Friday’s roundup: North Lincoln cross country champions, Prep and college basketball results
By Richard Walker
The titles gave the Knights boys their fourth straight state title and Allen won her second straight individual title.
Allen set a new Class 2A State meet record by posting a time of 18:05.50 to break the record of 18:42.23 when she won in the fall of 2019. Allen was more than a full minute ahead of second-place Katherine Hopkins of Lincolnton, who ran the course in 19:23.93.
Winston-Salem Atkins’ Walter Sellers won the boys individual title with a time of 15:40.86 to fall just short of the 15:40.66 state record time set by North Lincoln’s Jason Thomson in the fall of 2019.
North Lincoln’s boys were led by Miles Phillips who finished second in the meet with a time of 15:51.39. Teammate Jacob Scott (15:54.64) finished third and Stephen Fernetti and Jared Campbell also finished in the top 10.
North Lincoln boys runner Ethan Davis and girls runner Carla Castro also were given NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Awards.
North Lincoln’s boys state title was its sixth in school history and all have come since 2011. Other local boys state champions have been East Lincoln (2009 2A) and Lincoln Charter (2018 and 2019 1A).
The Knights’ girls title gives the area a second state title; East Lincoln was 2A champion in 2013.
And Allen’s consecutive individual titles are the fifth and sixth in local history, joining boys winners Glenn Sparrow of South Point (1978) and Jason Thomas of North Lincoln (2019) and girls winners Sophia Bhalia (2012) and Michaela Gammon (2016) of Lincoln Charter.
High school boys basketball
Huss 80, Cramer 41: Noah Calder scored 30 points to lead Huss (4-2, 3-2), which visits Ashbrook on Tuesday in its next game. For Cramer (0-5), which hosts South Point on Monday, Mason Craig (12 points), Frankie Verdezas (10 points) and Eja Brice (5 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) were the leaders.
Huss also won the JV game 44-30 with Isaiah Foster (11 points) and Taelen Whitley (12 rebounds, 10 blocks) leading the way for Cramer.
Kings Mountain 84, Forestview 44: Forestview was led by Christian Williams (16 points), Nate Aguilar (12 points) and Daris Byers (11 points). Kings Mountain (6-0, 5-0) hosts Crest on Tuesday in its next game.
Ashbrook 64, North Gaston 60
Lincoln Charter 69, Christ the King 51
Shelby 77, South Point 59
Bessemer City 73, Piedmont Community Charter 35 (Thursday): Randall Pettus (28 points, 7 assists, 8 steals), Keyshawn Adams (14 points, 13 rebounds), Terrance Smith (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Jameer Holmes (9 points, 10 rebounds) led Bessemer City (3-2), which hosts Highlands on Tuesday in its next game.
High school girls basketball
Ashbrook 65, North Gaston 20: Madison Cole (20 points) led Ashbrook (6-0), which hosts Huss on Tuesday in its next game. For North Gaston (1-5), which visits East Gaston on Tuesday, Whitney Brown had five points.
Huss 58, Cramer 45: Jamya Daniels had 20 points and Savanni Harris 10 for Huss and Reece Wolfe (13 points, 7 rebounds) and Ranija Hamilton (12 points) led Cramer.
Lincoln Charter 46, Christ the King 37
East Lincoln 53, West Lincoln 27
Shelby 82, South Point 16
Florida Atlantic 66, Charlotte 53 (OT): Jahmir Young’s game-high 22 points, Jordan Shepherd’s 13 points and Jhery Matos’ season-high 11 rebounds wasn’t enough for the 49ers (6-7, 2-3), who play at Florida Atlantic again on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Gardner-Webb at Radford games are now slated for Jan. 29 and 30. They were originally scheduled for Jan. 14 and 15.
College women’s basketball
Gardner-Webb 62, USC Upstate 52: Ki’Ari Cain and Alasia Smith each had 17 points as Gardner-Webb improved to 5-9, 5-4 with the home Big South Conference victory. Gardner-Webb hosts USC Upstate again on Saturday at 4 p.m.