Monday’s roundup: Pro basketball, baseball, hockey and golf, High school baseball, College football, soccer and baseball
By Richard Walker
Gastonia’s Nate Hinton not only made his NBA debut this season but he’s playing for a playoff team as the Dallas Mavericks finished fifth in the Western Conference and will open their playoff series against the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Clippers later this week.
Hinton, a 2018 Gaston Day School graduate who also played at Forestview, played in 21 games this season for the 42-30 Mavericks. He averaged 2.0 points, 0.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists with career-highs of eight points on May 7 against Cleveland and May 11 at Memphis.
Also with Dallas as a 13th-year assistant coach is Darrell Armstrong, a 1986 Ashbrook High graduate who began coaching after a 14-year playing career.
Gastonia’s other NBA player this season, Hassan Whiteside, averaged 8.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 36 games (four starts) for the Sacramento Kings.
Pro baseball
Former East Lincoln High standout Alec Burleson has been playing professional baseball less than a month and he’s already gotten a promotion.
Burleson, a 2017 East Lincoln graduate who played for East Carolina from 2018 to 2020, was promoted from Class A Peoria to Class AA Springfield on Monday by the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
Burleson, a second-round draft pick of the Cardinals in the 2020 draft, hit .286 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in 11 games in Peoria.
College football
Omari Hunt of South Point has signed to play college football at Virginia University of Lynchburg.
Pro golf
Shelby’s Connor Brown shot a 72 at a U.S. Open qualifier in Pinehurst on Monday.
The 2021 Southwestern 2A Conference player of the year, Brown is a UNC-Greensboro signee.
Pro hockey
The Carolina Hurricanes are in the midst of their Stanley Cup playoff pursuit after winning their fourth division title in 25 seasons in North Carolina. The Hurricanes won the 2006 Stanley Cup championship, advanced to the 2002 Stanley Cup finals and were in the Eastern Conference finals in 2019. Carolina is 36-12-8 this season and are the No. 1 seed in the Central Division.
First round series vs. Nashville Predators
Game 1 – Monday, Carolina 5-2 (Carolina leads series 1-0)
Game 2 – Wednesday at Carolina, 8 p.m.
Game 3 – May 21 at Nashville, 7 p.m.
Game 4 – May 23 at Nashville
Game 5 (if necessary) – May 25 at Carolina
Game 6 (if necessary) – May 27 at Nashville
Game 7 (if necessary) – May 29 at Carolina
High school baseball
Standings through Friday’s games with conference record first followed by overall record:
BIG SOUTH 3A
Kings Mountain 5-0, 6-0
Crest 5-0, 5-0
Forestview 3-2, 4-2
North Gaston 3-3, 3-3
Cramer 2-3, 3-3
Huss 0-5, 1-5
Ashbrook 0-5, 0-6
SOUTHWESTERN 2A
R-S Central 6-0, 6-0
South Point 4-0, 5-1
Chase 2-2, 4-2
East Rutherford 2-2, 3-2
East Gaston 2-4, 2-4
Burns 1-5, 1-5
Shelby 1-5, 1-5
SOUTH FORK 2A
East Lincoln 6-0, 6-0
Bandys 4-2, 4-2
Maiden 4-2, 4-2
North Lincoln 4-2, 4-2
Lk Norman Charter 2-4, 2-4
Lincolnton 2-4, 2-4
Newton-Conover 1-5, 1-5
West Lincoln 1-5, 1-5
SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A
Cherryville 5-0, 6-0
Lincoln Charter 5-1, 5-1
Thomas Jefferson 2-2, 2-2
Christ the King 2-2, 2-2
Highland Tech 2-3, 2-3
Bessemer City 1-4, 1-5
Piedmont CC 0-5, 0-5
This week’s games
Tuesday
Burns at Shelby
Chase at East Gaston
Cherryville at Bessemer City
Christ the King at Piedmont Community Charter
Crest at Kings Mountain
East Lincoln at Bandys
East Rutherford at South Point
Forestview at Cramer
Highland Tech at Thomas Jefferson
Huss at Ashbrook
Lincolnton at West Lincoln
Maiden at North Lincoln
Mountain Island Charter at Carolina International
North Gaston at Lincoln Charter
Thursday
Crest at Forestview
Kings Mountain at Cramer
Friday
Ashbrook at Cherryville
Bandys at East Lincoln
Bessemer City at Christ the King
Carolina International at Mountain Island Charter
East Gaston at Chase
Huss at North Gaston
Lincoln Charter at Highland Tech
North Lincoln at Maiden
Piedmont Community Charter at Thomas Jefferson
Shelby at Burns
South Point at East Rutherford
West Lincoln at Lincolnton
College women’s soccer
Pairings for the NCAA tournament that will almost exclusively be played in Cary:
April 27 first round games
Mississippi 0, Bowling Green 0 (Mississippi wins on penalty kicks)
New Mexico 1, Navy 1 (New Mexico wins on penalty kicks)
Iowa 1, Campbell 0
Rutgers 1, Southeastern Louisiana 0
South Florida 3, Central Connecticut State 0
South Alabama 1, Colorado 0
Washington 3, Liberty 0
Denver 3, Loyola Chicago 1
April 28 first round games
Milwaukee 1, Elon 0
Penn State 5, Alabama State 0
Arizona State 4, Siena 0
Rice 3, Furman 1
Virginia 3, SIUE 1
South Carolina 1, Montana 0
Ohio State 5, Stony Brook 1
Utah Valley 1, Memphis 0
April 30 second round games
Mississippi 2, Southern California 2 (Mississippi wins on penalty kicks)
TCU 6, New Mexico 2
UCLA 2, Iowa 1
Clemson 1, Rutgers 1 (Clemson wins on penalty kicks)
Texas A&M 2, South Florida 0
Oklahoma State 7, South Alabama 0
Washington 0, Saint Louis 0 (Washington wins on penalty kicks)
North Carolina 2, Denver 0
May 1 second round games
Florida State 3, Milwaukee 0
Penn State 2, Vanderbilt 0
Duke 2, Arizona State 1
Rice 1, West Virginia 0
Virginia 2, BYU 0
Georgetown 1, South Carolina 0
Santa Clara 4, Ohio State 1
Arkansas 3, Utah Valley 1
May 5 third round games
Florida State 3, Penn State 1
Duke 1, Mississippi 0
Virginia 3, Rice 0
TCU 1, Georgetown 1 (TCU wins on penalty kicks)
Clemson 1, UCLA 1 (Clemson wins on penalty kicks)
Santa Clara 2, Arkansas 0
Texas A&M 3, Oklahoma State 3 (Texas A&M wins on penalty kicks)
North Carolina 1, Washington 0
May 9 quarterfinals
Florida State 0, Duke 0 (Florida State wins on penalty kicks)
Virginia 1, TCU 0
Santa Clara 1, Clemson 0
North Carolina 1, Texas A&M 0
May 13 semifinals
Florida State 0, Virginia 0 (Florida State wins on penalty kicks)
Santa Clara 3, North Carolina 1
May 17 final at Cary
Santa Clara 1, Florida State 1 (Santa Clara wins on penalty kicks)
College men’s soccer
NCAA tournament pairings:
April 29 first round games
American 3, Jacksonville 3 (American wins on penalty kicks)
Omaha 3, UNC-Greensboro 2
St. Francis Brooklyn 2, Milwaukee 1 (2 OT)
Monmouth 2, Bowling Green 1
May 2 second round games
Clemson 2, American 1
Marshall 2, Fordham 1
Penn State 4, Massachusetts 1
Georgetown 2, High Point 0
Wake Forest 3, Coastal Carolina 2
Kentucky 2, New Hampshire 0
North Carolina 1, Charlotte 1 (North Carolina wins on penalty kicks)
Stanford 1, Omaha 0
Indiana 1, St. Francis Brooklyn 1 (Indiana wins on penalty kicks)
Marquette 0, Loyola Marymount 0 (Marquette wins on penalty kicks)
Virginia Tech 2, Oregon State 1 (OT)
Seton Hall 2, Air Force 1
Washington 2, Grand Canyon 0
Missouri State 2, Maryland 1
Central Florida 2, James Madison 1
Pittsburgh 6, Monmouth 1
May 6 third round games
Marshall 1, Clemson 1 (Marshall wins on penalty kicks)
Georgetown 3, Penn State 2
Wake Forest 2, Kentucky 1
North Carolina 1, Stanford 0
Indiana 2, Marquette 1
Seton Hall 2, Virginia Tech 2 (Seton Hall wins on penalty kicks)
Washington 2, Missouri State 0
Pittsburgh 4, Central Florida 0
May 10 quarterfinals
Marshall 1, Georgetown 0
North Carolina 2, Wake Forest 1
Indiana 2, Seton Hall 0
Pittsburgh 3, Washington 0
May 14 semifinals
Marshall 1, North Carolina 0
Indiana 1, Pittsburgh 0
May 17 final at Cary
Marshall 1, Indiana 0, OT
College baseball
ACC update: As we close in on the ACC Baseball Tournament at Charlotte’s Truist Field from May 25-30, here’s the current league standings and upcoming conference games:
(Atlantic Division)
Notre Dame 22-10
Florida State 19-14
N.C. State 17-13
Louisville 16-13
Clemson 16-17
Boston College 9-21
Wake Forest 7-22
(Coastal Division)
Georgia Tech 19-13
Miami 17-15
Pittsburgh 16-14
North Carolina 17-16
Virginia Tech 16-16
Virginia 16-17
Duke 13-17
This weekend’s 3-game series that start on Thursday: Duke at Clemson, Virginia at Boston College, Florida State at N.C. State, Miami at Louisville, Notre Dame at Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh at Wake Forest, North Carolina at Georgia Tech