atlantic Conference selections, two players from the defending NCAA Division II championship team and a member of the country’s second-ranked team in a preseason ranking. At Wingate, the 2021 NCAA Division […]
By Richard Walker A former Shelby High football standout will be at the Super Bowl LVII as a coach – and extending a family legacy started by his father 23 years ago. Jeremiah Washburn, an offensive lineman at Shelby High from 1991 to 1993, is in his fourth season as defensive ends/outside linebackers coach for […]
By Richard Walker The coach who helped lead the Carolina Panthers into playoff contention has found a new home after the organization picked another coach to take the job on a full time basis. Steve Wilks, a 1987 West Charlotte High graduate, will become the new defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. Wilks will […]
By Richard Walker Since most who know Belmont’s Art Shoemaker have either witnessed one of his pranks, been a victim of them or both says a lot that about 200 of his closest friends were able to surprise him last Friday. Shoemaker, who turned 80 last weekend, was honored as a Gaston County Hometown Hero […]
By Richard Walker Former Burns High state champion Scottie Montgomery has a new NFL coaching job. Montgomery, a 1996 Burns High graduate, has been hired as Detroit Lions assistant head coach and running backs coach. A 1994 Burns state championship player who earned All-ACC honors at Duke before playing in the NFL, Montgomery had been […]
By Richard Walker There’s been shift in the fortunes on three programs that have usually struggled in area high school basketball. East Gaston, Gaston Christian and South Point are enjoying historic seasons – and all three have either won or have a chance to win rare league titles. Gaston Christian clinched the first conference regular […]
By Richard Walker Gaston County’s all-time winningest basketball coach announced on Friday that he would be retiring from coaching at the end of this season. Cherryville High School coach Scott Harrill announced during the Ironmen’s 63-48 win over Highland Tech during “Senior Night” in their final game of the 2022-23 season at Nixon Gym. Harrill, […]
By Richard Walker Two of the winningest basketball programs in the Carolinas reside 40 miles apart in the North Carolina Piedmont. Unbeaten Conference Carolinas leader Belmont Abbey has a 15-game winning streak and is ahead by two games in the loss column with three weeks to go in its regular season starting with Saturday’s 2 […]
By Richard Walker Cleveland County’s winningest high school football coach is a member of the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association 2023 Hall of Fame induction class. Jim Taylor led Shelby High to a 201-54-2 record as head coach from 1977 to 1997. During his tenure, the Golden Lions won 11 conference championships, three state titles […]
By Richard Walker Cherryville High School added two more trophies last weekend when its cheerleading team won its 24th and 25th state championships. The Ironmen cheerleaders won the North Carolina Cheerleading Coaches Association on Saturday at North Raleigh Christian Academy. Cherryville took titles in the Varsity D2 Game Day Division and the Small Varsity D2 […]
By Richard Walker During the recent Carolina Panthers head coaching search, reports indicated team owner David Tepper was interested in an offensive-minded coach. At Tuesday’s news conference to officially introduce Frank Reich, Tepper confirmed them. “Every year we get in these NFL (owners) meetings and every year they put some new rule in to benefit […]
By Richard Walker Less than a week after winning its first N.C. High School Athletic Association dual team wrestling match, Lincolnton High School will host the Western N.C. 2A regional on Wednesday night. And the Wolves will be hosting familiar opponents as all four Western N.C. 2A wrestling semifinalists are members of the Catawba Valley […]
By Richard Walker History was made and extended on Saturday during the opening two rounds of the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual team wrestling playoffs. Lincolnton won its first dual match in history and followed it up with a second straight win to advance into Wednesday’s Class 2A regional finals. The Wolves, who are […]
By Richard Walker A pair of Gaston County schools won wrestling titles on Saturday as Cherryville won the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference title and Mountain Island Charter won the Catawba Shores 1A/2A Conference wrestling title. Here are Cherryville’s individual results: 113 Hunter Griffin (17-25) placed 2nd and scored 18.0 team points. Quarterfinal – Hunter Griffin […]
By Richard Walker Belmont Abbey and Gardner-Webb recorded conference sweeps on Saturday to highlight the area’s college basketball. Belmont Abbey swept visiting North Greenville in a Conference Carolinas home doubleheader on Saturday afternoon with the men winning 91-72 and the women recording its 12th straight victory by an 80-44 margin. Gardner-Webb swept nearby rival Winthrop […]
By Richard Walker Lincolnton High has a new head football coach after Jaden Angle was confirmed by the Lincoln County School Board on Tuesday night. Angle, a 2011 Lincolnton High graduate, has been a Wolves assistant football coach since 2017. A UNC Charlotte graduate, Angle teaches business and marketing classes at the school and also […]
By Richard Walker Sixteen players from Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties were named to the third annual HighSchoolOT all-state football team, including four on the first team. First team selections were South Point offensive lineman Sullivan Absher, Kings Mountain defensive lineman A.J. Richardson, East Lincoln linebacker Ben Cutter and East Lincoln defensive back Keandre Walker. […]
By Richard Walker Earlier this week, the twitter site “Friday Nights in Carolina” named its N.C. all-state high school football teams and 34 players from Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties were honored. Burns (4), Crest (3), Kings Mountain (4) and Shelby (2) of Cleveland County had selections, with Ashbrook (2), Mountain Island Charter (5) and […]
By Richard Walker As we drop the curtain on the 2022-23 college football bowl season, there’s lots to unpack following Georgia’s 15-0 unbeaten season that ended with the school’s eighth national title – and second straight. Georgia’s 65-7 victory over TCU was the largest margin of victory in the modern national title era. CarolinaSportsHub.com has […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers enter Sunday’s game with no postseason to pursue. In truth, a loss would ensure a top 10 pick in April’s 2023 NFL Draft. But if the past is any indicator, the Panthers may well do something special in their 2022 season finale at New Orleans. Not only is the […]
By Richard Walker Two former local standouts have clinched NFL postseason futures entering the final week of the 2022-23 NFL season – and another can advance with some help on Sunday. The Minnesota Vikings (12-4) with Jonathan Bullard (Crest 2012 graduate) and Nick Muse (South Point 2017) have already clinched the NFC North and know […]
By Richard Walker Some may call it “boring” football but interim Carolina Panthers head coach Steve Wilks is following a strategy to run the football as much as the two more successful coaches in franchise history. And that strategy has gotten his team into postseason contention. Wilks’ 4-4 record as interim coach has improved the […]
By Richard Walker East Lincoln High School won its third football state championship on Saturday night with a 30-15 victory over Northern Nash at N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium. It improves the Mustangs record to 3-1 in state title games and gives them championships in 2012, 2014 and 2022. It also gave East Lincoln a 16-0 […]
By Richard Walker Shelby High’s father-son Hollifield duo received top awards at Monday’s Charlotte Touchdown Club/Bronko Nagurski Awards ceremony in Charlotte. Longtime Shelby High football assistant coach Aubrey Hollifield was presented North Carolina’s Frank Broyles Award as the top assistant coach. A 1987 Kings Mountain High graduate who played for the N.C. Shrine Bowl team […]
By Richard Walker To some, Gaylord Perry will always be remembered for throwing a spitball. For folks in this area, he’ll also be remembered for one of the state’s best three-sport high school athletes, starting up the baseball program at an area college and coaching American Legion baseball at one of the state’s top programs. […]
By Richard Walker Drake Maye already knew he was making a homecoming visit when he leads North Carolina into Saturday’s 8 p.m. ACC championship game against Clemson at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. On Wednesday, the former Myers Park High standout will also be playing his first game as an ACC individual award winner after […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb made history again on Saturday as the Runnin’ Bulldogs made their Football Championship Series (FCS) debut a successful one in a 52-41 win at Eastern Kentucky. G-W senior running back Narii Gaither rushed for a NCAA Division I school-record 245 yards with two touchdowns and senior quarterback Bailey Fisher rushed for […]
By Richard Walker Conference champion Forestview received the most selections on the Big South 3A all-conference soccer team with six. Top individual honors went to North Gaston’s Braydon Johnson (offensive player of the year), Joan Bonilla (goalie of the year) and Jonathan Reed (coach of the year) and South Point’s Graham Williams (defensive player of […]
By Richard Walker It was a nailbiting finish in three of the area’s four high school football playoff games on Friday night as Burns, Kings Mountain and South Point took dramatic victories. Burns scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:30 to play in a 24-20 win over visiting Salisbury, Kings Mountain scored with 6.7 seconds left […]
By Richard Walker After finishing with the best regular season record in the 2022 Atlantic League of Professional Baseball schedule, the Gastonia Honey Hunters have announced their 2023 schedule. The Honey Hunters won both halves of the Southern Division races with records of 45-21 in the first half and 43-23 in the second half beofe […]
By Richard Walker Former Huss standout Cress Worthy is a preseason All-CIAA selection at Fayetteville State. A senior guard, Worthy was named first team All-CIAA in the 2021-22 season when he averaged 14.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 30 games (28 starts) for the Broncos. The 2017 Huss graduate is one of several […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb has a chance at history this Saturday in its regular season finale that has become a championship game for the Big South Conference. The Bulldogs, who started the season 1-4 against a challenging schedule, have bounced back win four wins in the last five games of the season for a shot […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb is one win away from the school’s first ever Football Championship Series (FCS) playoff berth after a 42-35 win at Campbell on Saturday. The Bulldogs (5-5, 4-0) will host North Carolina A&T (7-3, 4-0) for the Big South Conference championship next Saturday at noon and an automatic FCS playoff berth. In […]
By Richard Walker Kings Mountain continued their school-best start to a season with an impressive 42-0 win over Smoky Mountain on Friday in the second round of the N.C. Class 3A state playoffs. The Mountaineers, now 12-0, got three touchdown passes from Lamont Littlejohn – two to Caleb Holland and one to JaQualyn Sanders – […]
By Richard Walker In their 28-year history, the Carolina Panthers have had their share of heartbreaking losses. Sunday’s 37-34 overtime loss at Atlanta has to rank right up there as one of the most heartbreaking. The Panthers fell to 8-20 all-time in Atlanta in a game in which it held a fourth-quarter lead and were […]