From staff reports

LANDIS — You never know who’s going to lead the charge for the Salisbury boys basketball team.

On Friday, in the South Rowan gym, it was post man Lonnie Rogers, who poured in 18 points. Trell Baker (14), Bill Fisher (12) and Xavier Kesler (10) also hit double figures for the sixth-ranked Central Carolina Conference champs in a 79-50 victory.

Salisbury finished the regular season with a 21-2 record and a 17-1 mark in the CCC. The Hornets have won nine in a row since losing at second-place Thomasville.

“We lost six seniors from last year, but I still thought we could be a better team this year — I thought we could do more,” Salisbury coach Bryan Withers said. “We have been pretty good because this team has has taken defense to heart, and we’re playing the kind of defense I always thought we could.”

South (7-17, 7-11) had Senior Night energy going for it and stayed in the game in the first half. The Hornets led only 27-20 at halftime.

“South played well, they hung in the game, and credit them (and coach Andre McCain) because they are a much better team than they were last year,” Withers said. “You get a lot of emotion and energy on Senior Night, but at some point it usually wears off. And we  picked it up a lot in the second half on the defensive end. We forced turnovers and we got some easy runouts.”

Baker, the floorleader, was at the heart of Salisbury’s surge. Probably the county’s quickest player, he had nine assists and six steals.

“He’s sacrificed so much for this team,” Withers said.”He could score a lot more than he has, but he’s not worried about his points. He wants All he wants is wins. We wouldn’t have the kind of record we have right now if he didn’t have that mindset.”

Salisbury outscored the Raiders, 31-15, in the third quarter to blow the game open.

South got 22 points from Tyrese Shaver and 12 from Andrew Jones.

The Raiders will be on the road at Thomasville in the conference tournament on Monday, while Salisbury will host the No. 8 seed.

SALISBURY (79) — Rogers 18, Baker 14, Fisher 12, Kesler 10, Russell 8, Robinson 8, Gill 4, Moss 3,Phillips 2.

SOUTH (50) —  Shaver 22, Jones 12, Graham 5, Hines 3, Finger 3, Oglesby 2, Powers 2, Kluttz 1.

Salisbury            15 12 21 31  —79

  South                  9  11  15 15 —50

Davie boys

Davie County’s boys beat Reagan, 55-46, in Central Piedmont Conference basketball on Friday.

Davie (17-7, 7-3) tied R.J. Reynolds for second place.

Jacob Hendrix made five 3-pointers and scored 19 for the War Eagles.

“Reagan did a good job of taking away Owen McCormack tonight, but Jacob is capable of scoring like that, and for us, all season, it’s been different guys on different nights,” Davie coach Mike Absher said.

Michael Walton added 12 points, Brooks Johnson had eight, and Cooper Wall and Troy Griggs had six each.

Darren Crump led Reagan with 17 points.

Davie will be seeded third for the CPC tournament and will host No. 6 Glenn on Monday at 6 p.m.

R.J. Reynolds will host the CPC tourney semifinals and championship games.

Prep basketball

Hickory Ridge’s girls won 67-8 against Porter Ridge, on Friday.

  Rinnah Green led the Bulls (22-1)  with 17 points.

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Two late free throws by Savon Brintley lifted Central Piedmont Conference champion East Forsyth to a 65-64 win against the R.J. Reynolds boys.

Tobias Johnson scored 17 for the Demons.

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A.L. Brown at Concord was postponed by mechanical issues with the goals at Concord. The teams will play today at Central Cabarrus.

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Lyrik Thorne scored 36 points to lead Ledford’s girls to a 58-52 Central Carolina Conference win against North Davidson on Friday.

Lexi Bryant and Ashley Davis scored 11 each for the Black Knights.

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North Davidson’s boys tied for third in the CCC by beating Ledford 67-52 on Friday.

Themus Fulks scored 28 for the Black Knights, while Satchel Hester had 20.

Walker Lackey led the Panthers with 23 points.

  •••

In the South Piedmont Conference, Central Cabarrus’ girls earned a tie for first with Robinson by smashing the shorthanded Bulldogs, 66-26.

Both teams went 9-1 in league play.

Neveah Brown scored 13 for the Vikings.

Jakiah Misenheimer scored 12 for the Bulldogs.

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In the Yadkin Valley Conference, Trey Smith scored 45 points for the West Montgomery boys in a 95-71 win vs. North Moore on Friday.

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South Iredell will host the entire North Piedmont Conference tournament.

Action starts Monday.

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Ledford will be the host team for the CCC semifinals and championship games.

Prep track

South Rowan’s Madison Lowery placed fifth in the girls 1600 (5:33.16) and sixth in the 3200 (12:11) in Friday’s 1A/2A indoor track state championships in Winston-Salem.

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South’s boys 4×800 relay team of Noah Julian, Malaki Littlejohn, Ari Moya and Tren Rivera ran 9:01 and finished eighth.

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North Rowan’s Lakayla Birst tied for fifth in the girls high jump  in the 1A/2A state championships, clearing 4 feet, 10 inches.

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Gray Stone’s Cole Harris finished ninth in the 55 meter hurdles in the 1A/2A  championships.

Prep wresstling

 Regional championships conclude today. Matches start at 9 a.m.

Top four finishers advance to next week’s state championships.

East Rowan, West Rowan, Carson and A.L. Brown are competing in the 3A Midwest Regional at Morehead.

East’s Nate Burrage (106 pounds) and Stephen Deutsch (152) won two matches on Friday to reach the semifinals.

Carson’s Josh Vega (120) has reached the semifinals.

A.L. Brown’s Mason Ingram (182) has reached the semifinals.

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In the 2A Midwest Regional at Mount Pleasant, South Rowan’s Logan Lambert (132), Logan Perry (138) and Mohammed Dolley (195) have made it to the semifinals. Salisbury’s Timmy Boyd (132) and Kevion Chunn (195) made it to the semifinals.

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In the 4A Midwest Regional at Glenn, Davie’s Josh Shore (113), Nick Gillis (120), Isaac Strickland (170), Mathew King (182), Bryson Hunter (192) and Anthony Olmedo (220) reached the semifinals.

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In the 1A West Regional at Avery County,  North Rowan’s Tsion Delaney has reached the semifinals at 145.

Admission is $10 today or $6 for the championship session.

 

Catawba baseball

SALISBURY — Palm Beach Atlantic swept a doubleheader from Catawba here Friday at Newman Park, 9-7 and 12-3.

The Sailfish (3-3) spoiled the Indians’ home opener with the sweep. Catawba lost its first five games of the season on the road — four on last weekend’s trip to Florida.

On Friday, Catawba was one strike away from winning the first game, as pitcher Riley Myers was trying to nail down a 7-6 win. However, PB Atlantic’s Riley Herold smacked a three-run homer for the eventual winning margin.

The Indians had built a 4-0 lead, behind a two-run homer from Kyle Smith and run-scoring singles from Joe Butts and Chance Bowden.

Catawba later took a 6-5 lead when Luke Setzer homered in the sixth inning, but the Sailfish tied the game on a homer from Kyle Simon.

The Indians then went up, 7-6, in the seventh inning when Setzer scored on a wild pitch.

Catawba collected 10 hits in the first game, two each from Setzer, Smith, Cameron Morrison and Lee Poteat. Hunter Shepherd went five innings as the starting pitcher, allowing seven hits and five runs.

In the second game, Simon and Herold hit two-run homers in the first inning off of Catawba starter Sawyer Strickland and the Sailfish never looked back. A five-run fifth inning broke the game open.

Smith had three hits, including a triple, and Bowden had two hits for the Indians in Game 2.

The same two teams play again today at Newman Park, with the first pitch scheduled at 1 p.m.

Game 1

PB Atlantic     000  203  103 —   9   12   2

Catawba          202  011  100 —  7   10   3

WP — Tyler Hawkins (1-0).  LP — Riley Myers (0-2).

HR — PBA: Riley Herold, Kyle Simon; Catawba: Kyle Smith, Luke Setzer.

Game 2

PB Atlantic    400  251  000 — 12   14   2

Catawba         000  010  101 —   3    8    1

WP — Johnnie Schneider (1-1).  LP — Sawyer Stickland (0-1).

HR — PBA: Kyle Simon, Riley Herold, Hakeem Rhodes.

  

Catawba softball

Catawba rallied for six runs in the seventh inning and beat UNC Pembroke, 6-4, in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday.

Catawba trailed 3-0 going to the seventh.

Delane Smith homered for the Indians and drove in two runs. Kaylee Cook had two hits. Preston Ellenberg was the winner in relief.

In the nightcap, Catawba (2-2) had no luck against UNC Pembroke’s freshman pitcher Breezy Yelton  (Hickory Ridge) and lost, 8-0. Jordan Dean had a double for the Indians.

McGeachy dies

HICKORY — Neill McGeachy, former director of athletics at Lenoir-Rhyne University, died early Friday morning at the age of 75.

McGeachy was a 1965 Lenoir-Rhyne graduate. While at L-R, McGeachy was a three-sport standout for the Bears in football, basketball, and track. In 1987, he was inducted into the L-R Sports Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 2002, he returned to his alma mater and led the athletics department. Under McGeachy’s leadership, the number of student-athletes grew significantly, and eight sports were added to the L-R athletics program. The Bears won numerous championships and other awards during McGeachy’s tenure.

Before joining the L-R staff, McGeachy served as director of marketing with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Southern Section in Atlanta. Prior to the USTA, he served as founder and president of Sugar Creek Enterprises, Inc., a sports promotions company with offices in Winston-Salem and Charlotte, for 20 years.

With Sugar Creek, McGeachy produced the barn-storming “ACC All-Star games,” featuring some of the league best players — seniors, and others who had completed their collegiate eligibility.

Even earlier in his career, McGeachy coached basketball and was head coach at Duke during the 1973-74 season. Prior to that he served as an assistant coach at Davidson, Wake Forest and Duke (1971-73).

McGeachy retired from L-R prior to the close of the 2015-16 academic year, and was awarded an honorary degree at May commencement.

Jayvee girls

Carson’s jayvee girls lost to South Iredell, 44-31, on Thursday.

Kary Hales scored nine for Carson (17-3). Krystal Sanns had six.

Jasmine King scored 15 and Aliyah Cowan had 14 for the Vikings.

College football

Former A.L. Brown star Dantrell Barkley, a defensive lineman, has signed with Charlotte.