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 The winningest coach in Kings Mountain High School football history has resigned. Greg Lloyd had a 133-71 record in 16 years as the Mountaineers’ head coach, a tenure highlighted by four conference titles and four trips to the regional finals. “First off, I would like to thank and congratulate Coach Greg Lloyd […]
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 West Lincoln’s Mason Avery and East Lincoln’s Keandre Walker were named to the North Carolina team for the 2022 Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas on Tuesday. Avery, a running back and linebacker, last week was honored as Catawba Valley 2A Conference co-offensive player of the year and defensive player of the year. […]
By Richard Walker Cleveland Community College didn’t have to look far to find coaches to startup their new men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball programs as well as a new head baseball coach. It simply found three local successful high school coaches and promoted a local product from assistant coach to head coach, as […]
By Richard Walker Two former local baseball players got top honors this season after helping Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute to a third-place national finish in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III World Series earlier this month. Seth Willis, a 2019 West Lincoln High graduate, was named second team All-American and first […]
By Richard Walker Trends are emerging among area high school baseball and softball conferences as we prepare for Western semifinal matchups on Friday. For example, the Western Foothills 3A Conference may be the best baseball league in the state as evidenced by its current 10-3 playoff record in addition to providing three of the four […]
By Richard Walker Four local products have helped Wingate to a No. 1 NCAA Division II national baseball ranking, a top seed in the upcoming South Atlantic Conference tournament and a 40-win season – 2017 Crest High graduate Logan McNeely, 2018 North Gaston High graduate Austin Mitchell, 2020 Cherryville High graduate Brent Walls and 2021 […]
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 […]
By Richard Walker Charlotte’s Major League Soccer debut drew a record crowd at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night as Charlotte FC fell 1-0 to LA Galaxy. A MLS-record crowd of 74,749 attended the contest. Efrain’ Alvarez’s goal in the 77th minute was the only score of the contest. Here’s the full Charlotte FC […]
By Richard Walker Eighty-six Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln county products begin college baseball seasons all over the country this month, including a preseason All-American and a starting outfielder for nationally-ranked East Carolina, Sophomore left-hander C.J. Mayhue, a 2019 Crest High graduate, was named third team preseason All-American by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) earlier […]
By Richard Walker Gaston College’s first men’s basketball team in 50 years will compete in a 29-game schedule that features 14 games in the always-competitive Region 10 in Division I of the National Junior College Athletic Association that begins on Friday. The Rhinos, led by head coach David “Dickey” Nutt and associate head coach Jamie […]
By Richard Walker During Big South Conference football media day this summer, Gardner-Webb coach Tre Lamb said former Crest standout Jalin Graham would be a future standout in his program. Graham, a 2020 Crest graduate, proved his coach correct on in the Bulldogs’ 56-0 home win over Lincoln, Pa., with a brief but very effective […]
By Richard Walker After a year off due to the coronavirus, American Legion baseball begins national playoff competition on Wednesday with start of regional play among 64 teams in eight regions across the country. Those 64 teams came out of 3,045 teams that registered to play this season. All state champions will participate along with […]
By Richard Walker Perennial North Carolina American Legion baseball powers will descend on Cherryville’s Fraley Field this week for the 21st state championship tournament. All-time N.C. state championship winner, state tournament participant and area champion Wilmington (12-0) is one of two unbeaten teams in the eight-team field. Wilmington 10 has won 12 state titles, 13 […]
By Richard Walker Cherryville American Legion Post 100’s Junior team will make its fourth N.C. state tournament appearance starting on Thursday when High Point Post 87 hosts the event at three fields – High Point’s Finch Field and Truist Point and Lexington’s Holt-Moffitt Field. Cherryville (15-3), the No. 1 seed in Area IV, already knows […]
By Richard Walker Cherryville scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a dramatic 6-5 win over Pine Lake Prep in the opening round of the N.C. 1A high school baseball playoffs. Cherryville was one of five local winners in Tuesday’s opening round; East Lincoln and South Point […]
By Richard Walker Bessemer City’s Savannah LaCount set Cleveland Community College history on Tuesday when she was named to the All-Region X team LaCount, a 2020 Bessemer City High graduate, is the first spring sports athlete at CCC to earn all-region honors. A pitcher, third baseman and outfielder, LaCount hit .229 with four home runs […]
By Richard Walker Two local coaches and nine players have been invited to participate in the North Carolina Coaches’ Association East-West All-Star football game this summer. The contest, which began in 1949, will be held on July 21 at Greensboro Grimsley’s Jamieson Stadium this summer after the coronavirus cancelled the 2020 event. Local coaches for […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb’s abbreviated 2021 winter/spring football season came to a close on Saturday in a 20-7 Big South Conference loss at Charleston Southern. The Bulldogs ended the season with a 2-2 overall record and 0-2 Big South Conference mark with two games cancelled due to COVID protocols. In Saturday’s finale, Gardner-Webb drove inside […]
By Richard Walker Sunday and Monday a trio of local athletes were honored and/or showcased for their talents on the football field. Robert Washington, a 2016 East Gaston High graduate and a former Charlotte 49ers standout, continues to shine at Valparaiso College and on Sunday was named Pioneer Football League offensive player of the week […]
By Richard Walker South Point High’s boys soccer team won 2-0 at Chase on Wednesday and has a chance to wrap up its first conference title since 1998 with another win over Chase on Thursday. A win also would give the Red Raiders (10-3, 10-1) the No. 1 2A playoff berth for the Southwestern 2A […]
By Richard Walker Cherryville High’s boys basketball team ended Lincoln Charter’s 30-game Southern Piedmont 1A Conference winning streak with an 80-70 road victory on Tuesday night. Lavonte Hughes (21 point, 8 assists, 6 rebounds), Carson Kelly (20 point, 6 rebounds, 3 steals), Austin Thompson (13 points, 8 rebounds), Landon Hahn (11 points, 4 steals), Numarius […]
By Richard Walker The Cleveland County Community College baseball team won its first game in program history 12-2 at Surry Community College on Saturday. The Yetis of coach Gene Bowles play again next Saturday at Florence-Darlington Tech in a noon doubleheader. College men’s basketball Belmont Abbey 62, North Greenville 59: Sean Halloran (19 points, 4 […]
By Richard Walker When Gene Bowles was hired as Cleveland Community College’s first head baseball coach in June 2019, he couldn’t wait for the spring 2021 season to begin. On Monday – and after COVID-19 restrictions have altered many of Bowles’ plans – that became even clearer as the school announced the schedule for its […]
By Richard Walker Ashbrook High’s visiting girls basketball team edged Kings Mountain 69-62 on Friday night in a battle of previously unbeaten teams at Don Parker Gymnasium. Ashbrook’s Kennette Bess scored 32 points as the Green Wave improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Big South 3A Conference. Aaliyah El added 15 points for […]
By Richard Walker Former South Point High standout Nick Muse announced on twitter Monday night that he will return to South Carolina to play for new Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer. Muse tweeted at 6:30 p.m. “Time to get to work!” with the following message: “There is an opportunity for greatness here at USC. I believe […]
By Richard Walker Kings Mountain’s boys and Shelby’s girls took victories in a dual cross country meet between the longtime rivals at a muddy Kings Mountain course on a 45-degree Thursday. In the boys meet, Kings Mountain’s Parker Key was the individual medalist and finished the course in 18:40.21. Teammates Marty Lovingood (4th), Kohen Johnson […]
By Richard Walker After having seven previous potential season-openers postponed or cancelled, Gardner-Webb’s men’s basketball team has taken a seven-hour bus trip to Bowling Green, Ky., in hopes of opening its 2020-21 season at Western Kentucky Thursday night at 8 p.m. Gardner-Webb previously had games at Duke (Nov. 25) and Florida State (Nov. 29) postponed, […]
By Richard Walker Two of Gardner-Webb’s marquee matchups for the 2020-21 basketball season were rescheduled on Thursday. The Bulldogs’ Nov. 25 season-opener at Duke has been rescheduled or Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. And their second game, originally set for Nov. 27 at Florida State, has been rescheduled for Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. Both games […]
By Richard Walker A look at the local sports roundup for Tuesday, November 17: High school boys basketball Gaston Day 84, Statesville Christian 62: The Spartans improved to 3-0 on a night in which Chris Britt surpassed 1,000 points for his high school career. Gaston Day visits High Point Westchester Country Day on Friday in […]