By Richard Walker Pro football Here is the Panthers’ full 2026 schedule: (preseason) Aug. 6 – Arizona (at Canton, Ohio) W 33-30 Aug. 15 – at Buffalo L 14-29 Aug. 21 – at Jacksonville, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28 – Houston, 7 p.m. (regular season) Sept. 13 – Chicago, 1 p.m. Sept. 20 […]
By Richard Walker The U.S. Army Parachute team, “The Golden Knights,” were featured performers during Saturday’s USAA Military Appreciation Day at Shelby’s Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium. Eight jumpers entered the stadium during about a 15-minute program before Saturday’s final contest. Earlier, all U.S. military were recognized and honored by the ALWS and Shelby American […]
By Richard Walker Postponed on Thursday by rain and lightning, the 2026 American Legion World Series “Parade of Champions” was presented before Friday night’s finale. Here are the 2026 ALWS pairings and results: -American Legion World Series (at Shelby NC) Stars division: Northeast (Bedford, N.H.), Southeast (Jacksonville, Fla.), Great Lakes (Midland, Mich.), Northwest (Portland, Ore.) […]
By Richard Walker The NBA released the Charlotte Hornets’ schedule on Thursday. The regular season begins on Oct. 21 and concludes on April 11. The preseason starts on Oct. 6. Here is the full schedule for the 2026-27 season: (Preseason) Oct. 6 Brooklyn (at Spectrum Center), 7 p.m. Oct. 11 Milwaukee (at Spectrum Center), 7 […]
By Richard Walker The 2026 American Legion World Series begins Thursday at Shelby’s Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium. And the field is comprised of seven teams with previous ALWS experience and one newcomer. Midland is the most frequent participant as Post 165 is making its 13th ALWS appearance and was a 2009 champion and 2014 […]
By Richard Walker A week after signing a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions, former South Point standout Nick Muse didn’t have to wait long for a new team. The Atlanta Falcons signed the 27-year-old tight end on Tuesday after the Lions released him on Monday. A 2017 South Point High graduate, Muse has […]
By Richard Walker Nick Muse has another NFL opportunity after being signed by the Detroit Lions. The Lions signed Muse after rookie Miles Kitselman suffered a leg injury in training camp. Muse, a 27-year-old 2017 South Point High graduate, has appeared in 16 career NFL games in three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings from 2022 […]
By Richard Walker The field has been set for the 2026 American Legion World Series that begins in Shelby on Thursday. Here’s the 2026 ALWS pairings: -American Legion World Series (at Shelby NC) Stars division: Northeast (Bedford, N.H.), Southeast (Jacksonville, Fla.), Great Lakes (Midland, Mich.), Northwest (Portland, Ore.) Stripes division: Mid-Atlantic (Whitehouse, N.J.), Mid-South (Tupelo, […]
By Richard Walker American Legion regional championship Sunday is upon us in Gaston County. Winners will be crowned and will move on to nearby Shelby for the 2026 American Legion World Series that begins on Thursday and runs through Aug. 18. Here are the results and pairings for the two regionals being held in Gaston […]
By Richard Walker Four area teams are considered state championship favorites by longtime N.C. high school football observer Deana King in 2026 preseason rankings. Defending champions Shelby and Crest are ranked No. 1 in Class 3A and 5A, respectively. And Lincolnton (3A), Cramer (4A), East Lincoln (5A) and Ashbrook (6A) also received top rankings. Here’s […]
By Richard Walker The 2026 high school football season starts in late August. Here are the schedules for schools in Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties by conference with league games in all caps: -Big South 5A/6A Ashbrook Aug. 21 Palisades Aug. 28 Berry Academy Sept. 4 Northwest Cabarrus Sept. 9 at Marvin Ridge Sept. 18 […]
By Richard Walker Lincolnton’s L.J. Smith has already begun his college basketball career. The former two-year Lincolnton High standout who spent last season at Oak Hill, Va., Academy recently re-classified in order to graduate high school early so he can enroll at Ohio State University. Smith recently participated in offseason drills for the Buckeyes, for […]
By Richard Walker For the second straight year, a local high school basketball star is transferring away from the area as Huss sophomore Jaleel Smith is transferring to Oak Hill, Va., Academy. The Charlotte Observer basketball player of the year in the 2025-26 season after he led the Huskies to their first state championship in […]
By Richard Walker South Point and Kings Mountain led the All-Big South 5A/6A all-conference girls soccer team. South Point’s Jyi Watkins was named player of the year, Kate Hux defensive player of the year and Richard Lewandowski coach of the year and Kings Mountain’s Brooke Salvator was named goalie of the year. The full all-conference […]
By Richard Walker The 2026 high school football season starts in a little more than two months. Here are the schedules for schools in Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties by conference with league games in all caps: -Big South 5A/6A Ashbrook Aug. 21 Palisades Aug. 28 Berry Academy Sept. 4 Northwest Cabarrus Sept. 9 at […]
By Richard Walker Burns leads the 2026 All-Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A Conference baseball team. The Bulldogs’ Drew Dixon was named player of the year, Brian Buttrick pitcher of the year and Alex Leonhardt coach of the year. The full all-conference team: Burns- Drew Dixon, Mason Bralley, Brian Buttrick, Yates Toney, Lathan Peeler Cramer- Chris Wurster, Kenan […]
By Richard Walker North Lincoln kept its county perfect in N.C. High School Athletic Association baseball state championships while Burns and Cherryville suffered disappointment and heartbreak in their pursuit of state titles. The Knights finished a 2-0 sweep of their best-of-three Class 5A championship series against Pittsboro Seaforth with an 8-3 victory behind the pitching […]
By Richard Walker Cherryville won on a no-hitter, North Lincoln took a mercy rule victory and Burns suffered heartbreaking one-run defeat in Wednesday’s opening games of best-of-three N.C. High School Athletic Association baseball championships. Cherryville’s Brock Bumgardner starred on the mound and at the plate in Cherryville 4-0 triumph over Rosewood. Bumgardner threw a no-hitter […]
By Richard Walker With three state finalists this season, it’s pretty fair to say the Cleveland-Gaston-Lincoln county area has outdone itself in high school baseball. It’s because the three-county area that has been blessed with 78 state finalists hasn’t had three since doing it in the back-to-back years of 1953 and 1954. Back then, teams […]
By Richard Walker The baseball teams of Cherryville, Burns and North Lincoln have gotten their state championship pairings from the N.C. High School Athletic Association. Here are the title game pairings that begin on Wednesday. (State championships- Wednesday, May 27 through Thursday, May 30) Class 2A Cherryville vs. Rosewood at Burlington Athletic Park Game 1- […]
By Richard Walker Drew Burress became Georgia Tech’s career leader in home runs, Alex Hernandez drove in four runs as the Yellow Jackets defeated North Carolina 13-6 on Sunday to claim the ACC baseball championship for the 10th time. The top-seeded and third-ranked Yellow Jackets (48-9) won the tournament for the first time since 2014. […]
By Richard Walker The top seeds and two of the winningest ACC tournament programs in history have advanced to Sunday’s ACC baseball championship game at Charlotte’s Truist Field. No. 1 Georgia Tech will meet No. 2 North Carolina in a matchup whose winner becomes the second-winningest tournament program in league history. Both enter with nine […]
By Richard Walker Football at Crest and Burns high schools was celebrated on Monday night at the 59th Cleveland County Sports Hall of Fame ceremony at Shelby’s City Park. On a night where ACC championship-winning quarterback Charlie Noggle of Shelby was the featured speaker, former Crest standouts Chris Coleman, Tyrone “Dawson” Odums and Brandon Spikes […]
By Richard Walker The honors keep coming for the Charlotte Hornets as forward Kon Knueppel was named to the 2025-26 Kia NBA All-Rookie First Team. The No. 4 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Knueppel averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in 81 appearances (80 starts) and finished second in Rookie […]
By Richard Walker Gaston College will meet Wabash Valley, Ill., in its opening game of the National Junior College Athletic Association softball World Series at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala., at 1:15 Central Time on Monday. The Rhinos are the No. 14 seed in the 20-team tournament and enter with a 60-4 record, Region 10 […]
By Richard Walker Belmont won its ninth straight Gaston County Conference Winner’s Cup trophy for all-sports excellence for the 2025-26 school year. The Wildcats, who won five county championships, are now the all-time champion of the Winner’s Cup with 12 titles. Cramerton was previously tied with Belmont with 11. York Chester won the Karen Sheppard […]
By Richard Walker American Legion baseball is set to start this week and longtime observer Don Hines has released his preseason rankings that include three Area IV teams. Defending Area IV and state champion Asheville is atop the rankings, with perennial Area IV powers Cherryville (5th) and Shelby (honorable mention) also in the poll. Here […]
By Richard Walker Burns, Cherryville, Lincoln Charter, North Lincoln and South Point join a rich history of success from area high school baseball teams. In truth, it’s no surprise as Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties are in an area loaded with postseason success in the sport. Those five schools give the area 128 appearances in […]
By Richard Walker Georgia Tech is the top seed as the 2026 ACC baseball tournament begins this week at Charlotte Truist Field. Charlotte is hosting the event for the seventh time in history – and fourth time in the past six seasons as the home of the Class AAA Charlotte Knights. Final ACC regular season […]
By Richard Walker Cramer High School is enjoying its best baseball season in the school’s 13-year history. But the season saw unimaginable hardship as Friday’s fourth round Class 4A playoff game at Burns was postponed after Storm baseball coach Samuel “Casey” McMillen, the head junior varsity coach and a varsity assistant, passed out during pregame […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers are coming off their first playoff appearance since 2017 and first division title since 2015. If the franchise wants to repeat next season, they’ll have to do so against arguably the most challenging schedule in the NFL that was released on Thursday night. The Panthers will open a 17-game […]
By Richard Walker Gastonia American Legion Post 23’s baseball program has produced 13 major leaguers, which is more than any other team in state history. The 13th, Tyler White, on May 7 was inducted into the Rutherford County Sports Hall of Fame. White, a 2009 Chase High graduate, got releases from several area programs in […]
By Richard Walker Cramer became a back-to-back N.C. High School Athletic Association boys golf state champion and junior Lane Crotts became the 10th state medalist on Tuesday at Longleaf Golf and Family Club in Southern Pines. Cramer joins Huss (1969 NCHSAA Open), East Gaston (1977 Western N.C. High School Activities Association), Forestview (2012, 2013, 2014, […]
By Richard Walker Five former area products are on major league baseball rosters and eight others are in minor leagues or independent leagues, including two in Gastonia for the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball’s Ghost Peppers. The major leaguers are former Gardner-Webb (2010-11) and Belmont Abbey (2012-13) standout Emilio Pagan, 2011 South Point High graduate […]
By Richard Walker Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan emerged from a busy field of competitors to win the 2026 Truist Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow on Sunday. Reitan was part of a four-way tie late in Sunday’s fourth and final round before the 28-year-old took his first PGA Tour victory with a strong closing surge. He […]
By Richard Walker Wake Forest Demon Deacons took center stage at Charlotte’s Truist Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow. Alex Fitzpatrick took the lead after three rounds but will have to keep playing well if he wants to beat his Wake Forest college teammate Cameron Young. Fitzpatrick’s 7-under 64 was good enough to leave him […]
By Richard Walker It’s been a big week for Charlotte Hornets news as ownership rewarded head coach Charles Lee for the team’s improvement and a rising star had a surgical procedure to fix an injury he suffered early this season. Lee signed an extension for undisclosed length and contract terms. The Hornets made the largest […]
By Richard Walker Starting with featured speaker Rick Barnes discussing his long coaching career, persistence in athletics was a theme at the 2026 Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame banquet at the Gastonia Conference Center. That persistence was perhaps best exemplified by the final statement of the final inductee. “We do not stop playing because […]
By Richard Walker Stanley Middle School took its third straight Gaston County Conference baseball title on Wednesday with a 7-3 win over visiting Belmont. The Blue Devils, coached by Tyler Radford, finished with an 11-1 overall record after Luke Addington picked up the win with six strikeouts and Addington, Brayden Silvers (3 hits), Gabe Caldwell, […]
By Richard Walker The longest winning streak in Gaston County Conference history continued on Tuesday as Belmont Middle School defeated Cramerton 5-2 for the 2026 girls soccer title. The Wildcats, coached by Stephanie Daniel, extended their winning streak to 76 games and dates to 2019. Belmont, who last lost in the 2018 semifinals to Mount […]
By Richard Walker Fifty area high school baseball and softball teams begin state playoff quests this week in the N.C. High School Athletic Association and N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association. In baseball, 19 teams qualified in the NCHSAA and 2 in NCISAA. And in softball, 18 NCHSAA teams and one NCISAA squad made the postseason […]
By Richard Walker Cherryville High School has a rich baseball history with 10 state titles and 1,451 all time victories entering this week’s state playoffs. Just last week, the Ironmen added to that history with one of the rarest of baseball feats when Camden Williams threw a perfect game in Tuesday’s 10-0, 5-inning home win […]
By Richard Walker West Charlotte and Appalachian State football alumnus and former Carolina Panthers coach Steve Wilks is returning to his college alma mater. Wilks has been named Special Assistant to Athletics at Appalachian State and will assist in a variety of areas, including fundraising initiatives, capital projects and special events. He will work in […]
By Richard Walker Football success will be the theme for the 2026 Cleveland County Sports Hall of Fame ceremony that will be held on May 18 at the Shelby City Park. Former Crest High standouts Chris Coleman, Tyrone “Blue” Odoms and Brandon Spikes and former Burns High standout Troy Goss make up the 59th annual […]
By Richard Walker Cramerton’s boys and Belmont’s girls won the Gaston County Conference track championships on Wednesday in the 2026 meet at the Cramer High School track. Cramerton, coached by Rovahnda Tate, won its first boys championship since 2011. It was the Eagles’ fifth championship overall. Belmont, coached by Brianna Beaver, won its fourth straight […]
By Richard Walker Local products litter the rosters of Gaston College’s Region 10 regular season championship-winning baseball and softball teams who enter their respective tournaments in South Carolina this week as favorites. The softball Rhinos, 55-4 overall and ranked No. 17 nationally, begin action on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in Spartanburg, S.C. against the winner […]
By Richard Walker The Conference Carolinas baseball tournament returns to Gastonia’s CaroMont Health Park and Sims Legion Park for a fourth straight season and Belmont Abbey is one of the top seeds in the event. North Greenville won the regular season title and the top seed for the tournament, which begins on Wednesday. The regular […]
By Richard Walker A former Duke basketball standout won the 2025-26 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, but it wasn’t the Charlotte Hornets’ Kon Knueppel. Cooper Flagg, the Dallas Mavericks’ No. 1 overall pick last summer, edged his college teammate Knueppel to win the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy. Flagg led all rookies in scoring (21.0 ppg), […]
By Richard Walker When he was an All-CIAA quarterback at North Carolina Central who later gained a tryout as an end with the old AFL Boston Patriots, Robert “Al” Montgomery was a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder who was considered a giant. That large physical stature also gave Montgomery a presence when his playing career was over and […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers’ final day of the NFL Draft saw the franchise make three more trades and added four players – cornerback Will Lee III, Sam Hecht of Kansas State, Zakee Whitley of Penn State and Jackson Kuwatch of Miami, Ohio. Lee, a 6-foot-1, 189-pound cornerback, played two seasons at Iowa Western […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers used their second day of the NFL Draft on Friday to fortify their defensive line and receiving corps. At No. 49 overall in the second round, Carolina drafted Texas Tech nose tackle Lee Hunter. A 6-foot-4, 318-pounder from Mobile, Ala., Blount High School, Hunter began his college career at […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers opened their 2026 NFL Draft on Thursday night by choosing offensive tackle Monroe Freeling of Georgia. Rated No. 13 overall by longtime NFL Draft Observer Mel Kiper, the Panthers selected Freeling at No. 19 overall. A 6-foot-7, 315-pounder, Freeling became a starter for Georgia in 2025 and is considered […]
By Richard Walker After ending its seven-year playoff drought with a NFC South Division title this past season, the Carolina Panthers have approached the 2026 offseason as a chance to get reinforcements to make another playoff run. Among their biggest moves were to sign edge rusher (Jaelen Phillips) and backup quarterback (Kenny Pickett) through free […]
By Richard Walker After suffering a historic blow out defeat the last time the Charlotte Hornets were in the NBA play-in tournament in 2022, major changes followed for the franchise. That doesn’t appear to be the case this time around as the organization is poised to build off the second-winningest team since the NBA returned […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb relief pitcher Colby Putnam was named Big South Conference freshman of the week on Monday. A former Burns High and Shelby American Legion Post 82 standout, Putnam earned a win at Radford after tossing six innings out of the bullpen while allowing no earned runs, six hits with two strikeouts. It […]
By Richard Walker Twenty-three years before Title IX changed women’s athletics forever, Hester Martin Haynes was a pioneer for women’s athletics. That’s when she garnered local, state and national attention after becoming the first female pitcher in a high school baseball game in North Carolina history. Now in her 90s, she’s still active in athletics […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers on Thursday announced a new naming partnership with Atrium Health for the team’s Uptown Charlotte training site. It will be known as the Atrium Health Training Facility and is slowly but surely getting closer to completion as the foundation has been poured and structural steel is starting to be […]
By Richard Walker The Charlotte Hornets’ 2025-26 season came to an end Friday night in the final Eastern Conference play-in tournament game. Orlando took charge from the outset on its way to a 121-90 win over Charlotte. The Magic roared to a 10-point lead by the 5:02 mark of the first quarter, a 20-point lead […]
By Richard Walker The Charlotte Hornets defied their all time history in Tuesday’s dramatic 127-126 overtime win over Miami Heat in the play-in tournament opener. Can they do it again on Friday night in a play-in tournament game that sends its winner into the NBA playoffs? They get their chance at 7:30 p.m. the ninth-place […]
By Richard Walker The Charlotte Hornets got their upcoming play-in opponent and their potential upcoming playoff schedule on Wednesday. After edging the visiting Miami Heat 127-126 in overtime on Tuesday, the Hornets will now be heading to Orlando on Friday for a “winner moves on” play-in contest for the right to face Eastern Conference regular […]