From staff reports
Area athletes who have signed with colleges this week include Salisbury’s William Brown, West Rowan’s Allison Baucom and East Rowan’s Ashton Fleming.
An all-county and All-CCC linebacker, Brown (6-foot, 175 pounds) signed with Fayetteville State’s football program. His signature outing as a senior was a 20-tackle effort against Central Davidson.
Baucom signed with Catawba’s soccer program.
Baucom made the 3A All-State team as a midfielder last spring and was Rowan County Player of the Year in 2010.
Fleming signed with Surry Community College’s baseball program. The second baseman batted .350 with 25 RBIs for East in 2011.
Stories are upcoming.
Catawba football
Catawba signed a running back with great prep credentials on Thursday.
Xavier Bond (5-foot-11, 205 pounds) rushed for 2,255 yards and 37 TDs as a senior at Glenwood Academy in Alabama. Bond averaged 9.7 yards per carry for a team that reached a state championship game.
Coach Chip Hester said Bond has “speed, power and versatility.”
Prep basketball
There’s a full slate of prep basketball tonight.
Start with North Rowan at South Davidson in the YVC.
Ranked third in 1A, North (18-2, 13-0) can officially clinch its third straight league regular season title if it beats the seventh-ranked Wildcats.
It would mark the first time in school history that North has accomplished that feat, but it won’t be routine. The Cavaliers beat South Davidson (17-4, 11-2) by eight points in Spencer — by far their closest YVC contest.
North’s fifth-place girls (8-11, 8-5) are about 99.9 percent sure of making the 1A playoff bracket, but they’d like to move up in the standings with an upset of the Wildcats (14-6, 11-2). South Davidson is fighting for first place with Chatham Central.
In the CCC, Salisbury is at Lexington. Lexington’s boys (10-8, 7-0) are still perfect in the league and can clinch the regular season title with a win. The Hornets (8-12, 4-3) would like revenge for an ugly loss to the Jackets in Salisbury.
Salisbury’s top-ranked girls (19-2, 7-0) have experienced some tussles in the CCC, but they’ll try to take their 34th league game in a row.
In the NPC, the headliner is South Rowan’s doubleheader at East Rowan.
Both boys teams are playoff-bound. Third-place East (11-9, 6-4) has lost four of its last six. The surging, fourth-place Raiders (7-14, 5-5) have won three in a row and five of seven. South’s boys won the first meeting of the teams 58-57 — a victory that was the turning point in their season.
The girls game is even bigger. The NPC gets four playoff berths, and the Mustangs (6-14, 4-6) and Raiders (8-14, 4-6) are tied for fourth. East won the first meeting 51-37 with Kelli Fisher and Karleigh Wike combining for 34 points.
SR has lost three straight, but its last two outings — a 50-44 setback against North Iredell and a 51-49 loss to Carson — were likely its best two efforts of the season.
Also in the NPC, West Iredell is at Carson and North Iredell is at West Rowan.
West’s girls are healthy now and Nycieko Dixon has been an offensive machine of late. The third-place Falcons (11-10, 5-4) have a reasonable chance against the second-place Raiders (14-5, 8-1).
Correction of Wednesday night’s West-Concord girls summary.
WEST ROWAN (62) — Dixon 26, Steele 19, Barber 7, Miller 6, Sobataka 3, Dutton 1.
CONCORD (51) — E. Black 17, Briggs 14, N. Black 12, Parks 3, Foard 2, Neals 2, Floyd 2, Townsend 1.
W. Rowan 15 14 20 13 — 62
Concord 7 11 15 18 — 51
In the SPC, A.L. Brown’s fourth-place boys (13-7, 5-6) are at home against third-place Hickory Ridge (14-7, 6-5).
It’s a big one for the Wonders, who blew a lead late and lost 57-53 at Hickory Ridge.
In the CPC, Davie’s boys (15-5, 4-3) are back in the title hunt after a storm-the-court win against first-place Mount Tabor on Tuesday. Davie visits R.J. Reynolds tonight.
Davie played all of January without sophomore sensation Cody Martin, but the War Eagles could get him back in the lineup at any time.
College hoops
Brandon Ford (North Rowan) is a 6-foot-2 sophomore forward for the Caldwell County Community College team in Hudson. He’s averaging 5.6 points per game with a high of 16.
Danny Smith hit four 3-pointers and scored 29 points to lead Pfeiffer (11-9, 5-5) to a 91-77 win against St. Andrews on Thursday at Merner Gym.
Local golf
Tony Lowder made a hole-in-one on the No. 3 hole at the Club at Irish Creek.
Lowder aced the 135-yard hole with a 9-iron.
Gary Reid, Gary Bunn, Steve Huie and Kelly Morrison witnessed the feat.
The Spring Two-Man Mulligan tournament is set for Warrior on March 3-4.
Anthony Baker and Stephen Mabry won the championship flight last year.
Sacred Heart hoops
The Sacred Heart jayvee boys beat Statesville Christian 39-15 and finished the CCISAA regular season undefeated. Will Taylor scored 16 points for the Dolphins. Michael Childress had seven points an five assists. Jack Fisher had six points and eight rebounds.
Sacred Heart’s jayvee boys and girls are the top seeds for the CCISAA tournament that will be held at Sacred Heart (girls) and Salisbury Academy (boys) on Saturday.
Women’s hoops
Pfeiffer’s Kellie Rhoney recorded a triple-double in a 105-55 Conference Carolinas rout of winless St. Andrews on Thursday.
Rhoney had 12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for the Falcons (10-9, 5-5). Brittany Cox had 28 points and 12 boards in the romp.
North Hills hoops
North Hills is at home tonight against Gaston Day.
The varsity doubleheader starts with the girls game at 6 p.m. Seniors will be honored before the boys game.
7th-grade hoops
West Rowan’s boys beat Southeast 43-23. Kortez Weeks led the Bulldogs with 15 points. Jovon Quarles scored eight, Brendon Westbrook six and Nick Warren five.
Quarles pulled down seven rebounds, while Toby Brown had five. Armoni Hogue had four steals.
Malon Herron scored 10 points for the Patriots.
Erwin’s boys beat Corriher-Lipe 45-32.
Lucas Morton and Jonathan Brindle led the Eagles (1-2) with 11 and 10 points, respectively. DeAndre Gray and Datavian Davis scored six points each.
Corriher-Lipe (0-3) was led by Matt Mills with 10 points. Alex Figueroa added six.
Erwin’s girls beat Corriher-Lipe 32-17.
Breya Philpot’s 13 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots led the Eagles. Erwin (3-0) got eight points from Micah Furr, five steals and four assists from Destiny Jackson, and six rebounds and four steals from Bree Medlin.
Corriher-Lipe (0-3) was led by Kiersten Morgan with six points.
Salisbury boosters
The Salisbury High School Athletic Boosters will meet on Monday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria.
All are welcome. Volunteers are needed for girls soccer and baseball concessions.
East boosters
The East Rowan Booster Club will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. in the media center.
Trainers honored
Four members will be inducted into the Catawba College Athletic Training Hall of Fame on Feb. 18. The induction of the Class of 2012 will take place between noon and 2 p.m. in Peeler Crystal Lounge.
Inductees are Jim Bradley (Class of 1986), Jeff Tucker (1990), John Lukowski (1992) and Shirk Sneed (1993).
Cabarrus Ringers
The Cabarrus County Ringers will open the 16th season for the club on March 19.
Play will be on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for the first month and Mondays and Thursdays after mid-April.
Play is on the courts behind the Kannapolis YMCA.
The fee (for trophies) is $12 for the whole season.
Contact Geno Argabright at 704-938-0456 for information.
Hurley Y sign-ups
Registration will run through Feb. 9 at the Hurley YMCA for a high school boys basketball league that will run through April.
Cost is $36 for Y members and $60 for non-members.
Contact Phillip Hilliard 704-636-0111 or philliard@rowanymca.org.
Youth baseball
China Grove youth baseball and softball registration is ongoing at Dale’s Sporting Goods and lasts through Feb. 18.
Baseball fees are $50 for Coach Pitch (ages 5-6 and 7-8), Juniors (ages 9-10) and Seniors (ages 11-12).
Softball fees are $50 for Coach Pitch (ages 5-7), Juniors (ages 8-10) and Seniors (ages 11-13).
League age is as of April 30, 2012.
After Feb 18, the fee for all levels will be $60. Contact James Solomon at 704-857-1439 or ymcanewhouse@yahoo.com for information.
Tennis clinics
Catawba tennis clinics for all ages continue on Saturday from 10-11 a.m.
Sunday sessions are at 2-3 p.m. for beginners and 3-4 p.m. for intermediate and advanced players.
The cost of a clinic is $10.
Contact Jeff Childress at jchildre@catawba.edu.