Cavs, Patriots win team portions of track meets
Both East Burke track and field teams won at R-S Central’s Tri-City Invitational on April 16 before Freedom hosted a second straight Wednesday meet, with the boys edging Watauga to follow up last week’s girls team victory.
Kendale Cook stole the show for the Cavaliers last week in Rutherfordton, winning the boys 200 meters (21.90), 110-meter hurdles (14.78), and 300 hurdles (41.24).
Teammate Kendall McFalls claimed both the girls 200 (26.15) and 400 meters (1:00.55), Emmonie Haith won the girls 100 (13.02) and placed second in the 200, Gracie Smith won the 100 hurdles (17.90) and was second in the 300 hurdles, and Jesiah Rees won the boys 100 (10.80) and placed second in the 200.
Other EB winners were Alex Hernandez (boys discus, 123’9”) and Bryson Church (boys shot put, 49’6”) plus the girls 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays and boys 4x200 relay, while Josh Hicks (boys triple jump, 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles) was second in three events and Sarabeth Bradley (girls high jump, triple jump, and 300 hurdles) was third in three events.
EB’s Elijah Baker was second in both the boys 1600 and 3200 meters, Nathan Oyola was second in the boys high jump, Genevieve Wilson was second in the girls 3200 meters, and Maliena Smith was third in the girls 1600 meters.
The next-highest placing county squad was the fifth-place Draughn girls, who got wins from Adelei Morrow (girls high jump, 5’) and Anna Cape (girls pole vault, 8’6”). Morrow also took second place in the 1600 meters, and Audrey Pace was second in the girls triple jump, while Noah Thomas’ third-place mark in the 3200 meters event led the Draughn boys.
Patton’s girls also won twice, with Layla McGuire taking the 800 meters (2:36.95) and Julia Niehoff the 1600 meters (6:21.93). Noah Tallent ran fifth in the 800 meters to pace the Panther boys at the meet.
Two days later, EB and Freedom competed in the Blue Ridge Classic at A.C. Reynolds, with the Cavalier boys placing fourth and the girls fifth.
The EB boys’ wins came via Cook (110 hurdles, 15.08), Church (shot put, 50’½”), and Baker (3200 meters, 10:38.42), while Hicks was runner-up in the 110 hurdles, Rees was second in the 200 meters and fourth in the 400, and the boys 4x400 relay squad of Cook, Hicks, Baker, and RJ Williams placed third.
McFalls swept the titles in the girls 100 (12.51), 200 (25.99), and 400 meters (58.96), and teammate Jordan Auldredge was fourth in the girls pole vault.
Freedom’s top performances came from Micah Phasiname (third in the boys long jump) and Ava Cooke (fifth in the girls 400 meters).
Phasiname had an even better day Wednesday, winning the high jump (5’10”), long jump (20’8”), and triple jump (38’9½”) in a three-team meet that also included the North Carolina School for the Deaf.
FHS’ Julius Dominguez won the boys 110-meter hurdles (18.68) and 300 hurdles (48.04), Bryce Chapman won the 100 meters (10.88), Trent Davis won the 200 meters (22.42), and the Patriots also claimed the boys 4x100, 4x200, and 4x800 relays.
On the girls side, FHS was also dominant in the relays, winning the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400. Additionally, six Lady Patriot athletes claimed one event apiece. They included Aniah Queen (100 meters, 13.10), Cooke (400 meters, 1:02.35), Kaylin Norman (100-meter hurdles, 26.36), Jolaina Operato (pole vault, 6’6”), ExZandria Horton (triple jump, 30’6”), and Nhiya Caldwell (shot put, 27’7”).
NCSD was led at the crosstown meet by the efforts of Rivka Vincent (third in the girls discus, fifth in shot put) and Christian Paul (sixth in boys long jump, 12th in 100).
BOYS TENNIS
Dragons three-peat; 14 county regional qualifiers
It didn’t come in outright fashion like the previous two, but NCSSM-Morganton claimed its third consecutive conference title after gaining Catawba River 1A/2A/3A Conference home triumphs on back-to-back days on April 16-17.
The Dragons (8-4, 7-1 CRC), who tied Thomas Jefferson for this year’s CRC regular-season championship, first topped Piedmont Community Charter by a 9-0 margin before defeating Mountain Island Charter, 8-1.
In singles on April 16, NCSSM-M got wins from No. 1 Andy Quach (6-0, 6-1), No. 2 Akshaj Puttoju (6-3, 1-6, 10-6), No. 3 Nash Taylor (6-3, 6-3), No. 4 August Cook (6-0, 6-2), No. 5 Aarav Patel (6-1, 6-2), and No. 6 Quincy Stanley (6-3, 6-4) before, in ladder order, Quach/Taylor (8-2), Cook/Puttoju (8-3), and Stanley/Patel (8-2) completed the sweep with doubles triumphs.
The following day, NCSSM-M gained forfeit wins on the No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles lines to go with on-court wins from No. 2 Quach (6-4, 4-6, 10-6), No. 3 Taylor (6-2, 6-2), No. 4 Patel (6-0, 6-0), and No. 5 Stanley (6-0, 6-0) in singles plus No. 1 Quach/Nicholas Levine (8-6) and No. 2 Taylor/Patel (8-1) in doubles.
The Dragons ended the regular season on a slight downer Tuesday, however, falling 6-1 at nonconference South Caldwell as only Cook won his No. 5 singles match, 6-0, 6-2.
Freedom (2-8 Northwestern 6A/7A Conf.) ended the regular season on the other side of the coin with a 6-3 victory at McDowell to complete a sweep of its longtime rivals on April 16.
The Patriots’ singles winners were No. 1 Ezra Scott (6-2, 6-0), No. 4 Everett Hallman (6-2, 6-0), and No. 5 Edwin Rodriguez (6-0, forf.), while Freedom also claimed the No. 6 singles match and Nos. 1 and 3 doubles matches by forfeit.
All four county teams were then slated to participate in NCHSAA West Pre-Regional individual tournaments on Monday.
In the 4A Pool B event at Brevard College, East Burke’s Yingchi Yang (6-1, 6-1) won in singles and Braxton Kirkland/Kevin Lee (6-2, 6-0) won in doubles to join teammates Luke Borders and Haiden Dale/Noah Ramsey as regional qualifiers.
Patton hosted the 3A Pool A action, with Bryant Arrowood and Ethan Beall having qualified for regionals in singles but Carter Johnson/Dev Patel and Henry Carlson/Shiv Patel losing Monday and failing to join them as doubles qualifiers.
No NCSSM-M players were in action Monday as slated in 1A/2A Pool B at Bradley Community Center in Gastonia as Puttoju and Taylor in singles and Levine/Quach and Gupta/Cook had already qualified for regionals.
And no Freedom players made it through 6A Pool A action at South Caldwell on Monday.
Next up, the state was set to announce dual-team playoff pairings late Friday. Round one is April 27, with Patton (6-4) expected to open at home, Freedom on the road, and EB (13-0) and NCSSM having byes until round two on April 29 as top-eight seeds in the 4A and 1A/2A West draws, respectively.
Individual regionals are set for May 1-2 at Elkin Municipal Park (1A/2A), Gardner-Webb University (3A), and Brevard College (4A).
GIRLS SOCCER
Lady Panthers, Dragons drop showdowns
Patton had a chance to take over sole possession of second place late last week at home, while NCSSM-Morganton had a chance to move into a second-place tie in its conference, but both local teams lost and settled for third place to date.
The Lady Panthers (12-2-1, 7-2-1 WPC) fell 2-0 at home against East Rutherford on April 17 after the same two teams played to a scoreless tie earlier this season in Forest City.
But Patton bounced back to gain a 9-0 home win over West Caldwell on Tuesday as Kacey Mendoza-Ailon supplied a hat trick and Jaxyn Nolen added her 17th and 18th goals of the year to tie Lady Panthers classmate Becca Velasquez for the county lead.
Ana Sic also notched two goals, Brenda Lopez-Ortiz added a goal and an assist, Katrina Vu scored a goal, Lydia Jones had an assist, and goalkeeper Jincy Gibby recorded the shutout for Patton, who played at unbeaten, league-leading Hibriten late Friday.
The only other county team to win over the last week was East Burke (4-8-1, 4-6 WPC), who claimed a 1-0 decision on Monday at Chase to win for a fourth time in its last six games, though no statistics were available from that game. EB then was shut out, 6-0, at R-S Central on Tuesday.
NCSSM-Morganton (6-5, 6-3 CRC) was tied 1-all at the half but fell 2-1 at home against Thomas Jefferson on Wednesday. No Lady Dragons’ statistics were available.
Freedom (3-11-1, 1-6 NWC) lost 4-0 at home against South Caldwell on April 17 and 4-0 at Alexander Central on Tuesday, while Draughn (1-7-5, 0-6-3 WPC) played to a 0-0 tie at home against West Caldwell on April 17 before a 9-0 home loss to Hibriten on Tuesday.
BOYS GOLF
Patton, NCSSM-Morganton win league matches
Both Patton and NCSSM-Morganton won their third total match and second in conference action over the last month, with the Panthers (338) claiming a WPC 3A/4A match at Silver Creek Golf Club on Monday and the Dragons (172) winning a nine-hole CRC 1A/2A/3A match at Lincoln Country Club on Tuesday.
Freshman Matthew Piercy and sophomore Mason Brown tied for third place individually with rounds of 80 to lead Patton, while Noah Krogel shot 85, and Reid Buchanan shot 93 to complete the team total.
East Burke (363) finished fifth, led by Cash Wittenberg’s 86 and Conner Kerley’s 87. Brody Simpson added a score of 94, and Blake Turner carded 96. And for seventh-place Draughn (382), Cash Baker shot 85, Ethan Cline shot 86, Daniel Spottswood shot 99, and Noah Hoyle rounded out the team total with a 112.
Along with Piercy and Brown, Baker, Krogel, Wittenberg, and Cline also finished inside the top 10 individually.
The following day, the Dragons claimed a second consecutive league match behind stellar performances from Davis McColley (41, fourth), Lance Morgan (42, fifth), Arti Phoncharoensri (44), and Will Thompson (45).
And Freedom was also in action twice this week in NWC 6A/7A matches, on Monday at Marion Lake Club and on Wednesday at Lake Hickory Country Club. The Patriots finished sixth both times, with team totals of 347 on Monday and 354 on Wednesday.
Greyson Snipes shot a team-best 84 for the Patriots at Marion Lake Club, while teammates Timothy Cope shot an 86, Trenton Smith 87, and Cooper Price 90. Cope fired a 79 two days later, while Price shot 85, Snipes 86, and Ezra Bumgarner 104.
LACROSSE
Lady Panthers play T.C. Roberson tough at home
The Patton girls lacrosse team hung tough on Monday at home versus conference opponent T.C. Roberson, losing just 11-7.
Elliot Wilson scored a team-high four goals, Camber Buzze added two goals, Nora Wykle won three groundballs, and goalkeeper Alyvia Civitello posted 15 saves for the Lady Panthers (1-10, 1-8).
The Patton boys (1-10, 0-9) the same day fell to T.C. Roberson, 15-5, trailing 5-2 after one quarter and 9-4 at the half but scoring just once after halftime. No individual statistics were available.
