Uwharrie Charter Academy | Wrestling
Palma secured first place in the girls’ division of the Holy Angels Invitational last week in Charlotte.
It was a rare event set up with several brackets for girls. Palma captured first place at 113 pounds. In the title match, she defeated Martha Dominguez of Purnell Swett with a 50-second pin.
Here are 10 notable Randolph County-related sports stories for 2021:
• Randleman’s baseball team wins the Class 2-A state championship behind a no-hitter from Ryan White in the decisive game in the best-of-3 finals against R-S Central. Randleman has a big fan turnout for the championship series at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
• Southwestern Randolph’s volleyball team claims the Class 2-A state title, knocking off previously unbeaten Camden County in the championship match at Reynolds Coliseum on the North Carolina State campus in Raleigh.
• Eastern Randolph’s football team holds the No. 1 ranking in the state in Class 1-A, going unbeaten until an upset loss in the third round of the state playoffs in November.
• Providence Grove and Wheatmore are selected to be the host venues for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association basketball championship games after usual sites on college campuses are unavailable during the pandemic.
• The Asheboro girls’ basketball team reaches the state final in Class 3-A, falling to Carson.
• Another cycle of conference realignment begins in August for the NCHSAA, and seven schools from the county are in the same Class 1-A/2-A circuit. That includes Uwharrie Charter Academy, which hadn’t previously been in the same league as other schools in the county.
• Randleman drops its season opener in football to Asheboro, ending a string of three straight undefeated marks in regular-season play (so that’s the first regular-season defeat for the Tigers since 2017). It turns out to be the only victory of the season for the Blue Comets.
• Southwestern Randolph has its best football season in school history and is host for a state-playoff game for the first time. The Cougars finish with an 8-3 record, with success including the first-ever road win against Asheboro. Providence Grove excels as well with an 8-3 mark, including a triumph in a late-season showdown with Southwestern Randolph.
• Faith Christian School’s girls’ cross country team repeats as state champion in the North Carolina Christian School Association. This includes individual state titlist Karrie Gaines.
• The Asheboro Copperheads return to action after their 2020 Coastal Plain League baseball season was canceled because of the pandemic. After the season, renovations begin at McCrary Park.
Southwestern Randolph | Boys’ Basketball | Junior
Adkins poured in 20 points as the Cougars secured a 61-48 non-conference victory last week at Chatham Central. It’s a huge point total for the junior considering Southwestern Randolph has struggled at times on the offensive end.
Coupled with the previous Friday’s road victory at Randleman (when Adkins had 12 points), that’s back-to-back wins for the Cougars, who improved to 5-4 overall.
The result against Chatham Central marked only the third time this season that the Cougars reached the 60-point mark.
Area basketball teams will be in holiday tournament action next week, but the format will look different from past years.
Teams will be headed to two sites, with a Davidson County vs. Randolph County flavor.
“They agreed to do that this year,” Asheboro athletics director Steve Luck said. “It kind of worked out. We thought this would be neat.”
The changes stem from sponsorship changes and the renovations at Asheboro’s gym, which had been used for what were basically Randolph County tournaments on back-to-back weeks. That venue is unavailable this year.
This is called the Davidson-Randolph Christmas Classic.
Now, the girls and boys play on the same days. That’s eight games per day at each site.
Games are set for Dec. 27-29 at Providence Grove and Ledford. Eight schools will be at each site with both their boys’ and girls’ teams.
“We kind of wanted something new and different,” Providence Grove athletics director Calvin Brown said.
Luck, Brown and Ledford athletics director Donald Palmer were among those putting together plans, beginning last spring.
With new North Carolina High School Athletic Association conference alignments beginning this school year, it was another reason to adjust. All the schools in Randolph County with the exception of Asheboro are in the same league.
“The Randolph County schools were getting tired of playing each other,” Luck said.
There are bound to be some matchups between conference teams, but the brackets are set up to avoid that as much as possible.
So on Day 1, Randolph County schools (plus Jordan-Matthews) take on Davidson County Schools.
There are benefits to the format, primarily that three days – albeit it long ones – will be used. In the past, the girls’ tournament came prior to Christmas and the boys’ tournament followed Christmas, so that meant organizers and support personnel had six days when they had to be in attendance.
“You’ve got three days dedicated to this,” Luck said.
Providence Grove was a site for NCHSAA championship games last March. Now there will be three consecutive days stacked with basketball in the gym.
“We’ll see how it goes and we’re hoping it grows from this,” Brown said.
Revenues from the two sites will be combined and split among the 16 participating schools.
Brown said other benefits could arise from this format. With the girls and boys playing in separate weeks in the past, it made scheduling difficult across those periods because normally girls and boys play doubleheaders. This way, Brown said it frees time in the week prior to Christmas for non-conference games.
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Davidson-Randolph Christmas Classic
The tournament runs Dec. 27-29. Listed below are matchups for Day 1. Game times at both sites will be the same for Day 2 and Day 3 with matchups pending.
At Providence Grove
Girls
Randleman vs. Lexington, 10 a.m.
Asheboro vs. East Davidson, 1 p.m.
Jordan-Matthews vs. Central Davidson, 4 p.m.
Providence Grove vs. West Davidson, 7 p.m.
Boys
Randleman vs. Lexington, 11:30 a.m.
Asheboro vs. East Davidson, 2:30 p.m.
Jordan-Matthews vs. Central Davidson, 5:30 p.m.
Providence Grove vs. West Davidson, 8:30 p.m.
At Ledford
Girls
Thomasville vs. SW Randolph, 10 a.m.
Oak Grove vs. Eastern Randolph, 1 p.m.
South Davidson vs. Trinity, 4 p.m.
Ledford vs. Wheatmore, 7 p.m.
Boys
Thomasville vs. SW Randolph, 11:30 a.m.
Oak Grove vs. Eastern Randolph, 2:30 p.m.
South Davidson vs. Trinity, 5:30 p.m.
Ledford vs. Wheatmore, 8:30 p.m.
Trinity | Boys Basketball | Sophomore
Payne produced a couple of strong outings as the Bulldogs split two Piedmont Athletic Conference games.
It began with the sophomore guard’s 20-point effort in a 53-46 decision against rival Wheatmore. That pushed the Bulldogs’ record to 8-0.
Later in the week, Payne racked up 18 points in a 61-54 loss to Uwharrie Charter Academy. Ashton Troutman, a previous winner of the honor this season, had 27 points in that game for UCA.
LUMBERTON – The Uwharrie Charter Academy wrestling team has reached a 15-0 record after dominating the Lumberton Border Wars on Saturday.
The Eagles won five meets, including a 52-27 victory against host Lumberton in the finals.
Eight UCA wrestlers were undefeated in the dual-meet tournament. They were Ethan Hines, Brandon Jordan, Jack McArthur, Aldo Hernandez, Grayson Roberts, Doug Bowles, Jaden Maness and Jaden Marion.
Plus, Aiden Allred, Carson Robinson, Bryan Lackey and Corbin Grissom posted 4-1 records in the event.
The Eagles topped Fayetteville Byrd 84-0, beat Purnell Swett 75-6, topped South Florence (S.C) 75-6 and whipped West Brunswick 72-9.
Trinity Invitational
At Trinity, several wrestlers from Randolph County claimed individual championships, with Asheboro and Southwestern Randolph with two champions each.
Logan Lambeth at 182 pounds and Arhman Tyson at heavyweight were Asheboro’s titlists. Champions from Southwestern Randolph were Luke White at 132 pounds and Jose Flores at 220. Trinity’s Chris Grubb won the 120-pound weight class.
Runners-up included Southwestern Randolph’s Janaksel Perez (106) and Nathan Mabe (152) and Clay Sugg (195), Asheboro’s Xavier Santos (120) and Diego Santos (126) and Eduardo Soto-Canas (220) and Providence Grove’s Brooks Freeman (182).
Providence Grove’s head coach Calvin Brown throws up 1 finger for the extra point after they took the opening kickoff to the house for a touchdown against Jordon-Mathews at PGHS in Climax, NC on September 3, 2021. Brown was named PAC Football Coach of the Year. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
ASHEBORO — The Piedmont Athletic Conference announced its All-Conference selections this week.
Boys’ cross country
Runner of the Year: Zach Hazelwood (Wheatmore)
Coach of the Year: John Ruiz (Providence Grove)
Jayten Beasley (Providence Grove), Robert Burton (Providence Grove), Justin Bush (Providence Grove), Evan Meadows (Providence Grove), Kadan Shoptaw (Providence Grove), Logan Stove (Providence Grove), Zach Hazelwood (Wheatmore), Jimmy Smith (Wheatmore), Hayden Yates (Wheatmore), Trajan Johnson (Trinity), Brody Gardner (Eastern Randolph).
Girls’ cross country
Runner of the Year: Jazmin Palma (Uwharrie Charter)
Coach of the Year: John Ruiz (Providence Grove)
Team: Jensen Auman (Providence Grove), Mia Browder (Providence Grove), Kaylan Currin (Providence Grove), Caroline DuVall (Providence Grove), Rori Frederick-Luther (Providence Grove), Sarah Majors (Providence Grove), Abbie Gudino (Uwharrie Charter), Jazmin Palma (Uwharrie Charter), Alexis Robbins (Randleman), Parker Sterling (Randleman), Allison Hill (Wheatmore).
Football
Offensive Player of the Year: Luke Thomas (Providence Grove)
Defensive Player of the Year: Chase Whitaker (Providence Grove)
Coach of the Year: Calvin Brown (Providence Grove)
Team
From Eastern Randolph: Elias Alston, Stratton Barwick, Devonte Brooks, Delonte Grover, Malachi Letterlough, Na’heim Lilly, Landon Loftin, John Maness, Jani Norwood, Mason Sechreast, Ladaryian Spinks, J’Aaron Wise.
From Providence Grove: Karson Bowman, Brett Breedlove, Zander Cheek, Zane Cheek, Brooks Freeman, Caleb Rogers, Luke Thomas, Curtis Wade, Chase Whitaker, Colton Wood.
From Southwestern Randolph: Easton Clapp, Adam Cole, Lane Dalke, Eli Gravely, Keaton Reed, Bryson Reed, Ernest Robbins, Clay Sugg.
From Randleman: Jozy Akins, Errvod Cassidy, Riley Edwards, Chris Gentry, Caden Lundsford, Sawyer McCollum, Gus Shelton.
From Trinity: Landon Carter, Griffin Dills, David Makupson, Dominic Payne, Evan Stepp.
From Wheatmore: Bryson Coltrane, Porter Grimes, Jackson Passmore, Dylan Wells.
Girls’ golf
Player of the Year: Caroline Wright (Providence Grove)
Coach of the Year: Chris Chapman (Southwestern Randolph)
Team: Anna Holloway (Providence Grove), Morgan Hielig (Providence Grove), Caroline Wright (Providence Grove), Lexi Auman (Southwestern Randolph), Lindsey Auman (Southwestern Randolph), Caiden McDuffie (Southwestern Randolph), Paula Palmer (Randleman), Elizabeth York (Randleman).
Boys’ soccer
Offensive Player of the Year: Yane Jaimes (Eastern Randolph)
Defensive Player of the Year: Aaron Bowser (Eastern Randolph)
Coach of the Year: Jared Raya (Eastern Randolph)
Team: Aaron Bowser (Eastern Randolph), Jaime Cortes (Eastern Randolph), Oscar Gonazalez (Eastern Randolph), Yane Jaimes (Eastern Randolph), Jonathan Perez (Eastern Randolph), Alei Torres (Eastern Randolph), Colby Chamblin (Uwharrie Charter), Max DeNamur (Uwharrie Charter), Jordan Harrison (Uwharrie Charter), Brady Mowers (Uwharrie Charter), Jake Perreira (Uwharrie Charter), Joseph Phetmixay (Uwharrie Charter), Jose Gonzalez (Trinity), Brenden Jenkins (Trinity), Logan May (Trinity), Moises Ventura (Trinity), Ryan Baynard (Wheatmore), Hunter Brooks (Wheatmore), Jagur Williams (Wheatmore), Jesus Garcia (Randleman), Nick Muro (Randleman), Francisco Vences (Randleman), Yahir Flores Fernandez (Southwestern Randolph), Steven Vences-Santos (Southwestern Randolph), Andres Carbajal (Providence Grove).
Girls’ tennis
Player of the Year: Kara Comer (Wheatmore)
Coach of the Year: Michelle Cable (Randleman)
Team: Kelly Carrick (Wheatmore), Kara Comer (Wheatmore), Mikalah Walls (Wheatmore), Hanna Wilson (Wheatmore), Amber Busk (Providence Grove), Audrie Frazier (Providence Grove), Anna Money (Providence Grove), Andee Bullard (Southwestern Randolph), Kaitlyn Gainey (Southwestern Randolph), Autumn Gentry (Trinity), Kenzi Johnson (Trinity), Lea Ingle (Uwharrie Charter), Emily Roach (Randleman).
Volleyball
Most Valuable Player: Payton Shiflet (Southwestern Randolph)
Defensive Player of the Year: Coley Shiflet (Southwestern Randolph)
Coach of the Year: Darby Kennedy (Southwestern Randolph)
Team: Josie Allred (Southwestern Randolph), Reagan LeRoy (Southwestern Randolph), Coley Shiflet (Southwestern Randolph), Payton Shiflet (Southwestern Randolph), Carleigh Whitson (Southwestern Randolph), Hannah Hinshaw (Randleman), Karli Kennington (Randleman), Bri Brooks (Uwharrie Charter), Gabi Greene (Uwharrie Charter), Gracie Hodgin (Wheatmore), Payton Rough (Wheatmore), Emma Mazzarone (Providence Grove), Jill Stern (Providence Grove), Gracie Ballard (Trinity).
RALEIGH — Derrick Isley had a grand experience at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s football championships and it didn’t even matter who won.
Isley, a Ramseur man, held an officiating assignment for the Class 2-A final between Shelby and Wallace-Rose Hill in Raleigh.
“There’s only a few who get this shot,” Isley said. “I’m very honored with this because I never saw it coming.”
Isley completed his 21st year of officiating. This was the first time it concluded in the state championships.
“That’s 21 years being on the field doing what I love,” he said.
He’s an umpire, meaning he lines up on the defensive side of the ball, usually near the linebackers. That’s often an area where a game official might encounter some contact as it’s a busy part of the field.
But that’s where Isley, 47, said he’s most comfortable.
“I’ve been blessed to have some quick feet,” he said. “I get in there and I just roll with the punches.”
Isley is a 1993 Eastern Randolph graduate. He began officiating in area recreation leagues and worked his way up to the semi-professional level.
He has found his niche at the high school levels. During the regular season, he works throughout the region, often calling games in Alamance, Guilford and Forsyth counties.
“What has made me have a longer career is it makes you have tougher skin,” Isley said, noting verbal jabs often directed toward officials. “I’m just going to call my game and stay focused.”
With the NCHSAA reducing its football classifications back to four instead of eight that had been used for more than a decade, it limited the number of available assignments for the championship weekend.
Isley found out at the beginning of the postseason that he had been selected for one of the spots. The crew for the Class 2-A title game worked together in the Class 4-A West Regional final between Chambers and Hough.
“I think the best part of the experience was meeting the other guys,” Isley said.
He already knew line judge Keith Williams, who had worked the Mount Tabor-Greensboro Page game with him in September.
Isley had logged numerous postseason assignments in previous years. In the reconfigured football season for the 2020-21 school year, he also worked a regional final in the spring.
Yet there was some game-week anxiety prior to the state finals. Just days before the game, reports came out that the Wallace-Rose Hill team was dealing with COVID issues.
“We were all on pins and needles,” Isley said as uncertainty loomed regarding the game.
But it was contested as scheduled at North Carolina State’s Carter-Finley Stadium.
There was other good fortune as well. The rain held off – though precipitation was a big factor for the Class 4-A title game later Saturday night. It was windy earlier in the day, even on the field.
“It felt nice outside,” Isley said.
Shelby won the game, 55-34. Wallace-Rose Hill was reportedly without at least five starters, stemming from illnesses or injuries.
It was a fast-paced game, something that Isley said he expected and embraced. He referred to it as a clean game.
“It was like a track meeting starting out,” he said. “Most of the year I’ve had a bunch of track meets.
By the time Isley returned home after midnight, there was still some game-day adrenalin.
“It took me a little bit to wind down,” he said.
CHARLOTTE — The cheerleaders from Providence Grove High School were part of the pregame performance at the Atlantic Coast Conference football championship game in Charlotte on Dec. 4.
Following their on-field opportunity, which Pittsburgh won over Wake Forest to capture the ACC championship, the Providence Grove cheerleaders received team awards at a banquet on Dec. 6.
Alyssa Beasley and Kinley Fergusion were named co-most valuable cheerleaders. The Rookie of the Year was Alexis Thomas, most dedicated was Ashley Spivey and the coach’s award went to Madilyn Hopkins. Ashlyn James and Addison Thorpe received honorable mentions for the all-region team. Academic All-conference winners were: Alyssa Beasley, Kinley Ferguson, Destini Harmon, Haylee Sodlink, Katelyn Smith, Jennifer White, Maggie Mackie, Alexis Thomas.
Gracyn Hall | Randleman | Girls Basketball
Hall was the leading scorer in two of the Tigers’ three games last week. She averaged 19.3 points in those games as Randleman improved its record to 5-0.
Last week’s victories included two on the road. They won 51-42 at Oak Grove, defeated visiting Ledford 56-35 and then captured their Piedmont Athletic Conference opener by 61-52 at Wheatmore.
Hall, a junior post player, racked up 25 points and 12 rebounds against Oak Grove. The next night, she posted 17 points against Ledford.
Hall had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the Wheatmore game, while teammates Elizabeth York (21 points) and Hannah Hinshaw (17 points, 13 rebounds) were also standouts.