Monday’s roundup: Belmont Abbey takes regional title, college baseball, high school soccer, softball and football

By Richard Walker

Belmont Abbey College’s men’s basketball program is headed to the Elite Eight for the first time.

The top-seeded Lady Crusaders defeated rival Barton 62-52 on Monday night at Carson-Newman’s Holt Field House to win the 2021 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.

The Abbey which has won 19 straight games, advances to the March 23 to 26 Elite Eight national championship tournament in Columbus, Ohio.

Pairings will be determined after all eight regional champions have been determined.

In Monday’s matchup, Belmont Abbey beat Barton for the third straight time after the Bulldogs handed the Lady Crusaders their last loss on Jan. 15.

Barton started quick, scoring the game’s first seven points before Belmont Abbey closed within 13-11 by the end of the first quarter and 26-25 at halftime.

In the second half, the Lady Crusaders went on an 18-2 surge to turn a 28-27 deficit into a comfortable 45-30 lead. Barton would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

Coach Jason Williams’ Belmont Abbey team got its usual balance as Allie Downing (12 points), Kelli Thomas (10 points, 9 rebounds), Maria Kuhlman (10 points, 7 rebounds) and Brittany Autry (9 points, 8 rebounds) led the winning effort.

The victory improves the Abbey to 24-2 overall and continues the deepest postseason run in school history.

The Lady Crusaders had previously advanced to the NAIA national tournament in 1991 and 1995 and to NCAA Division regional tournaments in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2014.

Barton finished 13-3.

Full results for the NCAA Division II Southeast women’s basketball regional at Jefferson City, Tenn.:

Friday’s quarterfinals
BYES – #1 Belmont Abbey, #2 Barton
#6 Catawba 67, 3 Carson-Newman 48
#4 Tusculum 77, #5 Tuskegee 64

Saturday’s semifinals
#2 Barton 80, #3 Catawba 64
#1 Belmont Abbey 74, #4 Tusculum 59

Monday’s championship game
#1 Belmont Abbey 62, #2 Barton 52

 

High school boys soccer

Hickory 5, Forestview 4: Forestview’s season came to an end with a 12-1 overall record after the first round N.C. 3A playoff loss.

Other first round pairings for Tuesday opening round matches:

Class 4A
Myers Park (8-0-1, West No. 1): hosts Panther Creek
South Meck (8-1, West No. 5): hosts East Forsyth
Hough (7-2-1, West No. 6): hosts Greensboro Page
Providence (7-1, West No. 13): at South Caldwell
Butler (6-2-1, West No. 15): at Northwest Guilford

Class 3A
Cramer (11-2-1, West No. 11): at Montgomery Central

Class 2A
South Point (11-3, West No. 4): hosts Salisbury
East Lincoln (10-1-1, West No. 5): hosts Forbush
Shelby (11-1, West No. 14): at North Forsyth

Class 1A
Community School of Davidson (13-1, West No. 3) hosts Uwharrie Charter
Christ the King (10-0-2, West No. 8) hosts Pine Lake Prep
Thomas Jefferson (10-2-1, West No. 10) at Swain County

High school softball

Chase 6, Cherryville 4: Rileigh Kiser (1-4, double), Aleigha Whisnant (1-3, RBI) and Amber Roach (1-3, RBI) led Cherryville’s offense and pitcher Raegon Nowoweicki eight strikeouts and one walk in seven innings.

Cramer 12, Kings Mountain 6

Crest 12, Forestview 1 (6 innings): Mackenzie Hayes pitched a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts and one unearned runs for Crest, whose offense was led by Addie Beaver (4-4, double, home run), Hayes (3-5, 2 doubles), Sierra Crocker (2-4) and Morgan McCurry (double).

North Gaston 21, Huss 0

High school girls soccer

Forestview 1, Crest 0: Payton Parker’s goal was the difference for visiting Forestview.

Ashbrook at Berry Academy: Moved to Tuesday.

Lake Norman Charter 4, East Lincoln 1

Lincolnton 4, Newton-Conover 1

Bradford Prep 1, Mountain Island Charter 0

North Gaston 4, Huss 0

South Point 10, Burns 1

North Lincoln 9, West Lincoln 1

College baseball

The Cleveland Community College Yetis won their first Region 10 West Division game on Sunday when they knocked off Guilford Tech 11-5.

Bailey McGinnis pitched up the pitching victory by striking out seven in six innings and Kyras Dawson led the offense with two
hits, including a home run, and three RBIs.

High school football

Here’s Friday’s schedule:

Cramer at North Gaston
Crest at Huss
Hickory at Forestview
Kings Mountain at Ashbrook
East Gaston at Chase
R-S Central at Mountain Island Charter
Shelby at Burns
South Point at East Rutherford
East Lincoln at Bandys
North Lincoln at Maiden
West Lincoln at Lincolnton
Community School of Davidson at Cherryville
Highland Tech at Bessemer City
Thomas Jefferson at Christ the King
Union Academy at Pine Lake Prep