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5AHS_butler

Blue Comets capture boys’ league title

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Asheboro’s Hakeeme Butler goes up in the lane against Central Davidson during the semifinals of the Mid-Piedmont Tournament last week at Oak Grove.

WINSTON-SALEM – Asheboro’s boys’ basketball team made it happen when it mattered most in the Mid-Piedmont Conference. The Blue Comets took down top-seeded Ledford 60-52 in Friday night’s final at Oak Grove.

It was a balanced effort offensively for Asheboro, which received 14 points from Jerquarius Stanback, 13 points from Tramir Martin, 12 points from Hakeeme Butler and eight points from Tanner Marsh.

It was the third meeting this month between Asheboro and Ledford, with the road team winning each of the first two. Ledford won 60-38 before Asheboro took a 53-52 decision in the regular season.

Asheboro was set to enter the Class 3-A state playoffs this week riding a seven-game winning streak and carrying a 19-7 record.

Balanced scoring was a theme for the Blue Comets in three games in the conference tournament last week. The stretch began with a 69-35 romp past sixth-seeded Montgomery Central in a home quarterfinal game, with Butler providing 13 points and Stanback, Marsh and Martin all chipping in with 11 points.

Then came the semifinal at Oak Grove, where the Blue Comets prevailed 61-55 against second-seeded Central Davidson. Martin had 17 points and Butler supplied 14 points. DJ Headen, who scored 10 points, made a pair of late free throws to help seal the outcome.

On the girls’ side, fifth-seeded Asheboro tumbled to fourth-seeded Central Davidson in a 42-31 road loss. Sion Martin provided 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Comets.

Asheboro, which won two of its last three regular-season games, finished the season with a 4-20 record a year after reaching the Class 3-A state final.

Top-seeded North Davidson defeated third-seeded Ledford 59-46 to win the conference tournament.

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Hall, Gentry reach big point totals

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The 1,000-point milestone is in the works for a couple of area girls’ basketball players.

Gracyn Hall of Randleman reached that mark with a couple of strong games last week.

Autumn Gentry of Trinity entered this week within range of 1,000. The Bulldogs are slated for a game Friday at Uwharrie Charter Academy and a make-up game Saturday at Southwestern Randolph.

Hall and Gentry are juniors, so there could be plenty of time for their point totals to swell.

Hall racked up 21 points and 13 rebounds in last week’s 51-34 victory at Trinity.

The next night she eclipsed 1,000 career points with a 26-point, 14-rebound effort in a 64-54 victory against visiting Wheatmore.

That result pushed the Tigers’ record to 15-0. They moved to 7-0 in Piedmont Athletic Conference play, more than halfway through their 12-game league schedule.

Gentry had 15 points in the game against Randleman.

Trinity and Randleman are slated for a rematch Feb. 8 at Randleman.

Sorting out the boys

As the midway mark approached in the PAC, Providence Grove and Uwharrie Charter Academy have begun to separate themselves.

Providence Grove entered this week with a 6-1 mark in league play, with the lone blemish coming Thursday night in a 52-43 home loss to UCA.

That pushed the Eagles’ league record to 5-1.

In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, there haven’t been as many league games.

Asheboro and Ledford both got off to 2-0 starts in conference play. Central Davidson started this week at 2-2.

Asheboro will have almost two weeks in between games, so the Blue Comets should have some busy stretches the next couple of weeks.

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Prep Football Roundup: Cougars keep it going with strong offense

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Southwestern Randolph’s football team kept the big offensive numbers coming.

The Cougars topped visiting Starmount 42-30 on Friday night in a non-league game.

The matchup was a late schedule addition when Southwestern Randolph’s scheduled matchup with Albemarle was nixed. The Cougars have scored more than 40 points in their last three games.

Southwestern Randolph has boosted its record to 4-0.

Keaton Reed accounted for 250 yards of total offense in the Starmount game. He rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another, with the pass going to Bryson Reid.

Adam Cole scored touchdowns on a punt return and an interception return. He also forced a fumble and came up with a fumble recovery. Easton Clapp scored a touchdown, but made a big impact on defense with 10 tackles (three of those for losses).

The Cougars overcame Luke Kimmer’s two touchdown passes and Zack Dezern’s 180 rushing yards for Starmount (1-3), which racked up more points than in its first three games combined.

Southwestern Randolph heads to Asheboro for Friday night’s game to conclude its non-conference schedule.

“Being unbeaten coming to us, they’re going to have a lot of confidence,” Asheboro coach Blake Brewer said.

Friday night’s games

Randleman at Montgomery Central, 6:30

Southwestern Randolph at Asheboro, 7:30

West Stanly at Eastern Randolph, 7:30

Ledford at Wheatmore, cancelled

Wheatmore 34, Asheboro 32: At Asheboro, Reece Linton’s pass to Jonathan Kelly for 31 yards resulted in the winning points with 25 seconds remaining.

Linton, normally a wideout, made the key pass. Starting quarterback Ben Walker exited with a knee injury earlier.

“We knew coming in it probably was going to be a shootout,” Wheatmore coach Philip Yarbrough said. “We got to stop them one more time than they stop us. We’ve got to score one more time than they score. I guess they made me a prophet.”

A potential winning touchdown catch for Asheboro was nullified by an offensive interference penalty.

Wheatmore (3-1), which pulled off several fourth-down conversions, also was boosted on offense by Walker’s three touchdown passes, with Dylan Weil catching two of those and Porter Grimes grabbing the other. Grimes also returned a fumble for a touchdown.

For Asheboro (1-3), Michael Brady and Khyland Hadley-Lindsay ran for two touchdowns apiece, while Tony McRae scored a touchdown on a reception.

“I thought this was a game we really had to win, looking at our schedule,” Brewer said. “I’m broken hearted for (our players).”

Ledford 34, Providence Grove 14: At Climax, the Patriots lost the home game in non-league play, unable to set a school record for most wins to begin a season.

Ledford (4-0) erased a 14-7 halftime deficit by posting 20 points in the third quarter. Alex Sanford rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

Caleb Rogers had 110 yards of total offense and Zane Cheek rushed for 73 yards for Providence Grove (4-1). Luke Thomas was intercepted three times, but threw for 112 yards. Chase Whitaker returned an interception for a Providence Grove touchdown.

Randleman 31, North Stanly 28: At New London, the Tigers pulled out their first victory of the season on Christian Long’s 18-yard go-ahead pass to Jozey Akines.

Thomas Dobias ran for touchdowns from 8 and 3 yards for Randleman (1-3), which was in a road game for the first time. Ervodd Cassady had a 3-yard scoring run and Chris Gentry kicked a 42-yard field goal.

Randleman’s defense intercepted three passes, two of those by Akines and the other by Micah Thurston. North Stanly fell to 1-3.

Trinity 48, Carrboro 8: At Trinity, the Bulldogs are 3-1 after the convincing home victory.

Trinity has won its past two games by a combined score of 96-14. The Bulldogs won a total of one game the past two seasons.