From staff reports
The winner of tonight’s West Rowan-Burns matchup will take on the winner of the Havelock-Clayton Cleveland matchup for the 3A state championship on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 11 a.m. at UNC’s Kenan Stadium.
Havelock (14-0), near Morehead City, has lost to Eastern Alamanace in the East Region final each of the last two seasons. Havelock is a double-barreled offensive monster. Garrett Crowe has thrown for 2,984 yards and 33 touchdowns, while Derrell Scott has rushed for 1,676 yards and 21 TDs.
If you’ve never heard of Clayton Cleveland (11-3), don’t feel bad. It’s an amazing first-year program that has done serious damage with the spread option. QB Tre Joyner has thrown for 2,207 yards and rushed for 955.
Havelock and Clayton Cleveland are both known as the Rams.
Thomasville (10-4) plays at Lincolnton (13-1) tonight in the 2A West final.
Lincolnton has been ranked at the top the of 2A heap most of the season. The Wolves have won 12 straight games and average 44.5 points per contest. Thomasville’s outstanding back Quanny Johnson is expected to play, although at less than 100 percent. He leads the state with 3,083 rushing yards.
Prediction: Lincolnton 35, Thomasville 27
In the 1A West final, Albemarle (13-1) is at home tonight against Murphy (10-4).
Albemarle won the last two 1AA titles before dropping down to 1A this time.
QB Seth Curtis has amassed more than 3,000 yards of offense for Murphy and has accounted for 37 touchdowns.
Albemarle scores almost 40 points per game. Daquan Ellis has rushed for 1,960 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Bulldogs, who haven’t lost since August.
Prediction: Albemarle 42, Murphy 21
In the 1AA West final, West Montgomery makes the long trip to Bryson City to take on Swain County. West Montgomery (11-2) is led by its amazing quarterback Jaquil Capel, who has more than 2,000 rushing yards.
The Maroon Devils (13-1) have lost only to 3A Franklin, but they may not match up well with West Montgomery’s speed.
Josue Otero has rushed for 1,508 yards and scored 19 touchdowns for Swain. QB Colby Hyatt has thrown for 1,083 yards.
It’s worth noting that no 1A program from the mountains has won the state title since Swain did it in 2004.
Prediction: W. Montgomery 28, Swain 21
In the 4A West final, Mooresville (12-2) goes to Indian Trail to challenge Porter Ridge (13-0). It’s hard to handicap this one because of the injuries Mooresville sustained last week, including a leg injury to dominating quarterback Deonte Black.
Mooresville is in its first regional final since 2000.
Porter Ridge is back in the 4A West final after being stunned by Davie last season. QB Lee McNeill is the standout for the Pirates. He’s thrown for 1,900 yards and 20 TDs.
Prediction: Porter Ridge 34, Mooresville 24
Prep hoops
Salisbury’s girls basketball team bounced back from an opening-night loss to beat 4A Rocky River 63-39 on Wednesday night.
Doreen Richardson, Vashti Usry and Briana Caldwell caused a number of early turnovers that were turned into easy transition baskets.
Doreen Richardson matched her career high with 17 points, and Brielle Blaire scored 16 in the post despite double-teams and triple-teams. Usry contributed 10 points, while Caldwell had six and Nyasia Harris five.
Salisbury stretched a 10-point halftime advantage to a 26 points by holding Rocky River without a field goal in the third quarter.
All nine Hornets scored.
Brandi Segars led the Ravens with 15 points. Hydeia Harvey scored 11.
On Tuesday, East Rowan’s girls lost at Concord 58-36.
East managed a 12-12 tie after a quarter and trailed 27-19 at halftime.
Kelli Fisher scored 15 points for the Mustangs. Sydney Poole and Bobbi Thomas added seven apiece.
The Spiders got 17 points each from Emia Black and Nakiah Black.
Middle school hoops
Sacred Heart’s varsity boys (5-4) won their third in a row by defeating Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro 50-28.
The Dolphins were led by Reilly Gokey’s 17 points and Joseph Harrison’s 16 points and five assists.
Max Fisher added six points. Will Casmus added 10 points and six rebounds. Arun Kelly-Rajan had six rebounds and five steals. Walker Latimer also had five steals. Walker Brown and James Reiff played strong defense.
The 7th annual Jack Campbell Memorial Hoops Classic will be held Saturday at Sacred Heart with a series of games beginning at 6 p.m. The event is held annually in to raise funds for a scholarship given at Salisbury High to a senior scholar-athlete in Campbell’s name.
All participants are asked to make a $3 donation to play. The entire community is asked to support the evening in Jack’s memory.
Contact bob Burges at 336-362-6802 or Katie Meseroll at 704-633-2841 for info.
The Dolphins host Our Lady of Mercy in a varsity doubleheader on Nov. 29.
Local golf
Seventy-eight GARS members played at Crescent earlier this week. Low ‘A’ flight player with a net of 64.58 was David Adams. Low ‘B’ flight player was David Lee with a net of 67.57. Low ‘C’ flight player was Dave Allen with a net of 64.02. Low ‘D’ flight player with a net of 62.11 was Harold Caudill.