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randolph county sports

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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Zane Cheek

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Providence Grove, multi-sport

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Cheek was active in each of the sports seasons, beginning as a multi-purpose back for the football team. He averaged more than 90 rushing yards per game as a senior in 2022. He again was selected as an All-Piedmont Athletic Conference player.

He was one of Providence Grove’s key players in boys’ basketball as a guard.

He wrapped up his prep career as a sprinter on the track and field team.

His twin brother, Zander Cheek, also was a standout athlete for the Patriots.

** During the summer, we recognize seniors from the past school year.

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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Mackenzie Roach

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Randleman, softball

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Roach played her final season with the Tigers in what was a softball career that began as a freshman.

She was listed as an infielder and pitcher.

The Tigers were off to a strong start to this past season, with victories in three of their first four games before fading to a 7-16 record.

Roach also was selected as an All-Piedmont Athletic Conference performer in girls’ swimming.

** During the summer, we recognize seniors from the past school year.

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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Ava Cugino

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Uwharrie Charter Academy, girls’ soccer

Cugino repeated a spot on the Piedmont Athletic Conference all-conference team.

This year, she was second among the Eagles with seven goals and third on the team with 11 assists. She also was one of the primary options on UCA for corner kicks.

UCA produced an 8-11-2 record that included one road victory in the Class 1-A state playoffs.

Cugino also participated in girls’ tennis for the Eagles.

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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Mikalah Walls

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Wheatmore, girls’ soccer

Walls, a forward and midfielder, was one of the seniors on the Warriors’ state runner-up team.

Walls was the fourth-leading scorer on an offensive powerhouse. She cranked out 11 goals and provided five assists. She also occasionally took corner kicks for the Warriors.

Walls was honored by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association with a Sportsmanship Award prior to the Class 2-A title game this month at UNC Greensboro Soccer Stadium.

Walls was part of teams that produced a two-year record of 49-1, a state championship and a state-record 49-game winning streak. She also has been a member of the girls’ basketball team at Wheatmore.

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Early showdowns dot Randolph County prep schedules

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Asheboro boys’ soccer players celebrate a goal during a game last year, which turned out to be a good season for the Blue Comets (File photo)

High school sports games and matches for the 2022-23 school year begin next week with competitions that count on the records.

For most sports in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, the first date for competition comes Monday (Aug. 15).

Here are a few notable events on early schedules:

•  On Aug. 15, Southwestern Randolph travels to Central Davidson in the first boys’ soccer game with Jimmy Walker back in charge as coach of the Cougars. He founded the program and returned to the coaching role this summer for his third different stint in charge of the program.

•  Also on Aug. 15, Trinity visits Asheboro in a matchup of two of the stronger boys’ soccer teams from Randolph County based on the 2021 season.

These teams held a combined record of 26-9-4 last year, but they didn’t meet. A rematch is scheduled for Aug. 24 at Trinity.

•  Also in the second week of the boys’ soccer season, Asheboro has a non-conference home game with Western Alamance on Aug. 22. Western Alamance is the reigning Class 3-A state champion. Asheboro won 3-0 last August at Western Alamance.

•  On Aug. 17, Southwestern Randolph’s volleyball team opens its season at Asheboro. There are numerous storylines there.

For reigning Class 2-A state champion Southwestern Randolph, it’s the season debut.

It’s supposed to be the third match for Asheboro since the return of Kim Black, who’s also a former Southwestern Randolph coach, as the Blue Comets coach.

That match is at North Asheboro Middle School, where the Blue Comets are playing again this season because of renovations on campus.

Asheboro starts the season Aug. 15 at home vs. Trinity and goes the next night to Randleman.

Southwestern Randolph has its first home match Aug. 23 vs. Oak Grove.

•  In girls’ tennis, Wheatmore was unbeaten in Piedmont Athletic Conference play last season. The Warriors open this season Aug. 15 at East Davidson. The PAC slate starts with a visit from neighboring Trinity on Aug. 22.

•  The Aug. 19 football openers include just one matchup involving two teams from Randolph County. That’s when Randleman goes to Asheboro.

A year ago, Asheboro secured its only victory by winning its opener at Randleman.

Other Aug. 19 football openers for county teams are: Jordan-Matthews at Southwestern Randolph, East Davidson at Providence Grove, Eastern Randolph at Eastern Alamance, Trinity at Chatham Central, West Davidson at Wheatmore.

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Tigers to take different test on spring break

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Randleman’s Braylen Hayes (No. 4) is greeted at the plate by teammates after hitting a home run in last month’s 11-1 victory against visiting Southwestern Randolph. The Tigers remained undefeated.

RANDLEMAN — Randleman’s baseball team has been dominant this season as the Tigers are fresh off their 2021 state championship. 

They’ll be tested in different ways next week when they take part in the highly regarded Hanahan Invitational Tournament (known as H.I.T.) based in Charleston, S.C.

“The guys are all really excited about it,” coach Jake Smith said. “Something new, get to travel. I kind of like the fact of the kids getting away (to experience something different).”

Entering games this week, the Tigers held a 13-0 overall record and an 8-0 mark in Piedmont Athletic Conference play.

In some past seasons, Randleman participated in a tournament put on by the Greensboro Grasshoppers, but then spring break calendars didn’t match up so that was off the docket. There was a trip a few years ago for a tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The H.I.T., which celebrated a 50th edition of its event in 2019, features several brackets. Randleman is guaranteed to have one game each day from April 11-13, with another one April 14 if it advances to the final of its bracket.

Teams from five states plus Washington, D.C., will compete/ The Tigers begin play at West Ashley High School by facing Hilton Head, S.C.

Among the entrants from North Carolina are Charlotte Providence, Ardrey Kell and 2021 Class 4-A state finalist Reagan. Across the tournament field of more than 30 teams, Randleman is bound to be among the smallest schools represented.

“All the teams that are going down there are legit,” Smith said. “We’ll see how good we are. This should be good for us. Nothing really fazes them. Get that adrenaline running and those nervous feelings going and get in some high-impact situations.”

As for the Tigers’ strong start this season, that was probably expected.

“I think the guys have played together for a while now,” Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of leadership as far as a nucleus. I think it has kind of carried over.”

Some of the big margins have been beneficial in numerous ways. There have been opportunities to use additional position players, while the pitching staff hasn’t been taxed.

“Scoring some runs, we’ve been able to get guys in and keep some pitch counts down,” Smith said.

Randleman has nearly sewed up the PAC regular-season title. The Tigers were slated for two games this week against third-place Providence Grove and then return from spring break for two matchups with second-place Trinity. Randleman doesn’t have a league game in the final week of the regular season.

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Top 2021 county sports stories

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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.

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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Sean Adkins

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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.

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Area athletes lock in next destinations

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Wheatmore swimmer Spencer Hall

 

Several athletes from around Randolph County signed letters of intent or made college commitments when the early signing period began last week.

Some of these had been previously announced intentions.

Baseball players were among those most active.

From Randleman’s 2021 state-championship team, five players confirmed their intentions. They were Brooks Brannon to North Carolina, Kaden Ethier to Montreat, Braylen Hayes to UNC Greensboro, Trey Way to Virginia Tech and Ryan White to Western Carolina.

Randleman volleyball player Kylie Vaughan, an outside hitter, has committed to Guilford College.

Wheatmore’s Spencer Hall is heading to Milligan, where he’ll be on the swimming team for the Tennessee school. Hall has qualified for the state meet in each of his first three high school seasons.

Previously this fall, Wheatmore baseball player Robert Hales signed to play for NAIA member St. Andrews University.

Officials from some high schools said they expect to have athlete signings at later dates.

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Eastern Randolph faces reigning state champion next

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RAMSEUR — The state playoffs sure become interesting in a hurry for Eastern Randolph.

The Wildcats opened play in the Class 1-A West Region with a romp past No. 16 seed Draughn on Friday night.

That sends Eastern Randolph (10-0), the No. 1 seed, into a third-round matchup this week with visiting Murphy.

Murphy (8-4) is the reigning Class 1-A state champion.

“We’ll go to work on it,” Eastern Randolph coach Burton said of the assignment. “We just take one game at a time. Everybody says that, but we really do.”

Eastern Randolph, which received a bye in the first round, had an overwhelming performance in topping visiting Draughn by 55-20.

Quarterback Stratton Barwick put up significant numbers for the Wildcats by passing for four touchdowns and 261 yards. 

Elias Alston caught two of Barwick’s scoring passes and ended up with 159 receiving yards. He also returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown.

Jake Fesmire hauled in the other two receiving touchdowns. He posted 85 receiving yards on three catches.

Running back Na’heim Lilly tacked on two touchdowns, gaining 140 rushing yards. Malachi Letterlough also ran for a touchdown.

“I thought offensively we really played well except for our own mistakes,” Cates said.

Lilly had 43- and 49-yard touchdown runs to help Eastern Randolph build a 21-0 lead through one quarter.

One of Barwick’s touchdown throws came on a 61-yard yard play to Alston.

So the big plays kept flowing for Eastern Randolph. 

“Too many penalties and we have to eliminate those,” Cates said. “The effort was there.”

The game against Draughn marked the first matchup of the season for Eastern Randolph against a Class 1-A opponent. That’s because it played larger schools in non-conference games and it’s a member of the Piedmont Athletic Conference, with all the other football-playing schools at the Class 2-A level.

Ninth-seeded Murphy defeated eighth-seeded Mountain Heritage 22-10 in the second round.

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