From staff reports

West Rowan’s soccer team tightened its grip on first place in the NPC with a 3-2 win against second-place West Iredell.
West Rowan’s dynamic duo of Toni Lucente and Mariah Coleman were at it again.
Coleman beat a defender down the right flank and dropped a ball to Lucente, who fired a ball past Warriors keeper Amanda Urban just 10 minutes into the game.
Ten minutes later, Lucente extended the lead with a perfectly placed shot from 25 yards out that sailed over the head of the keeper and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
West Iredell’s midfielders Madison Pogue and Shannon O’Neill led a West Iredell charge in the second half. Their persistence paid off, as they pulled one goal back with 15 minutes remaining as a corner kick went off the shoulder of a West defender and past goalkeeper Joana Samano.
Kayla Boley got her head on a Lucente corner kick and put the ball into the back of the net to restore the two-goal lead. Amber Holt converted a penalty kick with seven minutes to cut the Falcons’ lead back to 3-2.
The Falcons put the balls into the right areas in the final minutes to preserve the lead and their place in the standings.
“West Iredell was on top of their game tonight and gave us just about all we could handle,” West Rowan coach Nick Brown said. “Pogue and Shannon O’Neill were brilliant in the midfield and made us work extremely hard for every inch that we got. I’m really proud of my girls tonight for standing up to the challenge and getting the job done. It’s not always going to be pretty, but we got the W”.
Ranked fourth in 3A, West Rowan (12-0, 7-0) will be in action again Wednesday at North Iredell.
• Salisbury’s soccer team won 4-0 against Thomasville in CCC action on Monday.
Kate Grant scored two goals, and Adna Music and Maddie Labovitz had one each.
Grant, Kayla Honeycutt, Shelby Holden and Lainy Slate had the assists. Kaytee Leonguerrero had the shutout in goal.
Salisbury has a big match Wednesday at Ludwig Stadium against East Davidson at 6 p.m.

Prep softball

Carson’s softball team won 5-1 against Hickory Ridge in a non-conference game.
Lacee Hunsucker struck out nine and was the winning pitcher. Hunsucker also led the offense with a home run and a double. Kaycee Kennedy had a two-run triple.
Morgan Penninger had two hits, while Mariah Morgan, Kayln Ellenburg and Molly Shue had one each.

Prep boys tennis

East Rowan edged Statesville 5-4, the second time the Mustangs have beaten the Greyhounds.
East is still unbeaten in the NPC.
Winning in singles were Justin Alle, Evan Rogers and Cameron Thomas.
Allen-Roges and Jeremy Price-Chabnce Brown won in doubles.
• Salisbury won 5-4 against Central Davidson in a CCC match.
The Hornets (8-2, 6-0) got singles wins from Clint Comadoll, Chris Derrick, David Derrick and Spencer Storey. David Derrick won on a tiebreaker.
Comadoll and Chris Derrick teamed for a 6-1, 6-1 win in doubles.

Prep golf

In an NPC match at Warrior on Monday, East Rowan’s Logan Shuping, South Rowan’s Evan Neas and West Rowan’s Jake Kennedy shot 34s to share medalist honors.
West Rowan and Statesville tied for first at 157. Next were South Rowan (163), East Rowan (168), Carson (170), West Iredell (211) and North Iredell (215).
Other scorers for West Rowan were Denny Triche (39), Chris Hassard (42) and Cameron Hassard (42). Other scorers for South were Davis Richards (38), Hunter Chapman (45) and Josh Pope (46). Other scorers for East were Jacob Durhan (43), Spencer Bost (45) and Collin Darnell (46).
Carson wsa led by Andrew Purcell’s 36. Matt Yates shot 42. Bobby Bauer, Joseph Mitchem, Rob Sawyer and Logan Overcash shot 46s.
In the season standings, Statesville holds a 12-shot lead over West Rowan and is 14 ahead of South Rowan.
• Kennedy shot a 73 and had the low round on the final day of the AJGA preseason tournament held at St. James Plantation in Southport. Kennedy tied for eighth among 61 junior golfers in the event.
• In a CCC match on Monday at Sapona, Alex Austin (38), Eric Edwards (41), Gabe Steinman (42), Joseph Rusher (44), Abraham Post (44) and Christopher Queen (44) were in action for Salisbury.
The Hornets shot 165 and finished second behind West Davidson (149). Andrew Kahn shot 36 to lead the Green Dragons.
Other team scores were East Davidson (175), Central Davidson (183), Lexington (232) and Thomsaville (245).
• The county tournament will be held this afternoon at Corbin Hills.

Commitments

East Rowan tennis player Hannah Pressley plans to sign with Queens on April 17.
• South Rowan volleyball player Emma Pope plans to sign with Lenoir-Rhyne on April 17.
Stories are upcoming.

Mixed Martial Arts
Willie “Warhead” Hosch (Salisbury) won his second pro cage fight in Atlantic City, N.J., as part of the Ring of Combat 44 card.
Hosch (2-0) beat Aaron Freedman by TKO at the four-minute mark in the first round. The bout was scheduled for two rounds.

College football

Brantley Horton (West Rowan) and his Navy football teammates will visit the White House on Friday for a ceremony with President Barack Obama.
The team will be honored for winning the Commander in Chief’s Trophy for the eighth time in the past 10 years.
The Midshipmen were victorious over Air Force (28-21) and Army (17-13) en route to an 8-5 record and the school’s ninth bowl game in the past 10 years.

SAC athletics

The SAC has reached an agreement to play the next two SAC basketball tournaments at Timmons Area on the Furman campus in Greenville, S.C.

Middle school golf

Erwin shot 166 and beat Corriher-Lipe (191) and China Grove (197) at Corbin Hills.
Nick Lyerly shot 31 (5-under) for medalist honors. Other Erwin scores were Bryson Sprinkle (37), Jamie Cruse 47), John Brunson (51), William Garland (51) and Micah Furr (51).
Corriher-Lipe scorers were Drew Hubbard (44), Parker Chavis (46), Landon Johnson (48) and Chandler Cook (53). China Grove scorers were Parker Street (44), Becca Rousey (48), Joshua Coker (52), Austin Cole (53), Jared Seamon (53) and Emma Ellams (53).

Stallions baseball

The Greater Cabarrus Homeschool Stallions lost 14-4 to the East Rowan jayvees.
Hunter Shepherd and Dalton Lankford had two hits each for the Stallions. Josh Holt doubled.
The Stallions play vs. the Greensboro Homeschool team today.