Lady Raiders survive tough test against West McDowell

The East Burke Middle School girls basketball team edged West McDowell by a 27-24 final on Wednesday in Icard, with Sarabeth Bradley scoring 11 points for the Lady Raiders and Maggie Mace adding seven.

With the win, EB moved to 9-0 in Foothills Athletic Conference games this season as it prepares for a showdown with second-place Walter Johnson (8-1) next Thursday, Jan. 23, in Morganton. Speaking of the Lady Yellow Jackets, they earned two victories this week, defeating East McDowell by a 34-25 score on Tuesday in Marion — Walter Johnson received 10 points from D’Miya Beam, nine from Alayla Beam, and seven from Kamya Caldwell — before knocking off visiting Heritage (2-9) by a 37-14 final on Thursday behind 25 points from Alayla Beam.

The Lady Eagles were led by five points from Ansley Compton during Thursday’s game, which was their third contest in as many days. Heritage previously lost to West McDowell, 39-17, on Tuesday in Valdese before collecting a 27-25 home victory over Liberty on Wednesday, with Grace Bugg scoring a team-high 11 points on Tuesday and Compton leading the way with 17 points on Wednesday.

Also on Thursday, Liberty (3-7) was a 41-20 home winner over Table Rock (1-8) thanks to 20 points from Presley McCoy and 14 from Harper Robison, who also had eight and six points, respectively, in the Lady Knights’ loss to Heritage. Meanwhile, the Lady Falcons were paced by 14 points from Alyasia Mosley.

BOYS BASKETBALL

TR, WJ, Liberty win intra-county matchups

Table Rock (9-0) defeated Liberty (5-5) for the second time this month on Thursday, earning a 53-40 road win to remain undefeated in FAC play.

The Falcons were led by 11 points from Raphael Cuthbertson, 10 from Xander Summers, nine from Jordan Debro, and eight from Tobey Davis, while the Knights got 25 points from Nate Coffey and eight from Jack Jandrew a day after beating Heritage by a 55-30 final in Valdese. Coffey was also Liberty’s leading scorer in that game with 18 points, while Abijah Rhoda finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Walter Johnson (8-1) won both of its games this week, topping East McDowell by a 55-40 score on Tuesday in Marion before nabbing a 54-38 home victory over Heritage (0-11) on Thursday. Kylen Caldwell paced the Yellow Jackets with 28 points on Tuesday and 19 on Thursday, while Jace Connelly had 12 points against the Eagles, who also suffered a 41-40 home loss at the hands of West McDowell on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s leading scorers for Heritage were Currie White and Talen Denton with 11 points apiece and Christian Williams with eight, while Denton and Preston Radabaugh had eight and seven points, respectively, on Wednesday. Additionally, the Eagles got 12 points each from White and Williams to go with eight from Gage Smith on Thursday.

And East Burke (4-5) collected a 44-20 win over West McDowell on Wednesday in Icard, although no further details were available.

WRESTLING

Heritage, TR knock off county foes

Heritage (5-4) and Table Rock (3-5) both came out on top in intra-county contests this week, with the Eagles bouncing back from a 58-48 road loss to West McDowell on Tuesday with a 53-48 win over Liberty on Wednesday in Morganton before the Falcons defeated the Knights (3-5) by a 65-36 score on Thursday at home.

In the week’s remaining match, East Burke (3-4) saw its three-match winning streak end courtesy of a 60-42 defeat at West McDowell on Wednesday.

Pinfall victories for Heritage on Tuesday came from Nolan Russ (90 pounds), Joseph Yang (98), Ethan Cline (106), Elijah Morgan (144), Larry Sarver (157), Asher Mishler (175), and Collin Molnar (190), while Eli Fortune (138) won via disqualification. And during Thursday’s victory, the Eagles got pins from Gaige Deal (76), Yang (90), Cline (106), Nathan Taylor (132), Morgan (144), Michael Pace (150), Sarver (157), and Dakari Wilkins (165), with Russ (98) winning by technical fall.

As for Table Rock, its winning grapplers on Thursday included Grayson Yang (76; pin), Noah Yang (83; pin), Kiliko Sigman (90; decision), Zenen Sigmon (98; pin), Collin Pearson (106; pin), Ethan Yang (113; decision), Clayton Chapman (120; pin), Tristen Romero (132; tech fall), Weston Gragg (157; pin), Ian Webb (165; pin), Hayden Hopper (215; pin), and Luke Kota (250; pin). On the other side, Liberty got victories from Gunner King (126; pin), Trenton Abee (138; pin), Oliver Olson (144; pin), Liam Singleton (150; pin), Conner Mahoney (175; forfeit), and Mason Taylor (190; pin).

A day earlier, the Knights won all of their bouts via pinfall. Their victorious wrestlers were (no weight classes reported) Eli Miller, Nate Holland, Adrien Hurtado-Yanez, King, Abee, Mahoney, Taylor, and Riley Singleton.

Finally, the Raiders won six bouts by pinfall in their only match of the week, with those victories coming from Luke Duncan (113), Klay Kircher (138), Clint Sweet (157), Dylan Rees (165), Austin Sanderfer (175), and Creed Spurlock (190).