Frazier had three strong outings for the Patriots, who went 2-1 in those games.
Frazier’s impactful week started with 19 points in the 50-34 victory against visiting East Davidson.
By scoring 17 points, the senior guard had more than half of the Patriots’ points in a 38-32 road loss to Southern Guilford.
Frazier capped the week with 19 points in a 49-43 triumph against Asheboro.
Through four games this season, Frazier had a scoring average of 17.3 points per game. She also shared the team rebounding lead with Asia Steverson with 7.3 per outing.
Tyshaun Goldston of Randleman dunks against Lexington during one of his big games last week. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
TRINITY – It was another big week for Trinity guard Dominic Payne.
He racked up 32 points in a 66-53 victory at Jordan-Matthews. That was just the appetizer. He scored 27 points in a 61-45 victory against visiting North Carolina Leadership Academy. Then he finished the week in style by going for 42 points when the Bulldogs defeated host East Rowan 82-68.
Payne wasn’t the only big scorer during the week for Trinity.
Autumn Gentry poured in 33 points to go with 11 rebounds and Kennedy Jackson pumped in 26 points in a 61-44 victory against East Rowan for the girls’ team.
Randleman’s Tyshaun Goldston had a big week as well.
It began with 21 points in a 67-47 romp past visiting Ledford. His basket off a steal provided the winning points in a 56-54 victory against visiting Union Pines. The Tigers lost 59-56 at Oak Grove despite Goldston’s 25 points.
On the girls’ side, Eastern Randolph’s Brecken Snotherly supplied 31 points in a 58-49 home loss to Western Alamance.
Wrestling
At Millers Creek, with three individual champions, Wheatmore’s team was the runner-up in the eight-team C.H. Necessary Invitational at West Wilkes.
Trey Swaney (132 pounds), Dominic Hittepole (160) and Zechariah Starkweather (170) were the champions for Wheatmore. Renato Barron (220) of the Warriors placed second.
West Wilkes won the title with 169 points and Wheatmore was next with 135.
Joey Smith of Trinity won the 220-pound weight class in the 20-team Mount Pleasant Invitational.
Smith defeated Alex Lahners of Cannon School in the final with a first-period pin. Smith notched two pins and two decisions by shutouts in the tournament.
Trinity’s Brayden Hall (113), Spencer May (120) and Gavin Hardister (182) all placed third.
Southwestern Randolph’s Erick Lopez (160) was fourth.
Trinity was seventh in the team standings and Southwestern Randolph was 15th.
Ashton Troutman of Uwharrie Charter Academy goes up for a shot against Trinity last season. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record).
ASHEBORO – Ashton Troutman returned to the Uwharrie Charter Academy boys’ basketball team and pretty much picked up where he left off.
After spending a few months as a transfer at The Burlington School, Troutman decided to finish his high school career where it began.
“It was just a lot (of reasons), nothing basketball related,” Troutman said of coming back to UCA. “I just had a good three years at Uwharrie and I missed what was going on. I was missing my home and my family.”
In his fourth game this season, Troutman reached a milestone. He scored his 1,000th career point Friday night in an 83-64 loss at Richmond County. The milestone basket – a contested layup in traffic – was part of his 34-point outburst.
Troutman, a 6-foot-8 post player, was the centerpiece of UCA’s Piedmont Athletic Conference Tournament championship last season. His return could shake up the PAC’s projected pecking order, though he’s the only returning starter for the Eagles.
He transferred to TBS, which is the two-time defending Class 2-A state champion in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association, in an effort to expand his exposure and see a different level of competition. TBS school plays a schedule with national flavor.
Here’s Ashton Troutman dunking during last February’s PAC Tournament championship game against Providence Grove. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Troutman was involved in fall competitions with TBS, but his return to UCA came before official games and thus his eligibility wasn’t affected.
Troutman, already the school-record holder for points, had 15 points in the Eagles’ season-opening 77-33 loss to visiting Chatham Charter. Three days later, he poured in 32 points – all in the first half — in an 85-37 romp past Bethany Community. He racked up 24 points in a 45-33 loss last week at Southern Guilford.
Troutman had planned to commute from his Asheboro home to Burlington, but that became too taxing and he began living with a family of another TBS player.
“I just got tired of living up there,” he said.
On the court at TBS, which sometimes has college coaches and scouts representing recruiting services attend practices, Troutman was part of a low post pairing with highly regarded Ty Outlaw.
“I was in the starting lineup,” Troutman said. “I had gotten a lot better with all the workouts. We just made each other better.”
He has been recruited by a variety of colleges. Some of the exposure might wane, but college coaching staffs will know where to find him.
“I was getting the looks I wanted,” he said of his time in the TBS program. “It’s a risk (coming back to UCA) that I’m willing to take.”
Troutman, who averaged 20.9 points and 10 rebounds per game last season, said his relationship with UCA coach Brad Monroe, who has been with the Eagles throughout the player’s career, remained strong even with the brief transfer. He said the coach has been supportive of each move.
“He has always got the best out of me,” Troutman said.
The Eagles will need plenty from their senior standout, who faces double- and triple-team defensive tactics.
“It’s a lot like last year,” he said. “We’ve got a couple shooters. I know how to get others involved.”
The 1,000-point plateau was a nice marker, something he had considered for several years. He has been UCA’s leading scorer in each of the last three seasons.
“Since my freshman year, when I realized I could put up points like I could, I knew I really would like to do that,” he said of the 1,000 points.
Troutman’s scoring numbers would be higher if not for the COVID-reduced schedule in his sophomore year and missing three games with an injury last season
Southwestern Randolph’s Kenzie Martin shoots over Asheboro’s Kaylen Nance earlier this season. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
TRINITY – Junior guard Dominic Payne of Trinity has been off to a sizzling start in boys’ basketball.
Payne scored 37 points in a 67-66 overtime victory last week at Oak Grove.
He was back at it the next night with 25 points in a 71-28 trouncing of visiting East Davidson. Teammate Dylan Hodges added 21 points in that game.
Meanwhile, Asheboro’s boys’ basketball team won a notable matchup based on last season’s area conference champions.
The Blue Comets won 65-35 at Providence Grove. Last season, Asheboro was the Mid-Piedmont Conference Tournament champion, while Providence Grove was the Piedmont Athletic Conference regular-season champion.
Asheboro is off to a 3-0 start and within its next four games it was slated for rematches with each of those teams (Southwestern Randolph, Providence Grove, Randleman) that it has already defeated.
Wrestling
At Asheboro, there were two individual champions from Randolph County in the Asheboro Cold Turkey Invitational on Saturday at Asheboro Recreation Center.
Diego Gutierrez of Asheboro defeated Eastern Randolph’s Adrian Lopez in the 126-pound final.
Southwestern Randolph’s Luke White won at 138 pounds by defeating Ragsdale’s Jaxson Davis in the title bout.
Second places went to Asheboro’s Xavier Santos (120 pounds), Samuel Salinas (132), Christian Diaz (160) and Michael Brady (182), Southwestern Randolph’s Mason Leonard (145) and Tristin Richardson (152) and Providence Grove’s Nathan Hutcherson (195) and Colton Wood (285).
Northern Guilford was the team champion with 170 points in the 10-team event. Ragsdale was the runner-up with 151½ and Asheboro placed third with 135. Also, Providence Grove was seventh with 56 and Eastern Randolph placed eighth with 50.
At the West Rowan Invitational, Trinity was the team runner-up behind the host school last Wednesday among 10 teams entered.
Levi Dennis (126), Gavin Hardister (182) and Joey Smith (220) were individual championship for Trinity. Teammates Edgar Vasquez (106), Brayden Hall (113), Spencer May (120) and Charles Schaefer (145) were runners-up.
Basketball standout heads to private school for senior season
BURLINGTON — One of the most highly recruited boys’ basketball players in Randolph County in the upcoming senior class will no longer will be playing for a school in the county.
Ashton Troutman is transferring from Uwharrie Charter Academy to The Burlington School.
He said he’s looking for more exposure and a higher level of competition.
“Just being in a basketball environment and for a good team,” Troutman said. “I would have never flirted with the idea of leaving if it wasn’t for basketball.”
Troutman, a 6-foot-7½, 205-pound post player, was the centerpiece of the Eagles’ Piedmont Athletic Conference Tournament championship last winter.
For weeks, Troutman has been the recipient of constant praise based on his performances on the summer travel circuit with Raleigh-based Garner Road Basketball Club. He has been lauded for his toughness around the basket and the ability to play through contact.
Despite coming back from a broken fibula that caused him to miss a couple of months since the high school season, Troutman’s stock grew this summer.
“July was huge for him,” said George Marshall, the new coach and athletics director at The Burlington School (previously named The Elon School), which is a private school with a growing basketball reputation. “It’s really a credit to his grit and toughness. He’s in a place where his confidence is sky high.”
Troutman, 18, will commute from his Asheboro home to Burlington. He said he felt some pressure last summer to transfer, considering Greensboro Day School as several private schools reached out to him. But he said he wanted another go-around with UCA, which is a Class 1-A school, as it entered a new conference.
Now, he’s taking a different approach for his last high school season. He said he expects more challenging academic requirements, but that will be worth it.
“Coach Marshall and a couple of other guys hit me up,” he said. “They’re going to put me in situations to be seen by (more colleges).”
The Burlington School, a member of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association, is a four-time state champion in boys’ basketball. The Spartans are the reigning Class 2-A state champions in that organization after securing back-to-back titles. In the regular season, recent teams have played in several high-profile events, though the Spartans are now an independent and no longer in a conference.
Marshall said Troutman should fit in well. NCAA Division I and Division II teams have been in contact with Troutman in recruiting. The player said he has yet to receive scholarship offers.
“He has played really competitive basketball throughout the course of his career,” said Marshall, who spent the previous five seasons at Henderson Collegiate. “We are really excited to have him as a student and a player.”
Troutman’s 20.9 points and 10 rebounds per game as a junior came after as a sophomore – in the pandemic-abbreviated season – he led the Eagles with 16.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while shooting 68 percent from the field. He held a team-best 8.9 points per game on 56 percent shooting from the field and 4.8 rebounds per outing as a freshman.
With Troutman, the Eagles’ record went from 10-13 as a freshman to 10-4 as a sophomore and 19-7 last season.
Prior to last season, UCA lost guard Zane Caudle as a transfer to Providence Grove, which won the PAC regular-season title. Caudle was named the PAC Player of the Year.
ASHEBORO – Mike Headen has never been a head coach of a high school program, but taking that role with the Asheboro girls’ basketball team seems natural.
“It’s a new experience, but I think it’s a good thing,” Headen said.
Headen is moving up from assistant coach to replace Don Corry, who has stepped aside after two seasons in his second go-around in charge of the team.
“We felt like we had the best guy right here in front of us to be our girls’ basketball coach,” athletics director Wes Berrier said. “He has a lot of passion for the sport.”
Headen has spent 14 years on the Asheboro football staff and four seasons with girls’ basketball. His first basketball assignment came with helping the junior varsity girls when David Hayes was running the program.
Berrier said this latest transition comes at a good time because of some of the developing younger players in the Asheboro program.
The Blue Comets played in the Class 3-A state championship game in 2021. But with a roster overhaul last season, the team dipped to a 4-20 record.
“We’re hoping to make it a little brighter,” Headen said. “The girls have to get used to me as a head coach instead of an assistant.”
Headen, who turns 43 in August, is a dock worker for Old Dominion Freight Line in Greensboro. That work schedule enables him to be available for late-afternoon practices, something that has been part of his routine for more than a dozen years.
He had directed the Asheboro entry in the recent summer league held at Uwharrie Charter Academy. That was a good step toward this next role.
“Every game we got a little better,” he said.
As for style changes on the court, Headen said he’s inclined in implement a more aggressive defensive strategy than the Blue Comets have used in the past.
Headen’s son, DJ Headen, plays football and basketball for the Blue Comets.
Trinity’s Kaleb Leach, left, blocks the shot as Providence Grove’s Chase Whitaker goes up late in the game during last week’s Piedmont Athletic Conference matchup at Trinity.
Randleman’s girls’ basketball team secured the Piedmont Athletic Conference regular-season championship even before the last week of the regular season.
The Tigers held an 11-0 league mark and a 19-0 overall record with only a home game against last-place Trinity remaining on the conference docket.
It was much tighter on the PAC boys’ side. Three teams had a shot going into the week, each with two conference games left.
Providence Grove led the way with an 8-2 league mark, while Uwharrie Charter and Trinity both stood at 7-3.
The remaining games for the Patriots were set to be against the bottom two teams in the standings – at Eastern Randolph and home vs. Wheatmore.
Providence Grove closed in on a title by trouncing visiting Randleman 68-48 on Friday night for its most-lopsided victory in league play this season.
Trinity kept things interesting earlier in the week by knocking off visiting Providence Grove 64-57 with Trace Moffitt (16 points), Dominic Payne (15) and Aidan Blakely (14) providing balanced scoring.
Mid-Piedmont Conference
This week began with the Asheboro girls and boys sweeping host Montgomery Central on Monday night.
Asheboro’s boys stayed in the hunt for a share of the regular-season title by winning 67-53 as Jerquarius Stanback and DJ Headen both supplied 12 points.
For the girls, Asheboro secured its first Mid-Piedmont Conference victory by stopping Montgomery Central 42-35 behind Kimry Comer’s 13 points, Ellon Long’s nine points and 12 rebounds, and Sion Murrain’s 15 rebounds.
It safe to say that it’s heating up in Piedmont Athletic Conference boys’ basketball.
Teams are chasing Providence Grove with a couple of weeks to play, but it’s clear the Patriots might not be in cruise control.
“We’re banged up,” Providence Grove coach Wes Luther said. “Who can survive the longest? Hopefully, we’re going to keep grinding it out.”
An example of the challenges that exist came with last week’s 55-52 escape at Southwestern Randolph.
The Cougars made it difficult for much of the night on the first-place Patriots, who cranked up their defense at opportune times.
“They turned up the pressure a little bit and really got after us on the perimeter,” Southwestern Randolph coach Matt Kiser said. “We allowed their pressure to bother us a little bit. Those were good adjustments that they made.”
With a cluster of teams in pursuit, the Patriots can’t afford to let their focus wander.
“I keep telling them don’t even think of one game at a time,” Luther said. “Just think of one quarter at a time.”
Southwestern Randolph could factor into how the pecking order unfolds near the top of the standings, particularly if the Cougars have pull off an upset or two down the stretch.
“Being right there at the end, that proves to our guys (that we can compete),” Kiser said. “I know it’s frustrating for them because we come out on the wrong end of so many of these games.”
Randleman’s Chenleigh Robinson lays the ball up during a game against host Eastern Randolph last week in Ramseur. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Staying within range
Meanwhile, Trinity and Uwharrie Charter Academy staged a clash to see which team will be the top contender to first-place Providence Grove across the final two weeks of the regular season.
It took overtime for Trinity to pull out a 66-63 road victory against UCA.
“It’s huge,” Trinity coach Tim Kelly said of aiding the positioning in the standings for his team.
Trinity’s Dylan Hodges sent the game to overtime with a basket in the waning seconds of regulation. That capped a rally from a 10-point hole in the fourth quarter.
“Once it got down to five, it’s anybody’s game if you make good plays,” Kelly said. “We just hung together and started doing the things we’ve worked on in practice.”
Kelly said he liked how his team displayed a scrappy approach.
“We really hit the boards hard in overtime. We’re not really big,” he said. “We made some things happen.”
The Bulldogs finished with a 43-33 rebounding advantage.
Also by the end, Dominic Payne’s 27 points provided the biggest boost, while Trace Moffitt added 14 points and Aiden Blakely had 10 points.
“Dominic really stepped up and started competing,” Kelly said.
UCA’s balance scoring included 14 points apiece from Alijah Barker and Pierce Leonard, 13 points from Ashton Troutman and 12 points from Dawson Dunn.
The outcome avenged UCA’s 61-54 victory from December.
Note of the week
The undefeated Randleman girls scored the first 17 points in last week’s 63-19 victory at Eastern Randolph.
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.
