area sports briefs

From staff reports

Catawba's men's basketball team nipped SAC rival Wingate 75-73 on the road on Wednesday night.

Donald Rutherford's tip-in with six seconds left provided the winning points.

Rutherford shot 13-for-18 from the floor and equaled career highs with 30 points and 13 rebounds. The senior has scored 30 points in each of his last two outings.

Catawba (13-7, 6-3) got 13 points each from Rob Fields and Antonio Houston. The Indians shot 55 percent from the field in the second half after a cold first half.

Quan Alexander Bulldogs (11-10, 4-6) led Wingate with 18 points.

CATAWBA (75) — Rutherford 30, Houston 13, Fields 13, Reid 5, Martin 4, Williams 4, Thomson 3, Huntley 3, Coles, Shoemaker.

WINGATE (73) — Alexander 18, Matilus 17, Turner 14, Smith 8, Kincaid 7, Staley 6, Vaughn 3.

Catawba 38 37 — 75

Wingate 30 43 — 73

n Catawba women fall

The Catawba women's basketball team shot 30 percent and lost to Wingate 75-59 on the road on Wednesday.

Catawba (13-7, 6-3) was beaten on the boards 55-33 despite 15 rebounds by Dana Hicks. Nisha Long scored 15 points. Milica Ivanovic scored 12.

Kurie Washington led Wingate (12-9, 5-5) with 20 points.

Catawba, which had a five-game winning streak halted, trailed by 12 points at halftime and slid behind by as many as 27 in the second half.

CATAWBA (75) — N. Long 15, Ivanovic 12, Hicks 8, Whitley 8, Connor 6, Dellapenta 4, K. Long 3, Merritt 2, Sullivan 1, Dameron, May, Welfare, Coleman.

WINGATE (59) — Washington 20, Rhodes 14, Rosser 11, Logan 8, Wollett 8, Mitchell 6, Keitt 4, Brooks 2, Crumlin 2.

Catawba 32 27 — 59

Wingate 44 31 — 75

n Brown's Morgan signs

A.L. Brown softball player Brittany Morgan signed with Stanly Community College on Wednesday.

Morgan has pitched for the Wonders but will likely be a first baseman at the next level.

Morgan plays in tournaments for the Queen City Rockers travel team.

SCC's Lady Eagles compete at the Division I level in the junior college ranks and play home games at Jeff Shelton Memorial Park in Locust.

Lauren Bost (Carson) is an outfielder on this year's roster. Ben Rogers is the coach.

n Pfeiffer women rompPfeiffer's women's basketball team rolled over Converse 76-52 on Wednesday for a Conference Carolinas win.

Devona Knight led Pfeiffer (11-8, 11-3) with 14 points and 13 boards.

n Catawba baseballPfeiffer and Catawba hope to open the local baseball season today at 4 p.m. at Newman Park.

Catawba also has tentatively scheduled three games against California (Pa.) — a doubleheader Monday afternoon and a single game at 1 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.

n Catawba football

South Johnston quarterback Pat Dunigan (6-0, 175) signed with Catawba on Wednesday evening.

He raised the total of Catawba recruits on Wednesday to 11.

Dunigan led South Johnston (14-2) to the 3AA championship game and threw two TD passes in a 42-28 loss to South Point.

n College football

Freshman Ben DeCelle (East Rowan) was named Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year at UNC Pembroke's awards banquet.

Decelle is expected to push for regular playing time at receiver next fall.

n Prep basketball

Davie County's boys basketball team lost to West Forsyth 66-62 in overtime on Wednesday.

Jamal Mayfield scored 23 points for the War Eagles (9-11, 1-5 CPC). Denzel Redmon scored 13 points. Shannon Dillard produced 10 points and 11 boards.

Tyler Warren led the Titans with 18 points.

Davie plays tonight at home in makeup action against Mount Tabor.

n Prep school update

Drew Absher (Davie) scored 25 points to lead The Gunnery to a 57-41 win against Cheshire on Wednesday.

Absher is shooting better than 50 percent on 3-pointers over his last nine outings.

Absher is drawing recruiting interest from VMI and The Citadel.

n Sacred Heart hoops

Sacred Heart's varsity teams defeated Salisbury Academy.

The Dolphin boys (18-7, 5-2) won 36-29 behind double-doubles by Eric Edwards and Banks Fishers. Edwards had 18 points and 10 rebounds, making 10 of 12 free throws. Fisher had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Yonathan Sorto and Reilly Gokey combined for 13 rebounds, and Max Fisher hit a key 3-pointer in the second half.

Salisbury Academy (11-5, 5-1) maintains its lead in the Western Division of the CCISAA. The Jaguars were led by John Mark Petty's 12 points and 15 rebounds. Coleman Bergsma had seven points, while John Latimer contributed six.

In the girls game, Sacred Heart held on 16-14.

Erin Ansbro and Megan Hedgepeth had five points each, and Anna Tonseth hit key free throws in the closing minute. Ansbro, Katie Gannon and Caroline Parrott had six rebounds each.

The Jaguars were led by Alexandra Drye's six points.

The Dolphins celebrate Senior Night for their eighth-graders Friday at the Boyd Dolphin Tank.

n Catawba softball

Catawba was picked sixth in the SAC in a preseason poll by league coaches. Catawba's Allie Marshall was a preseason second team All-SAC pick.n Catawba golf

The Catawba men's golf team finished 12th among 15 teams at the Outback Intercollegiate tournament held in Panama City, Fla.

Catawba shot 643. Jonathan Clapp led the Indians. He shot 156 in the two-day event to finish 25th.

n Women's basketball

Meredith's Brittany Cornelius (East Rowan) scored 12 points in a 65-63 win against Methodist on Wednesday.