Thursday’s roundup: High school football, girls soccer and softball, Middle schools and College basketball tournament results/pairings
By Richard Walker
South Point won at Shelby 28-16 to shake up the Southwestern 2A Conference high school football standings and keep its state playoff hopes alive.
The Red Raiders (4-2, 3-2) took a 14-0 first half lead and held off a second half Shelby (4-2, 4-1) rally.
Tyson Riley scored two touchdowns and Will Rhinehart and Omari Hunt one touchdown apiece for the Red Raiders, with Hunt’s 77-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to clinch the win.
Shelby’s touchdowns came on passes from Gabe Huitt to Tyler Arrington.
Ashbrook 33, North Gaston 20: The Green Wave got two touchdown runs from Chandler Meeks to improve to 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big South 3A Conference entering next Friday’s home game against crosstown rival Huss.
East Gaston 54, East Rutherford 13: The Warriors (1-5, 1-5) snapped a 20-game conference losing streak with the home victory.
Thomas Jefferson 48, Bessemer City 8: The Gryphons (6-0, 5-0) at least a share of the South Piedmont 1A Conference title. Bessemer City fell to 1-5, 1-4.
Crest 37, Burns 14: Crest (6-0, 5-0) stayed unbeaten as Timothy Ruff scored one touchdown and passed for another and Caleb Borders, Eli Hall and Mari Adams also scored touchdowns for the Chargers. Burns (4-2, 4-1) led 14-7 after touchdowns from Cam’Ron Sweezy and Silas Tate but Crest scored the game’s last 30 points.
Christ the King 20, Cherryille 10: Teaghan Strutt scored a touchdown and Chase Miller recorded a safety for Cherryville (1-5, 1-4).
Community School of Davidson 23, Mountain Island Charter 6: The Raptors fell to 1-5, 1-4 in a home loss.
Huss 47, Cramer 7: Malik Corry, Noah Lowery, Cory Adams and Noah Caulder had touchdowns for the Huskies (2-3, 2-3) as they won convincingly.
Kings Mountain 39, Forestview 7: The Mountaineers (6-0, 5-0) stayed unbeaten ahead of next Friday’s Big South 3A Conference game for the league title. Rashaard Brooks and Dameon Wilson scored two touchdowns apiece and Devin Pressley and Jake Lloyd had one touchdown each for Kings Mountain. Forestview (2-3, 1-3) hosts North Gaston on Monday in its next game before closing the season next Friday at Cramer.
Union Academy 26, Highland Tech 25: The Rams (1-3, 1-3) were victimized by a late Union Academy rally.
Other scores:
Butler 70, Garinger 8
Hickory Ridge 56, East Meck 0
Lake Norman 28, Hopewell 0
Hough 35, Mallard Creek 14
Myers Park 15, Porter Ridge 7
Rocky River 24, Independence 22
Vance 42, North Meck 0
Providence 20, Olympic 0
Mooresville 46, West Charlotte 0
West Meck 46, Harding 14
South Meck 35, Berry Academy 7
Friday’s games:
East Lincoln at West Lincoln
Maiden at Newton-Conover
North Lincoln at Lincolnton
Chase at R-S Central
Maiden at Newton-Conover
Kell at A.C. Reynolds
High school girls soccer
Metrolina Christian 4, Gaston Christian 0
High school softball
East Rutherford 8, East Gaston 3
Newton-Conover 6, West Lincoln 4 (8 innings)
East Lincoln 4, North Lincoln 0
Middle school boys soccer
Cramerton 9, Holbrook 2: Grayson Aycock (3 goals), Spencer Baker (2 goals, 2 assists), Aiden VanderMeer (3 assists), Saliou Diouf (1 goal), Lane Crotts (1 goal), Brody Dyer (1 goal), Noah Empson (1 goal), Josh Ramsey (1 assist) and Santiago Calle (1 assist) led Cramerton (5-0), which finished the season with a 5-0 record and a Division I title.
Southwest at Mount Holly: no report
W.C. Friday at Chavis: no report
Standings:
-Division I
Cramerton 4-0, 5-0
Holbrook 2-2, 2-3
Grier 2-2, 2-2
Mount Holly 1-2, 1-2
Southwest 0-3, 0-3
-Division II
Belmont 4-0, 5-0
Stanley 3-1, 3-1
W.C. Friday 1-2, 1-2
Chavis 0-2-1, 0-3-1
York Chester 0-3-1, 0-3-1
Middle school softball
Cramerton 15, Holbrook 0: Kayla Johnson threw a no-hitter with nine strikeouts for Cramerton (4-1), whose offense was led by Cailey Evans (2 hits, 2 RBIs), Madison Bridges (2 hits, 2 RBIs) and Lily Cabe (2 hits, 2 RBIs).
Chavis 18, W.C. Friday 1 (4 innings): Krista Davis threw a no-hitter with eight strikeouts and had one hit and one RBI for Chavis (5-0), which also got big offensive games from Lexi McSwain (2-3, 3 RBIs), Emma Proctor (2-3, 2 RBIs), Ava Miller (1-2, 1 RBI), Lendyn McBride (2 hits), Kennedy Weathers (1 hit) and Chloee Stroupe (1 hit).
Mount Holly at Southwest: no report
Standings:
-Division I
Mount Holly 3-0, 3-0
Cramerton 3-1, 4-1
Holbrook 2-2, 2-3
Southwest 1-2, 1-2
Grier 0-4, 0-4
-Division II
Chavis 4-0, 5-0
Belmont 2-1, 2-2
Stanley 2-2, 2-2
W.C. Friday 1-3, 1-3
Bessemer City 0-3, 0-3
College athletics
Conference Carolinas: Belmont Abbey’s Maria Kuhlman has been named the 2020-21 Conference Carolinas Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the conference office announced Thursday.
To be considered for this award, a student-athlete must have been named all-conference in their sport and also chosen academic all-conference.
Kuhlman finished her career as one of the best 3-point shooters in Division II history. She finished the 2020-21 season as the nation’s leader in 3-point field goals made and third in 3-point field goal percentage. She was named the Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year in the 2017-18 season; was a first team all-conference selection in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21; and earned all-conference honors as a third team selection in the 2017-18 season. Kuhlman was an all-region selection in the 2019-20 season.
She also excels in the classroom, where she holds a 3.99 GPA as a Theology major, with minors in Sport Management and Psychology.
Earlier this year, Kuhlman was also awarded the conference’s Murphy Osborne Award, which is given to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in the league.
College men’s basketball
2021 NCAA basketball tournament results and pairings:
East Region
March 18 opening round
UCLA 86, Michigan State 80, OT
Texas Southern 60, Mount St. Mary’s 52
March 20 first round
Michigan 82, Texas Southern 66
LSU 76, St. Bonaventure 61
Colorado 96, Georgetown 73
Florida State 64, UNC-Greensboro 54
UCLA 73, BYU 62
Abilene Christian 53, Texas 52
Maryland 63, Connecticut 54
Alabama 68, Iona 55
March 22 second round
Michigan 86, LSU 78
Florida State 71, Colorado 53
UCLA 67, Abilene Christian 47
Alabama 96, Maryland 77
March 28 regional semifinals
Michigan 76, Florida State 58
UCLA 88, Alabama 78, OT
March 30 regional final
UCLA 51, Michigan 49
South Region
March 19 first round
Baylor 79, Hartford 55
Wisconsin 85, North Carolina 62
Villanova 73, Winthrop 63
North Texas 78, Purdue 69, OT
Texas Tech 65, Utah State 53
Arkansas 85, Colgate 68
Florida 75, Virginia Tech 70, OT
Oral Roberts 75, Ohio State 72, OT
March 21 second round
Baylor 76, Wisconsin 63
Villanova 84, North Texas 61
Arkansas 68, Texas Tech 66
Oral Roberts 81, Florida 78
March 27 regional semifinals
Baylor 62, Villanova 51
Arkansas 72, Oral Roberts 70
March 29 regional final
Baylor 81, Arkansas 72
Midwest Region
March 19 first round
Illinois 78, Drexel 49
Loyola-Chicago 71, Georgia Tech 60
Oregon State 70, Tennessee 56
Oklahoma State 69, Liberty 60
Syracuse 78, San Diego State 62
West Virginia 84, Morehead State 67
Rutgers 60, Clemson 56
Houston 87, Cleveland State 56
March 21 second round
Loyola-Chicago 71, Illinois 58
Oregon State 80, Oklahoma State 70
Syracuse 75, West Virginia 72
Houston 63, Rutgers 60
March 27 regional semifinals
Oregon State 65, Loyola-Chicago 58
Houston 62, Syracuse 46
March 29 regional final
Houston 67, Oregon State 61
West Region
March 18 opening round
Drake 53, Wichita State 52
Norfolk State 54, Appalachian State 53
March 20 first round
Gonzaga 98, Norfolk State 55
Oklahoma 72, Missouri 68
Creighton 63, UC-Santa Barbara 62
Ohio U. 62, Virginia 58
Southern California 72, Drake 56
Kansas 93, Eastern Washington 84
Oregon advances over VCU, no contest (COVID protocols)
Iowa 86, Grand Canyon 74
March 22 second round
Gonzaga 87, Oklahoma 71
Creighton 72, Ohio U. 58
Southern California 85, Kansas 51
Oregon 95, Iowa 80
March 28 regional semifinals
Gonzaga 83, Creighton 65
Southern California 82, Oregon 68
March 30 regional final
Gonzaga 85, Southern California 66
FINAL FOUR
Saturday’s semifinals
Baylor vs. Houston, 5:14 p.m.
Gonzaga vs. UCLA, 8:34 p.m.
Monday’s championship game
9 p.m.
College women’s basketball
2021 NCAA basketball tournament results and pairings:
ALAMO Region
March 21 first round
Stanford 87, Utah Valley 44
Oklahoma State 84, Wake Forest 61
March 22 first round
Missouri State 70, UC Davis 51
Wright State 66, Arkansas 62
Oregon 67, South Dakota 47
Georgia 67, Drexel 53
Northwestern 62, Central Florida 51
Louisville 74, Marist 43
March 23 second round
Stanford 73, Oklahoma State 62
March 24 second round
Missouri State 64, Wright State 39
Oregon 57, Georgia 50
Louisville 62, Northwestern 53
March 28 regional semifinals
Stanford 89, Missouri State 62
Louisville 60, Oregon 42
March 30 regional final
Stanford 78, Oregon 63
MERCADO Region
March 21 first round
N.C. State 79, North Carolina A&T 58
South Florida 57, Washington State 53
March 22 first round
Belmont 64, Gonzaga 59
Indiana 63, VCU 32
BYU 69, Rutgers 66
Arizona 79, Stony Brook 44
Iowa State 79, Michigan State 75
Texas A&M 84, Troy 80
March 23 second round
N.C. State 79, South Florida 67
March 24 second round
Indiana 70, Belmont 48
Arizona 52, BYU 46
Texas A&M 84, Iowa State 82, OT
March 27 regional semifinals
Indiana 73, N.C. State 70
Arizona 74, Texas A&M 59
March 29 regional final
Arizona 66, Indiana 53
RIVER WALK Region
March 21 first round
Connecticut 102, High Point 59
Syracuse 72, South Dakota State 55
Iowa 87, Central Michigan 72
Kentucky 71, Idaho State 63
Michigan 87, Florida Gulf Coast 66
Tennessee 87, Middle Tennessee 62
Virginia Tech 70, Marquette 63
Baylor 101, Jackson State 52
March 22 second round
Connecticut 83, Syracuse 47
Iowa 86, Kentucky 72
Michigan 70, Tennessee 55
Baylor 90, Virginia Tech 48
March 27 regional semifinals
Connecticut 92, Iowa 72
Baylor 78, Michigan 75
March 29 regional final
Connecticut 69, Baylor 67
HEMISFAIR Region
March 21 first round
South Carolina 79, Mercer 53
Oregon State 83, Florida State 59
Georgia Tech 54, Stephen F. Austin 52, OT
West Virginia 77, Lehigh 53
March 22 first round
Texas 81, Bradley 62
UCLA 69, Wyoming 48
Alabama 80, North Carolina 71
Maryland 98, Mount St. Mary’s 45
March 23 second round
South Carolina 59, Oregon State 42
Georgia Tech 73, West Virginia 56
March 24 second round
Texas 71, UCLA 62
Maryland 100, Alabama 64
March 28 regional semifinals
South Carolina 76, Georgia Tech 65
Texas 64, Maryland 61
March 30 regional final
South Carolina 62, Texas 34
FINAL FOUR
Friday’s semifinals
Stanford vs. South Carolina, 6 p.m.
Arizona vs. Connecticut, 9:30 p.m.
Sunday’s championship game
6 p.m.