Wednesday’s roundup: Basketball playoffs continue Thursday, updated prep football schedule, prep soccer, prep cross country and college baseball
By Richard Walker
The N.C. High School Athletic Association basketball playoffs move into the second on Thursday as seven local teams won their Tuesday night first round games.
Here’s a look at Thursday’s second-round games:
3A boys
North Iredell (12-2) at Crest (14-1): Winner gets Thursday’s Cox Mill (11-2) at West Rowan (13-1) winner. Crest seeks to advance to third round in playoffs for 12th time in school history and first since 2015.
2A boys
North Davidson (12-0) at North Lincoln (13-2): Winner gets Thursday’s Shelby at R-S Central winner. North Lincoln seeks to advance to third round for second time in history and first since 2005.
Shelby (14-1) at R-S Central (13-1): Winner gets Thursday’s North Davidson at North Lincoln winner. The teams split in the regular season with Shelby winning 79-74 on Jan. 9 and R-S Central winning 84-78 on Feb. 2. A coin flip won by R-S Central gave the Hilltoppers homecourt advantage for this game.
1A boys
Chatham Central (10-1) at Lincoln Charter (13-2): Winner gets Thursday’s Pine Lake Prep (15-1) at Mitchell County (9-5) winner. Lincoln Charter had advanced to the third round the last six years.
Mountain Island Charter (13-2) at Hayesville (15-0): Winner gets Thursday’s Uwharrie Charter (10-3) at Mount Airy (12-3) winner. Mountain Island Charter advanced to third round last season.
3A girls
Hickory (9-2) at Ashbrook (13-1): Winner gets Thursday’s Asheville (12-2) at Freedom (10-0) winner. Ashbrook seeks to advance to third round for sixth time in school history and first time since 2018.
2A girls
Shelby (15-0) at Salisbury (14-1): Winner gets Thursday’s West Wilkes (12-0) at Mountain Heritage (9-2) winner. Shelby seeks to advance to third round for sixth time in school history and second straight year.
The full NCHSAA second round pairings:
1A East girls
#9 Northside-Pinetown (10-4) vs. #16 Lakewood (8-2)
#5 East Carteret (7-6) vs. #13 Riverside-Martin (7-4)
#3 Princeton (12-0) vs. #6 North Edgecombe (4-1)
#7 Gates County (7-1) vs. #15 Southside (6-3)
1A West girls
#1 East Surry (13-0) vs. #8 Robbinsville (14-1)
#5 Community School of Davidson (14-0) vs. #13 Murphy (13-2)
#3 Hiwassee Dam (9-4) vs. #6 Mitchell (14-0)
#7 Elkin (7-6) vs. #15 Bishop McGuinness (9-4)
2A East girls
#9 Farmville Central (11-0) vs. #16 North Pitt (12-2)
#5 Randleman (11-3) vs. #13 Wheatmore (11-3)
#6 Southwest Onslow (11-1) vs. #14 Croatan (12-2)
#2 McMichael (5-8) vs. #10 St. Pauls (13-0)
2A West girls
#1 West Stokes (12-0) vs. #9 Newton-Conover (15-0)
#5 Bunker Hill (8-0) vs. #13 R-S Central (11-3)
#3 Salisbury (14-1) vs. #6 Shelby (15-0)
#2 Mountain Heritage (9-2) vs. #7 West Wilkes (12-0)
3A East girls
#8 Swansboro (10-2) vs. #16 Person (11-3)
#4 Terry Sanford (10-0) vs. #5 Northwood (12-0)
#3 Eastern Alamance (12-0) vs. #11 Southeast Guilford (7-5)
#2 D.H. Conley (12-0) vs. #7 Asheboro (12-0)
3A West girls
#1 Freedom (10-0) vs. #9 Asheville (12-2)
#4 Ashbrook (13-1) vs. #12 Hickory (9-2)
#3 Jesse Carson (15-0) vs. #6 Cuthbertson (14-1)
#2 Enka (14-1) vs. #10 Charlotte Catholic (11-3)
4A East girls
#1 Wilmington Ashley (13-1) vs. #8 Pinecrest (8-3)
#5 Millbrook (12-1) vs. #13 Southeast Raleigh (7-1)
#3 Heritage (13-1) vs. #6 Garner (13-0)
#2 Pine Forest (9-3) vs. #7 Apex Friendship (13-2)
4A West girls
#1 Charlotte Vance (8-0) vs. #8 Jordan (9-2)
#4 East Forsyth (14-1) vs. #12 Independence (6-2)
#3 Providence (7-0) vs. #6 Panther Creek (10-1)
#2 South Caldwell (7-6) vs. #10 Lake Norman (10-1)
1A East boys
#1 Granville Central (12-2) vs. #8 East Carteret (11-0)
#4 John A. Holmes (10-1) vs. #5 Riverside-Martin (12-0)
#3 Wilson Prep (3-2) vs. #6 Princeton (15-0)
#2 West Columbus (7-6) vs. #7 Henderson Collegiate (9-2)
1A West boys
#1 Mitchell (9-5) vs. #9 Pine Lake Prep (15-1)
#5 Lincoln Charter (13-2) vs. #13 Chatham Central (10-1)
#6 Mount Airy (12-3) vs. #14 Uwharrie Charter (10-3)
#2 Hayesville (15-0) vs. #10 Mountain Island Charter (12-2)
2A East boys
#1 South Granville (12-3) vs. #9 Farmville Central (11-0)
#5 Reidsville (11-1) vs. #13 Kinston (11-3)
#3 Washington (9-2) vs. #6 James Kenan (11-2)
#7 St. Pauls (14-1) vs. #15 Northeastern (9-3)
2A West boys
#1 Hendersonville (14-0) vs. #9 Atkins (13-1)
#5 Mountain Heritage (12-0) vs. #13 West Caldwell (7-1)
#3 North Lincoln (13-2) vs. #6 North Davidson (12-0)
#2 R-S Central (13-1) vs. #10 Shelby (14-1)
3A East boys
#1 Terry Sanford (10-1) vs. #9 East Wake (13-2)
#5 D.H. Conley (10-4) vs. #13 Northwood (11-2)
#3 New Hanover (9-1) vs. #6 West Carteret (9-2)
#10 Northern Guilford (15-0) vs. #15 Westover (11-2)
3A West boys
#1 West Rowan (13-1) vs. #9 Cox Mill (11-2)
#4 Crest (14-1) vs. #12 North Iredell (12-2)
#3 Hickory (10-1) vs. #6 Mount Tabor (12-2)
#2 Weddington (14-0) vs. #7 Central Cabarrus (12-1)
4A East boys
#1 Laney (10-1) vs. #8 Lumberton (9-2)
#4 Pinecrest (11-0) vs. #12 Rolesville (8-6)
#6 Apex Friendship (15-0) vs. #14 Richmond (7-3)
#2 Millbrook (15-0) vs. #10 Fuquay-Varina (11-2)
4A West boys
#1 Ardrey Kell (7-0) vs. #9 Hillside (11-3)
#4 R.J. Reynolds (12-1) vs. #5 Page (8-1)
#3 North Mecklenburg (9-0) vs. #6 Panther Creek (13-1)
#7 Hough (7-2) vs. #15 South Mecklenburg (5-2)
High school JV football
Burns 40, South Point 20: Jeremiah Norris scored three touchdowns, Javin Lineberger two, Johnny Johnson caught a TD pass and Ben Mauney had two 2-point conversions for Burns, whose defense was led by Bryson Westbrook, Caleb Byrd and Zach Currier.
High school football
Here’s the schedule for varsity football openers this week:
Thursday’s games
Berry Academy at Ashbrook
Burns at South Point
Chase at Cherryville
Forestview at Crest
West Lincoln at North Lincoln
Friday’s games
Bessemer City at Pine Lake Prep
East Gaston at Shelby
Mountain Island Charter at East Lincoln
Newton-Conover at Lincolnton
North Gaston at Huss
Saturday’s game
Cramer at Kings Mountain
High school boys basketball
Crest 75, Greensboro Dudley 62 (Tuesday): Mari Adams (18 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists), Jadin Merritt (17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks), Eli Hall (15 points, 9 rebounds) and Caleb Borders (14 points, 3 assists, 4 steals) led Crest to the first round playoff victory.
High school girls basketball
Ashbrook 55, Alexander Central 48 (Tuesday): Shay Portee and Madison Cole led the Green Wave with 14 points apiece.
Carson 69, Kings Mountain 33 (Tuesday): Saniya Wilson (23 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals), Tyasya Bell (3 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks), Khalia King (3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Aaliyah Byers (2 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks) led Kings Mountain.
High school boys soccer
Forestview 4, North Gaston 2: Nicholas Shiles scored two goals and Plamedi Warsinsky and Tyler McMurray one apiece for unbeaten Forestview (8-0).
Ashbrook 4, Crest 0
East Gaston 5, R-S Central 1
East Rutherford 6, Burns 2
High school cross country
Kings Mountain honored its cross country program at a Tuesday night banquet. Both boys and girls teams finished with 14-4 records with the boys finishing first in the Cleveland County championships and second in the Big South 3A and the girls finishing second in Cleveland County and second in the Big South.
Here are the individual award winners:
Boys
Parker Key – All-Conference and MVP
Wyatt Wilson – Coach’s Award
Marty Lovingood – All-Conference
Kohen Johnson – All-Conference
Hunter Cruise – All-Conference and Rookie of the Year
Girls
Thalia Kushman – All-Conference and MVP
Parker Wilson – All-Conference, Rookie of the Year and Joe Hord Perservance Award
Ashley Gural – All-Conference
Divinity Ervin – All-Conference and Coach’s Award
Nicole Poston – All-Conference
College baseball
Belmont Abbey 7, Catawba 6: Ben Gobbel’s sacrifice fly gave the unbeaten Crusaders (5-0) a walkoff win against nationally No. 7-ranked Catawba (4-2). Mason Dodd, Sean Johnson, Richard DeLaCruz and Ben Ferguson were other offensive standouts and reliever Avery Short picked up the victory for the Abbey, which visits Barton in a Conference Carolinas series that begins on Thursday.