Tuesday’s roundup: High school basketball playoffs, High school soccer, High school football, High school honor, College basketball
By Richard Walker
The boys basketball teams from Gaston Christian, Crest, Lincoln Charter, Mountain Island Charter, North Lincoln and Shelby and the Ashbrook and Shelby girls teams advanced in the N.C. High School Athletic Association state playoffs with Tuesday night victories:
Each advanced to the next round, with Gaston Christian hosting the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 3A state championship game on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Asheville Christian.
The N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs continue Thursday with Crest hosting North Iredell in 3A boys, North Lincoln hosting North Davidson and Shelby visiting R-S Central in 2A boys, Lincoln Charter hosting Chatham Central and Mountain Island Charter visiting Hayesville in 1A boys, Ashbrook hosting Hickory in 3A girls and Shelby visiting Salisbury in 2A girls.
Thursday’s winners advance to state playoff games hosted by higher-seeded teams on Saturday and March 2 with the state championships being played March 6 at Providence Grove and Wheatmore high schools in Randolph County.
Here are Tuesday’s results:
NCISAA 3A boys
Gaston Christian 85, Cape Fear Academy 56: William Kelly scored 23 points, Greg Brockington and Brenton Elliott 13 apiece and Tyler Bradley 12 as the Eagles advance into Saturday’s 6 p.m. NCISAA 3A state championship game against Asheville Christian.
NCHSAA 3A boys
Crest 75, Greensboro Dudley 62: Crest (14-1) pulled away late to wrap up its first playoff since 2017.
Central Cabarrus 95, Kings Mountain 57: Kings Mountain lost every quarter on a night in which Isaiah Tate’s game-high 20 points allowed him to surpass 1,000 career points. Ezekiel Cannady added 12 points for the Mountaineers, who finished the season 10-5.
Weddington 82, Huss 51: Huss’ 16th straight playoff appearance ended with a road loss that ended the Huskies’ season at 9-5.
NCHSAA 2A boys
North Lincoln 77, Forbush 55: The Knights (13-2) won their second straight opening round playoff game.
Shelby 89, Patton 75: The Golden Lions (14-1) lost a coin flip with R-S Central for the higher Southwestern 2A Conference seeding and will now meet the Hilltoppers for the third time season; The home team has won the first two meetings.
North Davidson 62, East Lincoln 59: The host team outscored the Mustangs by three in the fourth quarter to end East Lincoln’s season at 11-4. Logan Craig had 18 points and Nyck Clarke 16 to lead the Mustangs.
NCHSAA 1A boys
Lincoln Charter 90, Murphy 49: Sam Cogan had 15 points to lead a balanced Lincoln Charter (13-1) attack that also got 13 points from Troy Fulton, 12 from Elijah Burnett and Marcus Farley and 10 from Palmer Crichton and Andrew Baich.
Mountain Island Charter 72, Chatham Charter 46: The Raptors (13-2) took the road victory.
NCHSAA 3A girls
Ashbrook 55, Alexander Central 48: The Green Wave improved to 13-1 with the first round playoff victory.
Cuthbertson 63, Crest 22: Crest’s season ended at 10-5 in the road loss.
Carson 69, Kings Mountain 33: Kings Mountain’s season ended at 10-5 in the road loss.
NCHSAA 2A girls
Shelby 56, East Lincoln 24: The Golden Lions (15-0) stayed unbeaten while ending East Lincoln’s season at 10-5.
NCHSAA 1A girls
Kernersville Bishop McGuinness 66, Bessemer City 26: The Yellow Jackets finished 8-5 after the home playoff loss.
Mitchell County 60, Mountain Island Charter 13: The Raptors finished 9-3 after the road playoff defeat.
High school boys soccer
Forestview 2, Ashbrook 1: The Jaguars (7-0) stayed unbeaten with the road victory with goals from Johan Tabora and Tyler McMurray.
Lincolnton 2, East Lincoln 2 (OT): Lincolnton rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a South Fork 2A draw. Jackson Thrap had two goals and Caleb Anderson one assist for East Lincoln (7-0-1).
Cherryville 11, Bessemer City 2
South Point 6, East Gaston 1
High school football
Friday’s Burns at South Point and Chase at Cherryville games have been moved up to Thursday due to the threat of inclement weather. They join the Berry Academy at Ashbrook and West Lincoln at North Lincoln games that have been moved up.
High school award
Former Hunter Huss football coach and athletic director Steve Gardner was awarded the N.C. Athletic Directors Association’s “Braveheart” award on Tuesday. The award recognizes individuals who have exhibited a spirit of bravery and courage while enduring trying personal experiences during the past year.
College men’s basketbal
Belmont Abbey 91, Lees-McRae 89: Nate Davis scored a season-high 17 points and Belmont Abbey hit 66.7 percent from the field overall to end its regular season 15-4 overall and 13-3 in Conference Carolinas. The Abbey will be the No. 2 seed and will host a Conference Carolinas tournament game on Monday.
Gardner-Webb advances in tournament: Following Charleston Southern’s announcement on Tuesday regarding its pause of athletic activities due to contact tracing and positive cases, Gardner-Webb advanced to the Big South Conference quarterfinals. The sixth-seeded Runnin’ Bulldogs were slated to host No. 11 Charleston Southern on Saturday, but the Buccaneers’ program pause means they will be unable to compete in the tournament. Gardner-Webb will play at the No. 3 seed on Monday.
Charlotte schedule change: The 49ers basketball series at UTEP this weekend has been moved to Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. The change was made to accommodate a request from UTEP based on COVID protocols.
College women’s basketball
Belmont Abbey 87, Lees-McRae 43: Brittany Autry had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Maria Kuhlman 12 points and seven rebounds for the Crusaders (18-2, 14-1) in Tuesday’s home victory.
National ranking: Belmont Abbey was ranked No. 17 in the NCAA Division II D2SIDA poll on Tuesday. The Abbey moved from “receiving votes” to No. 17 after two home wins last week.