From staff reports

HICKORY —  The Catawba College basketball team put five men in double figures and won 74-60 at Lenoir-Rhyne in South Atlantic Conference rivalry action on Wednesday.

Javeon Jones led the way for the Indians with 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals. Kris Robinson and Kaleb Wallace added 13 points apiece, while Peyton Gerald chipped in 11 points. Dre Nelson was the fifth to score in double figures with 10 points and eight boards.

It was the eighth straight victory for Catawba (14-4, 8-1), the longest winning streak since 2008-09.

  Catawba piled up 19 assists on 27 made field goals, while limiting the Bears to just 3-for-20 from 3-point range. The Indians  again capitalized off their defense, scoring 25 points off Bear turnovers.

Nas Tyson scored 15 for Lenoir-Rhyne (8-10, 3-7).

Women’s basketball

HICKORY —  Lenoir-Rhyne’s women’s basketball team, ranked 16th, edged Catawba 65-64 on Wednesday in a South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball game at Shuford Gym.

Catawba missed two potential game-winners in the final 20 seconds.

Lyrik Thorne led Catawba (15-4, 8-2) with 19 points and seven rebounds. Sara McIntosh added 16 points and six boards with Janiya Downs (South Rowan) scoring a dozen with six rebounds.

Jalen Gaithers led four Bears (17-2, 7-2) in double figures with 14.

Catawba continues a three-game road swing with at Lincoln Memorial on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Catawba 16  17   15  16  — 64

L-Rhyne  22  13   17  13  — 65

Catawba — Thorne 19, McIntosh 16, Downs 12, Ford 7, Porter 6, Wampler 2, Spry 2.

Lenoir-Rhyne — Gathers 14, Harman 13, Crooks 12, Hudson 12, Fields 7, Stull 4, Sims 3.

•••

Livingstone’s women  crushed Morris 90-34 on Tuesday for a non-conference win.

Bria Griffith led the Blue Bears with 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting.

College baseball

The Wingate Bulldogs were picked as the  South Atlantic Conference baseball preseason favorite.

The Bulldogs received 12 first-place votes from the conference’s head baseball coaches and 144 total points.

Lenoir-Rhyne was voted No. 2 with 125 total points, while Newberry earned the No. 3 spot with 123 points and one first-place vote.

Catawba placed fourth in the poll with 118 points, followed by Carson-Newman at No. 5 with 93 points and Lincoln Memorial at No. 6 with 89 points.

  

HS  baseball

Chris Cauble, the head coach since Carson opened in 2006, has stepped down as the Cougars’ baseball coach.

Kyle Bridges will lead the Cougars this season.

Stories on Cauble and Bridges are upcoming.

HS football

Salisbury running back JyMikaah Wells has received his first Division I offer from North Carolina Central.

Salisbury DB Jalen Chunn, West Rowan back Landon Jacobs, West DB Lee Vaughters, West linebacker Damarion Phillips and West defensive lineman  Alijiah Gray have received offers from Division III schools such as Ferrum, Greensboro and NC Wesleyan.

• Breon Holmes was announced as Cox Mill’s new head coach.

Holmes was an assistant coach at Ardrey Kell. He played college ball at Methodist.

HS indoor track

Salisbury has the state’s top-ranked boys and girls 4×400 relay teams.

HS basketball

West Rowan’s shook off a sluggish first half and beat A.L. Brown 63-60 in a non-conference game on Wednesday in Mount Ulla.

Athan Gill scored 28 for the Falcons (12-6). Brant Graham and Kayvone Norman scored 11 each.

Foul trouble and an early thigh injury limited high-scoring Will Givens, and West played without Romir Hairston.

Xavier Chambers was spectacular for the Wonders (3-15) with 29 points.

West — Gill 28, Norman 11, Graham 11, Givens 8, Holmes 5.

•••

Rockwell Christian junior Chasen Hall reached 1,000 points this week,

The Chargers (22-3) romped 80-37 against Shining Light Baptist.

• Hall scored 30 points and Jacob Mills had 25 in a 78-55 win against Calvary Christian.

•••

Champion Hayden had 24 points and 14 rebounds in North Hills’  74-65 win against Covenant Classical on Wednesday. Jerrod Drye scored 22, and Michael Brown had 18.

It was the first conference win for the Eagles since 2018.

NH   24    9  23  18  —  74 

CC     10  14 10   31   — 65

North Hills — Hayden 26, Drye 20, Brown 18, R. Talbott 6, Strong 2, Wippenbeck 2

• Hayden scored 32 points and had 23 rebounds for North Hills (10-11)  in an 83-77 win against Lee Park Prep.

The Eagles play at Hickory Christian on Thursday.

NH 14  25  24  20   — 83

LP  16  14  23  24   — 77

North Hills —  Hayden 32, Brown 21, Drye 16, Strong 8, K. Talbott 4, Hager 2

  

HS wrestling

On Senior Night, Carson  lost to East Lincoln 48-30 but bounced back to beat North Stanly 60-12.

The Cougars finished 15-7.

•••

North Rowan’s Khor’on Miller won the championship at 182 pounds in the Central Carolina Tournament.

Salisbury’s Tryee Brown and Malachi Roberts-Moore had runner-up finishes, while N’Isaiah Childers placed third.

Thomasville won the tournament with 266 points. Next were East Davidson (125), Lexington (111), West Davidson (110), South Davidson (80), Salisbury  (51) and North Rowan (38).

HS softball

Hunter Gibbons will be the head coach of the Carson Cougars this season.

She was a standout player as a West Rowan shortstop and was a powerful slugger at Western Carolina University.

She graduated in 2019 with the WCU program career records for homers (35) and RBIs (129).

Gibbons has been an assistant at Carson. She has replaced Charissa Duncan,  who guided the Cougars to an 81-48 record in six seasons, including the 2018 team that made the regional finals.

Duncan has moved into the college coaching ranks as an assistant at Guilford, where she was a standout player.

Lady Legion softball

Allie Marshall Lyerly, who was a standout for the Catawba Indians, will be the head coach of the Rowan County Senior Lady Legion this summer.

Adam Patterson, who has been an assistant Legion baseball coach, will be taking on the role of team manager/AD with the softball program.

Local golf

GARS members played at Warrior.

Low ‘A’ Flight player was Larry Petrea with a net of 69.45.

Low ‘B’ Flight player was Les Loman with a net of 68.03.

Low ‘C’ Flight player was John Flowers with a net of 64.97.

Low ‘D’ Flight player was Carl Moore with a net of 65.91.

Petrea shot a 75 to take low gross, while Flowers won low net.

Jim Brown shot a net of 66.98 to take the Super Senior title.

College football

Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker (Salisbury) was named to the  SEC All-Freshman team.

•••

Barton running back Malcolm Wilson, who starred at North Rowan, announced that he has entered the transfer portal.

College softball

Catawba is picked to finish 13th (out of 13) in South Atlantic Conference softball.

Anderson is the preseason favorite.

Rowan Bulls

The Rowan County Bulls open the East Coast Basketball League season on Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. at home (Hall Gym) against the Winston-Salem Wolves.

The Bulls’ roster will include players such as Avery Patterson, Ricky Clemons and former Catawba star Donald Rutherford.

Patterson averaged 35.8  points per game last season.

Stephen Heggins is the team owner. John Davis is general manager.