From staff reports

South Point, seeded 13th, won against Salisbury, the 20th seed, in the first round of the 2A state playoffs on Wednesday in Belmont.

The Hornets dropped a heartbreaker after the marathon match went to a penalty kick round.  South Point converted every penalty taken to edge SHS 5-3. (Salisbury’s final kicker did not need to attempt.)

Colby Howe, Henry Keel, Nick Matthew, A.J. Robinson and Charlie Tran scored for the Red Raiders in the penalty kick round.

The Hornets took the lead in the fourth minute when Tony Figueroa beat South Point keeper Taylor Shane.

Salisbury was largely in control throughout, but South Point scored twice in a seven-minute span to take a 2-1 lead at the break. Dylan Maynard and Scooch Baker scored for South Point (17-4-1).

The second half was more of the same as SHS relentlessly attacked. At one point, Salisbury appeared to have equalized after a shot was secured by the keeper who fell backwards into the mouth of the goal.

  It was a   physical contest and a combined eight cards were issued for everything from flopping (South Point) to dissent (Salisbury).

With just under six minutes remaining, Jack Fisher converted a penalty kick to level the contest.

Overtime was a repeat of the first two frames as Salisbury had more chances  but  couldn’t find the back of the net.

After another scoreless 30 minutes (two ten-minute periods and then two five minute golden goal periods) the contest was decided.

Another bizarre circumstance occurred in the PKs as SHS keeper Josh Faulkner saved the first kick. After several seconds of jubilation, the Hornets stood in disbelief as the taker was awarded a second attempt when the referee ruled Faulkner left his line too early.

Overall, the game took almost four hours. There were more than a dozen multi-minute stoppages due to clock issues and referee explanations.

“It was a match that will bother me for quite some time,” SHS coach Matt Parrish said.  “I felt as if on one hand we just failed to convert too many legitimate opportunities. On the other hand, it also felt as if if several aspects of the contest outside of our control were stacked against us.

“Nevertheless I am proud of my team. When we talked after the game there were heavy hearts and too many guys had their heads down. I told them that the measure of a man is how he responds to adversity, how they react in the face of difficulty. At 1-5-1 we could have folded. We could have let our past successes lessen our current problems, but we didn’t. To respond as we did and finish where we ended up is what growing up and becoming a team is all about.”

   Salisbury got outstanding play from Will Austin, Eriq Argrett, Pedro Cruz and Bryan Garcia Cortez. The match concluded the careers of Melvin Bonilla,  Cruz and Kevin Ochoa.

    South Point  will visit No. 4 seed Shelby on Saturday.

Legion baseball

The High Point-Thomasville  Post 87 American Legion program will serve as host for the 91st North Carolina American Legion State Championship on July 26-30.   High Point will have an automatic berth when the eight-team field gathers at Finch Field.

  Starting on Thursday, July 26, the 2018 tournament format will change from the traditional double-elimination bracket to a pool play structure.

Using the blueprint of the national tournament, the   state tournament  will have three days of pool play, a semifinal round on Sunday, July 29, and a winner-take all championship game on Monday, July 30.

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From staff reports

North Hills

The North Hills middle school cross country teams competed  in the Southern Piedmont Athletic Association  for the first time.

Teams competed in four to five races over an eight-week period on a variety of terrain.

  North Hills was represented by a dedicated group of five boys and four girls in grades 5-8.

Coaches Shameka Smith and Aimee Rabon assembled the group for their first competition on Aug. 28 in Statesville. 

Over the course of the next six weeks, the team continued to practice and set personal-record times at each event.

In the SPAA Championship Meet  at Fisher Farm in Davidson, the North Hills boys finished third.

Triston Rabon ran 11:47 for fourth place individually.  Micah Nguyen (8th, 13:02),  Gentry Horton (9th, 13:09), Avery Hunt (19th, 17:16) and Eli Sherrill (21st, 17:56) were next.

  The North Hills girls finished third. They were led by Jada Rice (8th, 16:14),   Jill Boger (9th, 16:36),  Morgan Rice (16th, 17:35) and Peyton Thorneburg(18th, 18:31).

  North Hills hopes to keep growing as a competitive force in cross country.

Timber sports

  The 13th annual STIHL TIMBERSPORTS World Championships will be taking place on November 3-4.

Rockwell’s  Matt Slingerland will be one of the five athletes representing the U.S. in Lillehammer, Norway.

During the team relay, Slingerland will be owning the single buck event. Team USA took home the bronze medal in 2016, losing to Team Canada and Team Australia, so the team is as hungry as ever.

College football

Ties are possible in the CIAA race, with the final regular season games on Saturday.

Undefeated Virginia State is in the driver’s seat in the Northern Division, but a three-way tie could occur if Virginia Union upsets Virginia State. Bowie State, which beat Virginia Union but lost to Virginia State, could make it a three-way tie with a win vs. Elizabeth City State.

The next step in determining the Northern Division Champion would be point differential between  in the games between those three teams.

In the Southern Division, three teams are tied  for first at 4-2.

St. Augustine’s  (4-2) plays Shaw, while Fayetteville (4-2) plays Winston-Salem State (4-2).

A maximum of two teams can end up tied, so the division championship can be determined by head-to-head results.

Fayetteville State beat  St. Augustine’s.

St. Augustine’s beat Winston-Salem State.

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The CIAA has selected 12 former conference football players to be recognized as Legends of CIAA Football prior to kickoff at the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 11.  Kickoff  is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. in Salem, Va.

The legends will include Livingstone’s Ben Coates.

The CIAA will celebrate the accomplishments of each player in support of the 125th anniversary of black college football, which marks the recording of the first-ever game between two of its institutions — Johnson C. Smith University, then named Biddle University, and Livingstone College.

College soccer

Catawba midfielder Jovana Sanchez was named SAC Freshman of the Year  for women’s soccer.

Making second team All-SAC from Catawba were Sanchez and midfielder Erin Feldman.

Forward Becky Frost was Honorable Mention.

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Catawba defender  Philipp Hollenhorst is Honorable Mention All-SAC.

College volleyball

Winston-Salem State won 3-1 at Catawba on Wednesday.

Makala Lytton (North Rowan) had 22 digs for the Rams.

Morgan Hester (Carson) had 20 assists and 21 digs for Catawba. Taylor Martin (West Rowan) had eight digs

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Lynsey Corriher (South Rowan) had 13 kills in Averett’s win against Methodist in the quarterfinals of the USA South tourney.

Averett is home against Maryville tonight in the semifinals.