Brooks racked up 25 points as the Wildcats ended a four-game losing streak with Friday’s 68-64 victory at Wheatmore.
Brooks, a junior who was coming off a strong football season, has boosted the Wildcats on the basketball court.
Eastern Randolph nearly ended its skid earlier last week, but it dropped a 50-46 overtime decision at home to Randleman.
Eastern Randolph began the season with five straight wins before some rough patches. The Wildcats entered this week with an 8-9 overall record and 2-6 mark in the Piedmont Athletic Conference.
ASHEBORO – The Uwharrie Charter Academy wrestling team produced another stellar regular season, but the Eagles will have to wait in their pursuit of a Class 1-A dual team state title.
Under coach Chris Waddell, UCA has run up a 31-0 record in duals. That includes a 6-0 mark in the Piedmont Athletic Conference.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association postponed the first and second rounds of the dual team tournament until Monday. That decision came after multiple weather-related postponements hit pockets of the state, so this will allow teams to complete more of their regular-season schedules and league tournament action this week.
Teams will be placed on the brackets Friday, pushing the first and second rounds to Monday. The third and fourth rounds will remain on the schedule for Feb. 2. Dual team state championships are set for Feb. 5 at the Fieldhouse at the Greensboro Coliseum complex.
This season’s UCA roster includes 2021 individual state place finishers Byan Lackey, Grayson Roberts and Doug Bowles.
UCA won the dual-team state title in 2019 and was the runner-up in 2020. The Eagles won the team championships in conjunction with the individual state tournaments in 2018 and 2019.
ASHEBORO – It’s a learning season for the Asheboro girls’ basketball team.
Last year at about this time, the team was embarking on a shortened season that resulted on a spot in the Class 3-A state championship game.
Now the Blue Comets are in a different situation.
“We’re working on things and we’re improving and getting better,” coach Don Corry said.
It’s not a huge surprise to Corry that there are growing pains this season. The Blue Comets lost personnel that accounted for about 85 percent of the offensive production off last season’s team.
This Asheboro team has four freshmen and four sophomores. It’s a different type of group for Corry.
“Not this young,” he said in comparing to past teams. “They’re inexperienced. Just getting them playing time so they realize what they’re doing in practice (and how it relates to games). It’s slow, but we expect that.”
The Blue Comets, who had four senior starters, played on the final day of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association season last year. That came in the title game contested at Providence Grove, where they fell 51-40 to Carson in the team’s only defeat of the season.
For all the rewards that came that season for the Blue Comets, there were challenges for the program. There was no junior varsity team because of limited participation.
Now, there’s a JV team this season, something Corry said could prove beneficial, though the lack of available opponents is likely to mean that squad plays fewer than a dozen games.
The varsity team has had difficulty scoring at times, something that Corry connects to the experience level and a roster without a lot of height.
“It’s overwhelming for our girls,” he said.
The team’s record is 2-12, though there have been breakthroughs after losses in the first nine games of the season.
Sion Murrain was a starter last season as a freshman, so she has been a key player. But in the second game of the Davidson-Randolph Christmas Classic, she went out with an ankle injury and hasn’t returned to game action. Through 11 games, Murrain averaged a team-best 13.7 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.
But Corry said contributions are coming from across the roster. For instance, he said, sophomore center Ellen Long has turned in strong rebounding outings. She has 8.5 rebounds per game to go with 5.4 points per game.
“We just don’t have that one person who can come in and score 18, 20 points for us,” he said.
Asheboro is scoring 36.4 points per game.
Because of a positive COVID-19 test for a member of the JV team and resulting close contacts, the Blue Comets had their season paused earlier this month. They’re expected back in action Friday night for the first time in about two weeks. That begins a stretch that could involve four games in eight nights.
This all goes into building the Blue Comets back to a contender, Corry said.
“We’re eager and they’re trying and we look forward to what’s coming,” he said. “We’re going to get back to that (level of a state contender). Maybe not this year.”
Moffitt, a sophomore, racked up 35 points in the team’s lone game of the week. That nearly matched the total scored by the opponent in the Bulldogs’ 73-44 victory against host Eastern Randolph.
Trinity also received 16 points from Dominic Payne and 12 points from Brandon Campbell in the game. The outcome means the Bulldogs improved their record to 12-3. It put the team at 4-1 in true road games.
Snotherly scored 49 points as the Wildcats split two games last week. She accounted for nearly two-thirds of the team’s scoring in those games.
She scored 24 points in a 42-35 loss at Southwestern Randolph.
The junior was back with 25 points three nights later when the Wildcats topped visiting Uwharrie Charter Academy 40-34, snapping a three-game homecourt losing streak. Snotherly connected on three 3-point shots in that game.
CLIMAX – Randleman’s girls’ basketball team secured the championship of the Davidson-Randolph Christmas Classic at the Providence Grove site last week.
The Tigers used 25 points from Gracyn Hall to produce a 69-53 victory against Providence Grove in the title game of the three-day event.
“We played pretty well for the three days,” Randleman coach Brandon Varner said. “To be able to bring that trophy back to Randleman is pretty special.”
Hall was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Elizabeth York had 14 points and Hannah Hinshaw posted 11 points in the title game for the Tigers, who improved their record to 10-0.
“We just played a little bit better in spurts,” Varner said. “Once we settled in, we were fine.”
For Providence Grove, Allie Frazier’s 17 points, Edi Austin’s 10 points and Asia Steverson’s 10 points topped the scoring chart. The 53 points were the most allowed by Randleman this season.
Randleman’s Hinshaw and Audra Petty were also on the all-tournament team. Other members of the all-tournament team were Frazier and Austin of Providence Grove and Salem Ward of Central Davidson.
Randleman won a semifinal game by trouncing Central Davidson 54-33 behind Hall’s 18 points and Hinshaw’s 16 points.
Providence Grove reached the final by defeating Asheboro 49-31 as Frazier had 14 points and Austin had 13 points.
Randleman opened the tournament with a 61-23 romp past Lexington as Hall and Petty each had 18 points. Providence Grove won in the first round by defeating West Davidson 50-39 as Frazier had 16 points and Austin provided 12 points. Asheboro was a 61-46 first-round winner against East Davidson as Sion Martin had 14 points.
On the boys’ side, Providence Grove was the runner-up, falling 54-51 to Central Davidson.
Zane Caudle had 15 points, Sakai McCoy added 12 point and Michael Fee had 11 points for Providence Grove in the final.
Luke Staten of Central Davidson was the MVP after scoring 10 points in the championship game, joining teammates Caden Poole and Keyshawn Breedlove on the all-tournament team. Caudle and Fee from Providence Grove and Jerquarius Stanback of Asheboro also made the all-tournament team.
“We’ll learn from it,” said Providence Grove coach Wes Luther, whose team nearly battled back from a late nine-point deficit against Central Davidson. “This group is resilient. We’ve been battle-tested.”
Asheboro defeated Randleman 66-47 in the third-place game.
Providence Grove nipped Asheboro 49-48 in the semifinals, with Caudle notching 11 points and Luke Thomas with 10 points. Tanner Marsh and Hakeeme Butler both had 10 points for Asheboro.
Providence Grove opened tournament play by defeating West Davidson 64-49 as Caudle had 19 points and Fee chipped in with 12 points. Asheboro won in the first round when Stanback racked up 20 points in an 87-53 stomping of East Davidson.
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.
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.
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)
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
Providence Groves Caroline Wright hits out of the bunker at the 2A Golf State Championship in Pinehurst, NC on October 25, 2021. (PJ Ward-Brown)
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
Wheatmore’s Kara Comer returns the ball against Providence Groves Anna Money during their Pac-7 Tennis match at PGHS in Climax, NC on October 5th, 2021. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
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
Southwestern Randolph’s Payton Shiflet spikes the ball in the 2A playoffs at Southwestern Randolph in Asheboro, NC on October 23, 2021. (PJ Ward-Brown)
Most Valuable Player: Payton Shiflet (Southwestern Randolph)
Defensive Player of the Year: Coley Shiflet (Southwestern Randolph)
Coach of the Year: Darby Kennedy (Southwestern Randolph)
