From staff reports
For only the second time in school history, the Livingstone men’s basketball team has advanced to the semifinals of the CIAA Tournament.
The Blue Bears won 59-58 against Virginia Union, the second-seeded team out of the CIAA’s Northern Division, in Charlotte on Thursday.
“This win says a lot about our program with a victory over a team like Virginia Union,” Livingstone coach James Stinson said. “It shows our players that we are not second-rate to anyone.”
Livingstone, the third seed out of the Southern Division, plays Fayetteville State tonight at 9 p.m.
The Blue Bears came out hot for the second straight contest, jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes.
Virginia Union responded with a 9-4 run to get within 12-9 with 13:39 left in the first half. Throughout the first half, Livingstone continually built up a double-digit lead only to see the Panthers fight back with a strong run. The Blue Bears closed the first half on a 6-2 spurt to take a 37-27 lead into the break.
Livingstone went ice-cold in the second half, but Darius Cox came through with a big rebound and monstrous dunk to get the Blue Bears within 56-55 with 59 seconds left.
After Cox’s dunk, the Blue Bears called a timeout. Out of the timeout the Panthers turned the ball over, and Cox came through with a 15-foot jumper to give the Blue Bears a 57-56 lead with 51 seconds remaining. Virginia Union went back up by one with 36 seconds left.
Trone Jackson drove with 12 seconds left, drew a foul and hit both ends of a one-and-one to put Livingstone on top 59-58.
Stinson has been named CIAA Coach of the Year.
Stinson, in his seventh season at Livingstone, won the Coach of the Year award for the first time. The Coach of the Year award is voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Stinson guided the Blue Bears to third place in the Southern Division, and Livingstone achieved its first regional ranking during the season.
Livingstone’s men’s basketball team was honored this week for having the highest GPA among CIAA men’s basketball teams.
Fayetteville State’s Jamel Carpenter (West Rowan) has been visible on the Broncos’ bench during the CIAA tournament. He’s sitting out this season, concentrating on academics, but he plans to be part of a powerhouse squad at FSU next season.
“Honestly, next year I don’t plan on us losing a single game,” Carpenter recently told the Fayetteville Observer’s Sammy Batten. “We’ll be the team to beat every night on the court. I can’t wait for next year to get here.”
Prep baseball
South Rowan beat fourth-ranked Northwest Cabarrus 2-1 on Thursday.
South (1-1) scored its two runs in the first inning when Dylan Goodman and Tyler Kowalczyk hit back-to-back doubles, and Kowalczyk eventually scored on a wild pitch.
South’s pitching and defense did the rest, stranding 11 Trojans.
“We made a lot of good defensive plays and we made good pitches in key situations,” South coach Thad Chrismon said. “We made a couple of mistakes early but pitched out of it.
Tyler Corriher was the starter and winner for the Raiders, working into the fifth inning. Daniel Mullis went the rest of the way for a save.
Northwest (1-1) scored its run in the fifth.
“It was great for Corriher to bounce back from a tough inning against Mount Pleasant (a 7-3 loss earlier this week) and also to see our team bounce back,” Chrismon said. “We finished off a good win against a very good team.”
Northwest plays at home against East Rowan tonight. South plays against West Rowan on Tuesday.
The boxscore for the NWC-South game will be in Saturday’s edition.
A.L. Brown got strong pitching from Dylan May but lost to Cornelius Hough 4-2 on Thursday.
May allowed only one hit and struck out seven in four innings.
Quin Gill had two hits for the Wonders (0-1), Ryan Blackmon hit three balls on the nose, and Tyler Freeze contributed a double.
“We got good pitching, but it’s hard to overcome five errors,” A.L. Brown coach Empsy Thompson said.
Prep hoops
The North Hills girls basketball team beat Countryside Montessori 52-44 in a Mid-State Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal on Thursday.
Abby Lane had a triple-double for the Eagles, accounting for 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Laura Butner contributed nine points and 10 rebounds, C.C. Lyerly had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Caley Boggs scored six points.n The North Hills boys also advanced in the tournament by beating Mooresville Christian 93-72.
Justin Wright had 30 points and 12 assists for the Eagles, while Moussa Doucara produced 21 points and 10 rebounds.
D.J. Griffin (16), Tony Nunn (14) and J’quille Tracey (seven) also had solid scoring nights.
Tourney championship games will be played tonight. The North Hills girls take on the Cabarrus Stallions at 5:30 p.m., while the North Hills boys play the Stallions at 7:15 p.m. at the Stallions’ home gym on Moose Road in Kannapolis.
Umpiring meeting
Anyone interested in umpiring middle school baseball on Tuesdays and Thursdays should attend a meeting on March 8 at Erwin Middle School at 8 p.m.
For more information, call Chuck Stanley at 704-279-7546.
Volleyball league
For information on a middle school volleyball league, go to highrockvolleyball. org or call Carson coach Kelan Rogers at 704-647-1251.
Prep softball
The East Rowan at North Rowan softball game originally scheduled for Thursday was postponed to Monday at 4:30 p.m.
n College baseball
Appalachian State’s Trey Holmes (East Rowan) knocked in two runs as the Mountaineers beat North Carolina A&T 14-4 on Wednesday.
Local golf
Sixty-nine GARS members played at Warrior earlier this week.
Low ‘A’ flight player was Lou Manning with a net of 65.30.
Low ‘B’ flight player with a net of 61.33 was Bill Bradley.
Low ‘C’ flight player with a net of 62.50 was Bennie Rainwater.
Low ‘D’ flight player with a net of 59.81 was Lloyd Clodfelter.
7th-grade hoops
Corriher-Lipe’s boys used a strong fourth quarter to blow open a close game and beat Southeast 54-30.
Brandon Egnor led the Yellow Jackets with 18 points, and Christian Holbrook followed with 16.
The Patriots were led by Bryson Collins with 12 points and Alex Yang and Sandon McCoy with seven each.
Knox’s boys beat West Rowan 60-37. Jalen Sanders led the Trojans with 19 Points. Corban Usry scored 13, and Deshawn Troutman tallied 10.
Donnell Alexander had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Devin Morrison (13 points) and Kreshon Alexander (eight) led the Bulldogs.
Knox’s boys beat China Grove 54-33 behind 15 points by Usry, 10 by Alexander and nine apiece by Sanders and Troutman. Michael Morrison and Ryan Bearden scored eight each for the Red Devils.
Knox’s girls edged China Grove 12-8. Raven Pruitt scored four points for the Trojans.
West Rowan’s girls topped Erwin 40-38. Khaila Hall scored 28 points for the Bulldogs, including 23 in the second half. Peyton Greene and Tatciana Cowan added six and five points, respectively.
Erwin (10-2) was led by Shenique Pharr with 13 points and six rebounds. Shenell Pharr scored eight points. Brittany Small had seven points and 19 rebounds. Jocelyn Lowe had seven points and seven assists.
West Rowan’s boys (9-3) rolled to a 51-17 win over Erwin behind Devon Morrison’s 17 points. Kreshon Alexander scored 10 for the Bulldogs. Josh Lindsey and Alejandro Roldan added seven and six, respectively.
Logan Shuping led Erwin (3-9) with 10 points.
Prep golf
Salisbury’s golfers shot 150 and beat Davie (153) and Statesville (182) at Oak Valley on Thursday.
Eric Edwards shot 36 to lead the Hornets. Alex Nianouris (37), Troy Beaver (38) and Alex Lee and Clark Alcorn (39s) were right behind him.
Davie’s Tommy Dillon shared medalist honors with Edwards with a 36. Jason Gallimore, Chase Moore and Brian Wood shot 39s. Charlie Warren’s 44 paced Statesville.
Women’s hoops
Pfeiffer’s Brittany Cox and Christian Harvey were named second team All-Conference Carolinas.
Prep tennis
West Rowan’s tennis team beat A.L. Brown 6-3 on Thursday to improve to 2-0. Joel Brittain, Chris Holmes, Kevin Robinson, Charles Hutton, Doug Petrea and Ben Wilson swept singles for the Falcons.
Rowan Hawks
The Rowan Hawks lost to Power Cross of Statesville 10-7. Austin Love, Sawyer Strickland and Dalton Lankford had two hits each for the Hawks.