Area briefs: North earns YVC title

From staff reports

The North Rowan boys clinched a share of the YVC title with a 60-45 win against Chatham Central in Bear Creek on Tuesday.

It's North's first league title since it went 27-1 in 2001.

The Cavaliers (18-4, 13-1) have a two-game lead with two left to play. They are home for Senior Night on Friday against North Moore and play at Albemarle on Saturday.

Coach Kelly Everhart's Cavaliers have won six straight games since losing back-to-back games in January to Albemarle and West Rowan.

North overpowered Chatham Central's Bears inside and broke open a tight game with a dominating third quarter.

Two Cavs had double-doubles. Javon Hargrave had 18 points and 18 rebounds, while Daniel Chambers had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Freshman Oshon West added 10 points for the Cavaliers.

NORTH ROWAN (60) — Hargrave 18, Chambers 13, West 10, Givens 6, Sims 4, Barker 3, Smyre 2, Bush 2, Ford 2, Starks, Witherspoon, Bates.

CHATHAM CENTRAL (45) — Kirk 10, Burke 8, Clark 7, Cheek 4, Peters 4, Meier 3, J. Johnson 2, D. Johnson 2, Oliver 2.

N. Rowan 19 5 20 16 — 60

Chatham 9 12 7 17 — 45

- North girls lose

North Rowan's girls fell to YVC leader Chatham Central 53-26 on Tuesday in Bear Creek.

Brittany Davis and Teaunna Cuthbertson led the Cavaliers with six points apiece.

NORTH ROWAN (26) — Davis 6, Cuthbertson 6, J. Turner 5, Brown 3, Vann 3, Sells 2, Bush 1.

N. Rowan 5 7 7 7 — 26

Chatham 19 11 11 12 — 53

- Wonders win

Jaques Deese went 10-for-15 from the foul line and scored 26 points to lead A.L. Brown's boys to a 73-66 SPC win against Northwest Cabarrus on Tuesday..

The Wonders (11-7, 9-4) , battling for second place in the league, grabbed a 17-10 lead and kept up that pace, leading 33-26 at the half and 54-49 after three.

"Deese had the will not to let us lose," Wonders coach Shelwyn Klutz said. "We played team ball. I like the way we're playing."

Teven Jones produced 20 points for the Wonders, and Zach Fesperman added 15.

Justin Seager and Tyler Honeycutt scored 16 each for the Trojans.

- Prep wrestling

The state dual team wrestling playoffs began on Tuesday.

At Anson, East Rowan dropped its first-round 3A match to Jay M. Robinson. Robinson then edged Anson 37-35 to advance.

* South Rowan made the 3A dual team playoffs as a wild card and knocked off Big South champion Crest 42-32 in a first-round match held at St. Stephens.

South was eliminated by St. Stephens in the second round.

* In 4A, host Davie beat Northwest Guilford 60-11 and topped Alexander Central 60-18 to advance. Two more rounds will be contested on Thursday.

- Carson had one champion in the recent NPC tournament. Anson Phillips won at 152 pounds.

Cougars placing second were Spencer Chapman (112), Micah Honeycutt (215) and C.J. Cain (heavyweight).

Placing third was Julian Blackwelder. Fourth-place finishes were recorded by Nick Golden (130) and Nathan Hill (171).

- East jayvees

East Rowan's jayvee girls defeated West Rowan on Tuesday 58-25. Casey Gullett scored a season high-18, while adding four assists. Caroline Fry contributed eight points, three assists and four steals. Those two combined for 20 of the team's 26 fourth quarter.

Bobbi Thomas controlled the boards with six rebounds and also had six points.

- Catawba on road

With his first two points tonight at Newberry, Catawba senior Antonio Houston will become the third Indian to score 2,000 points in his basketball career.

He'll join Dwight Durante and Bill Bailey.

Houston (16.4 ppg) leads Catawba into tonight's SAC matchup. Catawba (14-7, 7-3) needs a win to stay in the thick of the race for the championship.

Ray Robinson (11.2 ppg) leads Newberry. Robinson and Aaron Edwards combined for 46 points when Newberry (8-14, 3-8) stunned Catawba 94-88 in double overtime at Goodman Gym on Jan. 23.

* Catawba's women (13-8, 6-4) will try to get back on track after struggling in their last two outings.

Dana Hicks, who averages 15 points and 11 rebounds, will lead Catawba.

Newberry (15-6, 8-3) is tied for first place and is led by post player Anita Bulcher and guard Helen McKinney.

Catawba won 66-61 in the matchup at Goodman Gym.

- Manurs honored

Livingstone's Kelcyn Manurs was named the CIAA Rookie of the Week. Manurs averaged 7.3 points in three contests last week. Her top performance was a 16 point-five steal effort against Fayetteville State.

The five steals was a school record.

The Blue Bears play host to Saint Augustine's on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

- Catawba baseball

Catawba's scheduled baseball game on Tuesday was rained out.

The 17th-ranked Indians (3-0) have added a 5 p.m. home game against Shippensburg on Friday. The teams will play a four-game series at Newman Park this weekend.

- Prep hoops

In the NCPreps.com media poll released on Tuesday, Salisbury's unbeaten girls are ranked No. 1 in 2A. The Hornets received 12 of 14 first-place votes. Undefeated East Bladen got the other two.

Carson's boys are ranked seventh in 3A, and North Rowan's boys are No. 9 in 1A.

West Rowan's boys and girls and Salisbury's boys received votes.

* In the CarolinaPreps.com poll, Carson's boys are ninth and North's boys are eighth.

Hopewell (4A), Northern Guilford (3A), Kinston (2A) and Winston-Salem Prep (1A) are the top-ranked teams.

- Prep swimming

The NCHSAA swimming and diving championships are upcoming at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary.

The 4A competition is set for Thursday, with the 3A meet on Friday and the 1A/2A meet on Saturday.

Finals are scheduled for 5 p.m. each day.

- 7th-grade hoops

Erwin's girls jumped to a 14-2 lead and topped China Grove 34-16 on Monday.

Erwin (3-0, 2-0) was paced by Kelli Fisher's nine points, 17 rebounds and five blocks. Kaleigh Troutman had seven points, 10 rebounds and eight steals. Amani Ajayi added five points. Kennedy Lambert had eight rebounds, and Erin Hatley had six steals.

Sylvetta Bost scored five points for China Grove (2-2, 1-2).

* Erwin's boys beat the Red Devils 54-40.

The Eagles (1-2, 1-1) got 26 points and six assists from twins Seth and Samuel Wyrick.

Seth had 16 points and six steals, while Samuel had 10 points. Jack Weisensel added six points and six rebounds, Tre Gillespie grabbed 10 rebounds, Hunter Bell had five points and eight boards, and Connor Honeycutt had five points and four assists.

China Grove (2-2, 1-2) was led by Lavon Hill with 14 points and Jacob Raper with 10. Brandon Sloop scored eight points, and Anthony McCurry added five.

- Knox's girls defeated West Rowan 45-11.

Knox (1-0) was led by Bryanna Caldwell with 17 points, Demeria Robinson with 15, Ashley Blaire with eight.

Sierra Charles scored seven for West.

- North Hills hoops

Abbey Lane had 27 points as the North Hills varsity girls topped Carolina International 60-28. Caley Boggs scored 10.

North Hills lost to Countryside 48-42. Laura Butner scored 18 points, while Lane had 15.

Butner had 22 points and Lane scored 12 in a 53-45 win against Miller's Creek.

* The middle school boys lost to Woodlawn 50-45. Leonard Murdock led North Hills with 19 points and seven rebounds. Luke Humble added eight points.

- Sacred Heart hoops

Sacred Heart's jayveee boys defeated Statesville Montessori 30-17 at the Boyd Dolphin Tank.

Joseph Harrison led the Dolphins with 11 points. Michael Childress had six, and Alex Antosek and Will Taylor scored five each.

Brian Reid and James Boyd combined for 14 rebounds while Justin Boyd, Adam Habeeb, and Andrew Timmerman led the defense.

William Clark's rebound and assist to Taylor broke open a tight game.

- Carolina Herd

The Carolina Herd 10-under baseball team will hold open tryouts this Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the Faith Elementary baseball field.

The Herd is looking to add one additional player for the upcoming season.

The team only carries 10 players, so there will be plenty of playing time available for the player added. Call Mark Lambert at 704-239-6260 with any questions.

- Golf tournament

The annual Irish Creek High School Invitational will be held Monday, March 1 at the Club at Irish Creek. The event includes teams from Rowan and Cabarrus counties.

There will be a low individual winner, a low team competition and a competition between both counties. The event will award the Bobby Batson Trophy to the winning team. Batson, who covered golf in the Rowan, Cabarrus and Mecklenburg areas, died of lung cancer a few years ago.