From staff reports
Catawba’s basketball teams are home tonight for a SAC doubleheader against Brevard. It’s a crucial game for Catawba’s men, who are trying to qualify for the SAC tournament.
Eight teams in the 10-team league qualify. Catawba (5-15) and Brevard (3-19) are both 2-10 in the league and are tied with Mars Hill.
Catawba beat Brevard 64-56 in the first meeting.
A top player for Brevard is sophomore Darius Moose (Carson). Moose is 14th in the SAC in scoring at 13 points per game and fourth in rebounding, with 7.0 per outing.
Catawba’s women are tied for first place with Tusculum.
Katelynne Poole (East Rowan) returns home as a member of Brevard’s team.
Prep baseball
South Rowan will retire the jersey of former Raider star Brian Smith on April 2 before its 7 p.m. home game against Concord.
NPC wrestling
Rowan County champions in the NPC tournament included South Rowan’s Jonathan Ruiz (113 pounds) and Austin Holbrook (145); East Rowan’s Mark Almeida (120) and Morgan Crawford (126); Carson’s Brandon Sloop (152), Nathan Hill (182) and Alex Lyles (220), and West Rowan’s Trey Shepherd (heavyweight).
Ruiz was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Rowan runners-up included South’s Logan Durham (106); East’s Donald Schlesselman (182); Carson’s Anthony McCurry (195) and Cody Brown (heavyweight), and West’s James Fairbanks (132), Walt Waggoner (145) and Wood Poteat (170).
Third-place finishers from Rowan included West’s Thomas Current (106), Jack Burnside (138), Cody Eggers (160), Jacob Tomlin (195) and Matthew Choi (220); East’s Jason Deutsch (113) and Wyatt Blume (132) and South’s Tyler Hall (120).
Rowan’s fourth-place finishers were West’s Dakota Goodson and East’s Shiheem Saunders (152) and Justin Smith (170).
Wrestling playoffs
Steven Swayney had a young Salisbury team this year but the host Hornets gave powerful Piedmont all it wanted in the opening round of the 2A dual-team playoffs before losing 48-36 on Tuesday.
Piedmont then beat North Surry 33-30 to advance.
Prep hoops
Davie County’s boys lost a heartbreaker at Reagan 80-78.
Down 76-75 in the final seconds, Davie got two good looks at the basket but couldn’t connect and Reagan closed it out at the foul line.
Cody Martin led Davie with 25 points while Nate Jones added 19 and Shannon Dillard 11.
• The A.L. Brown boys fell to Northwest Cabarrus 78-74.
Tevin Stark led the Wonders with 24 points, followed by Braxton Waddell with 18. Leading scorer Derrick Copeland was held to 11.
• For the second straight game, the A.L. Brown girls lost by a score of 47-45, this time to Northwest Cabarrus.
Brown (12-10, 7-6) played without senior guard Sara Tuttle, who was out with strep throat. Bianca Smith had a career high 23 points an Endia Cannon added 13 including 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.
• South Davidson’s boys stayed one game back on North Rowan with a 69-56 win over East Montgomery.
Jim Young’s Wildcats (19-4, 13-2) were led by Austin Hatfield with 27 points, while Taylor Hatfield and Jordan Hughes each had 11.
• South Davidson’s girls (16-6, 13-2 YVC) defeated East Montgomery 46-32 behind 13 points from Holly Wall, 12 from Larsen Sigmon and 10 from Madi Beeson.
• The North Hills girls fell to Hickory Christian 39-35. Abby Lane had 14 points, six assists and six steals for the Eagles. Emily Boggs scored nine points.
Jayvee hoops
Megan Gray scored 17 points to lead Carson’s girls to a 50-41 win against West Rowan on Monday.
Katie Barringer scored 11.
Hunter Gibbons led the Falcons with 17 points.
7th-grade hoops
West Rowan’s boys used pressure defense to beat Knox 44-30.
The Bulldogs (3-1) led 28-14 at halftime.
Leading scorers for West were Kortez Weeks with 11 points, Rodney Howell with nine, Armoni Hogue with eight, and Toby Brown with seven.
Howell had five rebounds.
Brendon Westbrook was a defensive standout.
North fell to 2-2.
Knox’s girls held West Rowan scoreless for three quarters and won 29-7.
Niah Spratt scored eight points for the Trojans. Tyzarea Alexander and Chevy Blaire scored six each.
Knox plays Thursday at China Grove.
College softball
Catawba’s Emily Huneycutt has been named SAC Pitcher of the Week.
She earned two victories on opening day, with a complete game and a successful relief appearance.
College baseball
Billy Veal (North Rowan) hit a two-run homer in Bryan’s 8-5 win against Toccoa Falls.
Jason Ridenhour (North) was the winning pitcher. He struck out seven in five innings.
Tanner Brown (North) was the winning pitcher as Bryan beat Toccoa Falls in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. Brown allowed one earned run in five innings.
East Y volleyball
Register now for girls middle school volleyball at the East Rowan YMCA.
The league is open for girls in grades 6-8. The league teaches skills and fundamentals.
Registration is through March 5 at the East Y or online at www.rowanymca.org.
Contact Joe Finney at 704-279-1742 or jfinney@rowanymca.org.
Local golf
The Corbin Hills Golf Club Two-man Best Ball Tournament is set for March 31-April 1. The start time is 8:30 a.m. both days.
The entry fee is $75 for non-members and $50 for members.
All teams will be flighted after the first round.
Players are asked to call the Corbin Hills staff at 704-636-0672 for information and registration.
The Warrior Golf Club Two-Man Mulligan tournament is set for March 3-4.
The format is 36 holes. Teams will be flighted after the first round.
There will be a 9 a.m. shotgun start both days.
College volleyball
Pfeiffer Quentin Moore was named Conference Carolinas Player of the Week for men’s volleyball.
Kickball registration
Registration is under way for the Go Kickball spring league in Kannapolis.
Sign up as a team captain, player or free agent. League play will take place on Thursdays from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Walter M. Safrit Park.
Registration is limited and will close when league capacity has been reached or by March 6. To register, visit www.gokickball.com/charlotte. Email questions to charlotte@gokickball.com.
Sacred Heart hoops
The Sacred Heart JV boys won the CCISAA Conference Championship and finished the season 12-0 in conference play.
Sacred Heart won the championship game 33-29 against Hickory Christian Academy. Michael Childress led all scorers with 16 points, including 10 points in the decisive fourth quarter. Will Taylor added 12 points and forwards, Eric Turnbull and Jack Fisher combined for 5 pts and 21 rebounds. Keegan Dillon and Ben Roy led the defense. The team unanimously selected Johnson Huynh, team manager, as their Tournament MVP.
In the semifinal game, the Dolphins defeated First Assembly from Winston-Salem 38-21 thanks to Will Taylor’s game-high 13 points.