Booker is a senior starter on another Piedmont Athletic Conference championship team for the Tigers.
Booker, a guard, ranks third in scoring on the team with 8.4 points per game, hitting about 51 percent of her shots from the field. She’s second in rebounding at 5.0 per game.
She’s also in the top three for Randleman in steals and free-throw percentage.
The Tigers, who’ve eclipsed the 20-win mark for the second season in a row, finish the regular season this week. In the PAC Tournament, they’ll have a bye before a home semifinal game Feb. 15.
Booker was an All-PAC selection last spring in softball.
Southwestern Randolph’s Nathan Ellis goes up for a shot as Eastern Randolph players, left to right, Timothy Brower, Nicah Taylor, Davonte Brooks and Pierce Leonard look on. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO – The big upset from last week came with Southwestern Randolph ending the Eastern Randolph boys’ basketball team’s winning streak at 19 games.
The Cougars won 75-66 at home, so that likely will keep the suspense in the Piedmont Athletic Conference going until the final night of the regular season.
Nathan Ellis led the way with 21 points, while teammates Thomas Leal (14 points), Sean Adkins (12), Kearns Trotter (11) and Landon Williamson (10) all scored in double figures.
Second-place Southwestern Randolph remained just a half-game out of first place by topping visiting Wheatmore 54-34 as Adkins posted 16 points Friday night.
Eastern Randolph hadn’t lost since its opener Dec. 2 at Southwest Guilford.
The Wildcats got back on track by winning 89-76 at Uwharrie Charter Academy on Friday night with a boost from Davonte Brooks’ 24 points (after he had 20 in the Southwestern Randolph game). Pierce Leonard, playing against his former school, tacked on 18 points and Timothy Brower had 17 points. These outputs helped overcome 41 points from UCA’s Ashton Troutman.
Eastern Randolph could secure the outright regular-season title by beating visiting Trinity, which remains in contention, on Tuesday night and host Providence Grove on Thursday night. Southwestern Randolph’s lone game this week was set for Tuesday night at UCA, while Trinity is also home vs. Randleman on Thursday night.
** Trinity played just once last week with Dominic Payne and Dylan Hodges each scoring 23 points in a 68-51 victory at Providence Grove.
** Despite 24 points from Tyshaun Goldston, Randleman fell 64-60 at UCA. The Tigers received 22 points from Christian Long in an 82-41 pounding of visiting Providence Grove.
** In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, Asheboro moved closer to clinching a title by defeating visiting Central Davidson 50-47 and topping host North Davidson 55-48. Hakeeme Butler’s 18 points and 20 points, respectively, those games paced the Blue Comets.
Eastern Randolph’s Logan Beaver launches a shot over Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Blakeley Justus last week. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Girls’ basketball
Randleman secured the outright PAC championship by defeating host UCA 56-33 as Gracyn Hall tallied 20 points.
The Tigers then won their regular-season home finale by 63-27 against Providence Grove.
** Eastern Randolph won twice, including a 43-34 road victory against host Southwestern Randolph as Brecken Snotherly rolled up 25 points and 11 rebounds. That result avenged a loss from early January.
Next, Snotherly poured in 30 points in Eastern Randolph’s 61-34 victory against UCA. That gave the Wildcats a four-game winning streak entering this week.
Eastern Randolph clinched at least a share of second place in the PAC.
Jacquline McDaniel of Randleman Middle School launches a shot in the title game against Trinity Middle School’s Madison Hill, right, and overa Brennan Thomas. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
The Randolph County Middle School basketball championships were held Saturday at Eastern Randolph.
The winners were the girls’ team from Randleman Middle School, which defeated Trinity Middle School, and the boys’ team from Southwestern Randolph, which topped regular-season champion Southeastern Middle School.
Randleman’s girls ended up with an undefeated record.
Southwestern Randolph Middle School’s Caleb Abernathy takes a shot against Southeastern Randolph in the boys’ championship game. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
The Cougars might have hit their stride, and they’ve been receiving key contributions from a variety of players. Leal is one of them.
This has come as Southwestern Randolph cranked up a late-season surge for the second season in a row.
Leal, a senior guard, scored 15 points in last week’s 63-58 victory at Providence Grove. He was one of four Cougars in double figures, led by Sean Adkins with 18.
The Cougars entered this week with a six-game winning streak, helping them move into second place in the Piedmont Athletic Conference. Leal has been a double-figure scorer in five of those victories.
Photo information:Southwestern Randolph’s Thomas Leal goes up for a shot against Thomasville’s Jalen Thomas earlier this season. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Asheboro’s Tanner Marsh leads a fastbreak with teammate Jerquarius Stanback on his right during a game against North Davidson earlier this month. (Scott Pelkey/Randolph Record)
Asheboro won two more Mid-Piedmont Conference games last week in boys’ basketball to go with a non-conference victory against Uwharrie Charter Academy.
The Blue Comets enter this week undefeated in league play.
It began when Jerquarius Stanback had 19 points in a 66-54 triumph against visiting UCA.
The next night, Asheboro won its first showdown with Ledford in the Mid-Piedmont Conference, prevailing 66-54 for a road triumph behind DJ Headen’s 20 points and Tanner Marsh’s 14 points.
The Blue Comets followed that by defeating Oak Grove 81-63 with Stanback putting up 22 points.
** Eastern Randolph capped a 3-0 week to move to 19-1 overall by defeating host Wheatmore 97-52 as Timothy Brower led the way with 21 points. The Wildcats scored 70 first-half points, including 41 in the second quarter.
Riley Strickland’s 23 points were tops for Wheatmore.
When Eastern Randolph withstood host Chatham Central for a 96-93 non-league victory, Davonte Brooks poured in 41 points on 17-for-24 shooting from the field to go with 15 rebounds. Brower had 18 points and Pierce Leonard added 14 points.
A night earlier at Randleman, Brooks racked up 24 points in a 65-56 victory. Tyshaun Goldston of the Tigers had 21 points.
** Southwestern Randolph returned to the venue where it pulled off an upset in the Class 2-A state playoffs last year and beat host Providence Grove again, winning 63-58 as Sean Adkins posted 18 points and Thomas Leal had 15 points.
The Cougars won again by stopping host Randleman 63-54 despite Goldston’s 21 points.
** Trinity defeated visiting UCA 64-55 with Dylan Hodges notching 23 points and Dominic Payne supplying 19 points.
Girls’ basketball
Autumn Gentry scored half of her team’s points in Trinity’s 52-48 overtime victory against visiting Wheatmore. The game was played in front of a capacity crowd in advance of the ceremony naming the school’s gym after longtime boys’ coach Tim Kelly.
** Brecken Snotherly of Eastern Randolph had another huge week, scoring 38 points in a 59-54 loss at Randleman and then compiling 43 points and 18 rebounds in a 71-44 whipping of host Wheatmore. Kynnedi Routh had more than half of Wheatmore’s points with 25.
** Providence Grove pulled a surprise by registering its first PAC victory this season by topping visiting Southwestern Randolph 41-39 on Allie Frazier’s winning layup. She finished with 18 points.
Randleman’s Elizabeth York looks to go up for a shot against Eastern Randolph’s Logan Beaver. (Scott Pelkey/Randolph Record)
RANDLEMAN – Staying atop the Piedmont Athletic Conference has been a challenge for the Randleman girls’ basketball team.
The Tigers have passed the test and that’s one of the rewarding aspects of another stellar season.
“Right now, everybody is bringing their ‘A’ game against us, but that’s OK,” coach Brandon Varner said.
Randleman withstood threats from Eastern Randolph and Southwestern Randolph during the past week. But it has turned out to be another title season for the Tigers, who are 9-0 in PAC play and 19-1 overall.
So if the Tigers might have looked vulnerable at times, they found the gumption to withstand those situations.
“We’re like their championship (game),” senior Gracyn Hall said of opponents. “Everybody is wanting to beat Randleman because we have that target on our back.”
Randleman’s only regular-season loss in a two-season span came in late December in the final of the Davidson-Randolph Christmas Classic. The Tigers were knocked off by Southwestern Randolph.
But with Friday night’s 55-40 home victory against the Cougars, Randleman made it a sweep of Southwestern Randolph in conference competition and clinched another league championship with three games remaining.
“We’re definitely getting everybody’s best shot,” senior Elizabeth York said. “You learn from it. We didn’t like losing. We had (that defeat) midyear and we don’t want that again.”
Earlier in the week, a 59-54 decision against Eastern Randolph came despite Brecken Snotherly’s 38 points for the Wildcats. York and Jordan Booker each drained a pair of free throws in the last 40 seconds to help the Tigers, who scored the last four points, claim the victory.
Hall ended up with 18 points and 16 rebounds, Audra Petty scored 14 points and York provided 13 points and five assists.
Audra Petty of Randleman looks for a teammate as Eastern Randolph’s Brecken Snotherly defends. (Scott Pelkey/Randolph Record)
A few tight games might be advantageous for the Tigers in the big picture.
“You get the playoff atmosphere,” Varner said. “You don’t want games when you’re blowing everybody out. You get more out of (closer games). We’re like everybody’s Super Bowl right now. You’ve got to battle through that.”
Hall said, “Closer games will end up helping us in the long run.”
Yet a chaotic late-game stretch with Eastern Randolph wasn’t totally ideal.
“I like things to be exciting, but not this close,” York said.
In Friday’s game, York had 18 points and Hall posted 16 points.
Hall and York provide a nice foundation as four-year contributors for the Tigers. Petty, Booker and Gracie Beane are clutch players as well.
“It’s just fun,” Hall said. “We don’t want to let each other down.”
Because some of the Tigers have had key roles for several seasons, opponents are familiar with what Randleman is all about, York said.
“We’ve got experience and everybody is coming for us right now,” Varner said. “Since Christmas, we’ve learned some things about ourselves. It’s character building.”
Randleman is heading for a third 20-win season in four years, the exception coming with a 12-4 record in the pandemic-shortened 2021 season.
And the Tigers are hoping there are more good times to come.
“We don’t always make the best decisions,” York said. “Our effort is what wins the games for us.”
Trinity’s Tim Kelly poses outside the gym named in his honor. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
School names gym after longtime, championship coach
TRINITY – When Tim Kelly took the job as Trinity’s boys’ basketball coach, he didn’t intend for it to be a career-long passion.
Now he’ll be connected to the Bulldogs forever.
The school’s gym was named in his honor this week – Tim Kelly Gym.
Kelly is in his 33rd season leading the team. This stint began as a means to appease his wife.
“I came to this area because she wanted to move over here closer to her parents,” Kelly said. “I’m not going to lie to you, Trinity basketball was not a hot commodity. I planned to stay three years because all my contacts were Down East.
“Three years became six. Six became 12. Before you knew it, I was locked, which I’m glad. I’ve had opportunities to leave and go other places.”
But this is the place that Kelly nurtured. He said it turned out just right.
“Overall, in all those years, it has just been a positive experience,” he said. “(Each season) they don’t want to be the team that doesn’t carry on the tradition.”
Tuesday night’s pregame ceremony in the naming of the gym came prior to the Bulldogs blowing out rival Wheatmore 66-37. A plaque has been installed at the gym entrance.
Kelly, 65, said he’s glad he wasn’t asked to speak in front of the overflow crowd.
“It was much more emotional than I anticipated,” he said. “I’m honored. But the game is the main thing – the kids. If I hadn’t had good kids, this wouldn’t be happening.”
The Bulldogs delivered on this night.
Junior guard Dominic Payne racked up 32 points as Trinity (15-5, 5-3 Piedmont Athletic Conference) still hasn’t lost consecutive games this season. Gavin Strickland scored 13 for Wheatmore (5-13, 0-8).
“I think it was a big test for us and a bigger environment for us,” Payne said of the atmosphere amid the attention the game drew because of the gym naming. “I think we did really good with the pressure that we had with Tim Kelly’s gym.”
Senior forward Dylan Hodges said, “I’m glad it’s going to be his gym.”
Kelly had never been a head coach when he arrived. Bonds built and it became a long-term match.
“Over the years, they’ve all bought in,” he said. “Our culture has been able to maintain. The main things we’ve tried to get kids to buy into, they’ve done. I’ve had great parents (of players) for the most part.”
Kelly directed the Bulldogs to the Class 3-A state championship in 2004 and a runner-up finish in 2008. He has been in charge for nearly 650 victories.
Yet there have been style changes along the way.
“I’m not as verbal. I used to be a really hard, old-school coach, in your face,” he said. “I don’t do that as much, part of that is because my age.”
The building of relationships became as important as the game results.
“We want the kids to know we love them,” Kelly said. “In fact, I tell them I love them.”
Kelly said the support this week was indicative of the backing he has received for years in his coaching role. The gym naming was just another example.
“I think that will hit more when I’m done,” he said. “Right now, I’m still planning on coaching.”
In a light-hearted conversation with wrestling coach Brandon Coggins, Kelly offered a reminder.
“If you stay here 20 more years, you’re going to be in my house,” he said.
Kenzie Martin of Southwestern Randolph goes up for a shot during last week’s victory against Trinity. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Southwestern Randolph and Randleman are on course for a showdown in girls’ basketball Friday night in Randleman.
The teams have split two meetings this season.
Depending on results leading up to the game, Randleman could be in position to clinch at least a share of the PAC regular-season championship.
Randleman won 55-41 on Dec. 16 at Southwestern Randolph. The teams met again in the championship game of the Davidson-Randolph Christmas Classic at Providence Grove, with the Cougars pulling out a 49-48 victory.
That began a stretch for Southwestern Randolph with four consecutive games decided by single-digit margins. The Wildcats were 3-1 in those.
There was a more comfortable result for the Cougars last week, when Caressa King’s 15 points led four players in double figures in a 65-42 home victory vs. Trinity.
Since its only regular-season loss in two seasons, Randleman put together a five-game winning streak through last Friday. Three of those outcomes were by at least 20 points.
The Tigers held a 17-1 overall record entering this week.
Friday’s game will be the last scheduled road game for Southwestern Randolph.
Also in girls’ basketball, Brecken Snotherly’s 28 points were tops for Eastern Randolph in a 61-37 non-conference trouncing of host Eastern Alamance on Friday night. That gave the Wildcats a five-game winning streak.
Boys’ basketball
Asheboro entered this week with a 4-0 mark in Mid-Piedmont Conference action. D.J Headn scored 20 points in a 76-30 romp past visiting Montgomery Central.
There are numerous challenges ahead for the Blue Comets, who’ll play four of their last six league games on the road.
In the PAC, Southwestern Randolph had four players with double-figure point totals, led by Thomas Leal’s 16 (all in the first half), to overcome Trinity in a 59-50 home triumph. That gave the Cougars a four-game winning streak after a five-game skid to pull the team to a 9-9 overall record.
Dominic Payne’s 34 points and Dylan Hodges’ 10 points accounted for most of Trinity’s offense.
Davonte Brooks of Eastern Randolph racked up 43 points and 15 rebounds in a 97-77 non-league victory at Eastern Alamance.
Providence Grove avenged a loss to Uwharrie Charter Academy by winning 70-65 on the road. That result came despite 31 points for UCA’s Ashton Troutman.
Wrestling
Asheboro has won another Mid-Piedmont Conference championship. This one was clinched by defeating visiting Montgomery Central 36-31 on Friday night at North Asheboro Middle School.
The Blue Comets have won four league titles in a row. The past two have come in the realigned conference.
Members of the Eastern Randolph boys’ basketball team have come together for a special season.
MEBANE – No longer in a rut, the Eastern Randolph boys’ basketball program is doing it on its own terms.
That’s fast – and to the point.
“We practice fast,” senior Davonte Brooks said. “We come to the games just like practice. All fast, all fast. We all knew from the get-go what we were getting into, from Day 1.”
Turns out this means getting all sorts of victories under first-year coach Johnny Thomas.
The Wildcats are a rapid-paced, action-filled group all the way to a 16-1 record. That’s double of last season’s win total.
Prior to this week, the latest accomplishment came with a 97-77 romp past host Eastern Alamance in Friday night’s non-conference game.
Eastern Randolph has eight games of scoring more than 90 points, including four in a row. The Wildcats have eclipsed 80 points in three others.
Part of this stems from conditioning and an attitude.
“We start practice out with a 1½-mile run,” Thomas said. “With great sacrifice comes great things. We’ve understood so far what it’s going to take to get to that next level. Moving forward, we cannot be a team that just puts points on the board. We have to be a team that keeps points off the board as well.”
The scoring part, though, is probably the most noticeable. It’s certainly one of the enjoyable aspects for the Wildcats, who embrace the pace.
“I love it,” point guard Pierce Leonard said. “It gets us steals. Gets us 90 points. That’s all we go for.”
Leonard is a senior in his first season with the Wildcats after transferring from Uwharrie Charter Academy. He has fit right in with Thomas’ style.
Eastern Randolph’s Pierce Leonard drives against Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Sam Hoskins during a game earlier this month. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record).
Thomas said Leonard probably doesn’t understand the impact he has made by being able to generate a brisk pace.
“We’re not planning on slowing down for anybody,” said Thomas, a former North Carolina State player. “If you get in front of us, with all due respect, our job is to roll over you and get to that next win. All these guys, they’ve never had this sort of environment when it comes to the basketball side of things.”
Brooks is averaging 25.3 points per game, bolstered by his 43 points and 15 rebounds at Eastern Alamance.
“His ability to get the ball off the rim and just push the ball,” Thomas said of one of Brooks’ strengths. “Davonte has always had that in him, it was just giving him the opportunity and freedom to do it.”
Thomas said Brooks was an accomplished scorer last season. Now, he’s in a system that allows him to flourish even more.
The approach works for Brooks.
“I just go out there and try to add to it,” he said.
The style has been endearing for the Wildcats.
“It was different getting out there the first couple of months and first couple of weeks,” senior guard Connor Carter said. “It’s just special. (Thomas) believes in us and takes us everywhere. It’s definitely sad that I’m a senior and have to leave.”
Carter made a stirring 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer Friday night. Leonard ended up with 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Nicah Taylor posted 13 points and Jani Norwood came off the bench to grab 10 rebounds.
Eastern Randolph made it halfway through the Piedmont Athletic Conference portion of its schedule with a 6-0 mark.
The Wildcats don’t intend on slowing down.
“We play really intense,” Thomas said. “I try to tell a lot of people when we get out there, our goal is for you to stop us. We’re a very aggressive team, so time to time we get in foul trouble. That’s going to happen. … The pace is different. The expectation is different. People’s understanding about what we do is also different.”
Thomas said the Wildcats want to set the tone on all levels.
“We set our expectation,” he said. “We intend to take it. You don’t got to give it to us. We’re going to take it. There’s really nothing you can do about it. You can try. That may be a little cocky. But if you’re not cocky, you’re not confident.”
Asheboro’s Elijah Woodley locks in defensively on North Davidson’s Payton Eccles during last week’s game at the Asheboro Recreation Center. In the background, Asheboro’s Jerquarius Stanback keeps tabs on Caiden Bean. (Scott Pelkey/Randolph Record).
With three players scoring 20 or more points, Eastern Randolph came away with a 95-77 road victory against Trinity in boys’ basketball last week.
Pierce Leonard led the Wildcats with 29 points, Nicah Taylor scored 27 and Davonte Brooks had 20.
Those offset Dominic Payne’s 37 points for Trinity. Teammate Dylan Hodges had 22.
The Wildcats followed that by pounding visiting Providence Grove 93-60 to push their record to 15-1 by the end of last week.
** Southwestern Randolph’s Sean Adkins hit the go-ahead basket in 57-56 victory at Uwharrie Charter Academy.
** The duo of Camden Walker (22 points) and Jerquaris Stanback (20) propelled Asheboro in a 74-63 victory at Central Davidson. Walker had 20 points in a 74-37 home romp past North Davidson.
** Tyshaun Goldson of Randleman tallied 28 points as the Tigers won a non-conference game against visiting Ledford by 70-52.
** Trinity was back on the winning path when Hodges posted 23 points in a 67-55 victory at Randleman. The Tigers received 25 points from Goldston.
** UCA road Ashton Troutman’s 38 points in a 58-48 triumph at Wheatmore.
Girls’ basketball
Seth Baxter’s six-season record as girls’ basketball coach at Southwestern Randolph reached 100-34 with last week’s 47-45 victory at UCA.
** Brecken Snotherly’s 28 points and 12 rebounds along with Ziera Watson’s 20 points were enough to help Eastern Randolph past host Trinity 71-55. Trinity received 24 points from Kennedy Jackson.
Snotherly racked up 39 points and 10 rebounds in a 75-26 crushing of Providence Grove.
Asheboro’s Sion Murrain checks out the situation as North Davidson’s Lettie Michael, left, and Kyndall Moore set the defense during last week’s game at Asheboro Recreation center. North Davidson won 64-36. (Scott Pelkey/Randolph Record)
** Sion Murrian’s 24 points lifted Asheboro past host Central Davidson by 69-47.
** Providence Grove’s Jada Nixon had 24 points in a 65-64 overtime loss to visiting Burlington Williams.
Wrestling
At Eden, Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Jack McArthur (132 pounds), Aldo Hernandez (138), Lorenzo Alston (145) Alek Millikan (160), Grayson Roberts (170) and Corbin Grissom (182) were individual champions Saturday in the Sarah Wilkes Invitational at Eden Morehead.
Teammates Spencer May (120) and Joey Smith (220) of Trinity were also champions.
In finals, Hernandez, Millikan and Alston won by first-period pins, Grissom prevailed with a second-period pin and Roberts registered a technical fall in the second period. McArthur defeated Trinity’s Gavin McCall 8-2 in the title bout.
Roberts had three earlier pins.
Ethan Hines (106) of UCA and Levi Dennis (126) of Trinity were runners-up.
