Asheboro Courier Tribune - 02/17/2019

Copyright (c)2019 Gatehouse Media, Edition 02/17/2019February 18, 2019 8:13 am (GMT +5:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to 97% from original to fit letter page

ASHEBORO — With thehigh school basketball tour-naments beginning Monday,it’s time to think back ona regular season that pro-vided quite a lot of thrills forRandolph County teams.

There were league champions— the Wheatmore boys in thePiedmont Athletic Confer-

ence and theRandlemangirls in thePAC — andthere wereplenty ofexciting mo-ments andachieve-ments, in-cluding TheCourier-TribuneChristmasInvita-tional title

for the SouthwesternRandolph girls and theAsheboro High School boys.

But in order for a team toachieve the goals that aretalked about at the begin-ning of the season, it needsmore than just a playerwho can score, a player whocan rebound and a playerwho can dish out assists.

A team needs a player whowill do anything in his or herpower to make sure the teamplays at its utmost best. Itneeds a player who will dothe “little things” that a coachpreaches about on a dailybasis. It needs a player whoputs the team before himselfor herself. It needs a playerwho works hard in practice,no matter how many minuteson the floor he or she sees.

It is this special personthat I would like to honoras I present my 34thannual All-Unsung Team.

The girls go firstYazzmyn Johnson

(Asheboro) — The seniorguard has stepped up andbeen a big part of the BlueComets’ success this sea-son. She is quick, plays wellon defense and gives herteam plenty of spark.

Edi Austin (ProvidenceGrove) — Called the quiet-est kid in the program, thefreshman got off to a very suc-cessful start. It has been a bitmore difficult for her of late,but she continues to give theteam her best each time shesteps on the court. She is avery positive player and cer-tainly has a very bright future.

Kylie Biggs (Wheatmore)— Speaking of bright futures,she has one as well. She givesher team plenty of positivityfrom the floor and the bench.She has stepped in as a fresh-man and contributed rightaway, giving the Warriors somestrength under the boards.It will be fun watching hergrow and improve every year.

Bre Brown (Trinity)— There probably isn’t any-one who has sacrificed morethan her. A senior, she real-ized the Bulldogs were ina rebuilding year, but shenever wavered. She gaveher team strong leadershipand showed a very youngteam how to play the game.

Alecia Johnson(Randleman) — She maybe under the radar, but shehas made plenty of contribu-tions to the Tigers. A strongdefensive player, she hastaken the most charges onthe team and plays with apositive approach. She alsois a solid offensive player.

Ellen Moore (EasternRandolph) — A 5-foot,1-inch junior, she plays witha heart that is 6-5. Neverafraid to guard much biggerplayers, she was fearless

See COLUMN, page 4B

These playersdeserve plentyof praise for theirefforts all season

DennisGarciadgarcia@courier-tribune.com

COLUMN

Sports The Courier-Tribune

Sunday, February 17, 2019

1B

Fresh faces and new sponsorsgive Daytona 500 throwback feelFrom wire reports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.— Among those tryingto win the Daytona 500this year are a Floridawatermelon farmer, ashort-track champion fromNew England, a televisionanalyst and a 22-year-oldwhose career nearly wasderailed by a brain tumor.

The front row is theyoungest in Daytona 500history and it will be Wil-liam Byron, a Liberty Uni-versity student who hadhis wisdom teeth removedin the offseason, leadingthe field to green in today’sshowcase race to kick offthe NASCAR season.

The overall look of thenation’s top racing serieshas undergone a transfor-mation the last few seasonsand proof is plastered on

the hood of Corey LaJoie’scar. His full facial-hairedface adorns his Ford Mus-tang, which easily makeshim the most recognizabledriver among the eight Day-tona 500 rookies in the field.

“He lookslike he’sgoing to eatyou everylap,” quippedClint Bowyer.

LaJoie’spaint schemefor his low-budget teamis courtesyof sponsor Old Spice, whichchose “The Great AmericanRace” to promote its dryshampoo. Manscaped.combought the space on theback of Landon Cassill’scar, Bubba Wallace signedAftershokz headphonesfor the race. After Casey

Mears made the field — hisfirst race in two years —skateboard rim maker RimRyderz joined his program.

This Daytona 500 is un-like any in recent memoryand truly highlights the

dramatic lossof star powerfrom justfour yearsago. The 2015race featuredJeff Gordon,Dale Earn-hardt Jr.,Tony Stew-art, Matt

Kenseth, Carl Edwards,Bobby Labonte, MichaelWaltrip and Danica Pat-rick. All are now retired.

Some of the big-moneysponsors in that race in-cluded Lowe’s, Target, Dol-lar General, GoDaddy and5-Hour Energy. All have

since pulled out of NAS-CAR.

What remains is a new-look NASCAR that nonethe-less has a throwback feel.

NASCAR was built onthe premise that if a bud-ding driver or team ownercould scrape together thefunds to field a car, theycould bring it down to thebeach and try to make thebig show. As the sport ex-ploded past its Southernorigins, it became nearlyimpossible for a new driverto claw his way into a ride.

But change has createdopportunity — even sec-ond and third chances fora guy like Ross Chastain.The eighth-generationwatermelon farmer im-pressed a sponsor with hiswork ethic and landed

See DAYTONA, page 7B

TNS Photo

THAT WAS EASY — UNC’s Brandon Huffman (42) finishes offa dunk late in the second half against Wake Forest.

Tar Heels have notrouble with DeacsFrom wire reports

WINSTON-SALEM — Well,that didn’t take long.

North Carolina made easywork of Wake Forest on Sat-urday, storming out to an 18-0lead in the first six minutesof the game. The Tar Heelsled by as many as 28 pointsin the first half and defeatedthe Demon Deacons 95-57. Itwas the most lopsided loss forWake Forest at Joel Coliseumin almost three decades.

The eighth-ranked TarHeels (20-5, 10-2) were comingoff a disappointing 69-61 lossto No. 4 Virginia on Mondayand wanted to put on a showagainst the Demon Deacons.

Mission accomplished.The Tar Heels shot 74

percent from the floor inthe first half, while hold-ing the Demon Deacons to

21 percent, and led 49-21 athalftime. The only thing badthing for the Tar Heels wasthat they turned it over.

“We caught Wake For-est on a good day for us anda bad day for them,” UNCcoach Roy Williams said.

Graduate senior Cam John-son, who twisted his ankle onMonday, looked fine. He startedthe game on fire, making hisfirst eight shots and finishedwith 27 points. He was 10-for-13 from the floor and 7-for-10from behind the 3-point line.

Freshman guard Coby White,whose birthday was Saturday,scored 10 points, had 6 assistsand grabbed 5 rebounds.

“We had a lot of guys con-tribute, which was big,” UNCsenior forward Luke Maye,who had 10 points and seven

See ACC, page 5B

Four state champions!

GREENSBORO –Thousands of wres-tlers began the seasonmonths ago with theultimate goal of fin-ishing it as a statechampion in February.

Saturday, fourwrestlers from Ran-dolph County achievedthat ultimate goal.

Asheboro’s MichaelSmith, Wheatmore’sEthan Oakley andUwharrie CharterAcademy’s Isaiah

Martin and HaydenWaddell each wonindividual state titlesat the NCHSAA StateChampionships at theGreensboro Coliseum.

UCA also cappedthe event off by win-ning the team portionof the competitionand Eagles wrestlerHeaven Fitch be-came the first femalewrestler to place intournament history.

Smith won the3-A state champion-ship in the 220-poundclassification by a3-2 overtime deci-

sion over Ray Dixonfrom Douglas Byrd.

“When it started,he was wrestlingdirty, and then theycalled a stalling,”Smith said. “But Ijust kept pushing thepace and I knew Ijust had to wrestle.”

Smith (50-2) wonhis second statetitle, going back-to-back after winninglast year, to claimAHS’ sixth statechampionship inthe last five years.

“It was more nerve-racking than last time,and it showed thatI’ve still got what it

takes,” said Smith, aBelmont Abbey signee.“The coaches keptpushing me everyweek — I wouldn’thave made it backhere without them.”

“The kid’s got a lotof perseverance andhe just doesn’t liketo lose,” AHS coachWes Berrier said.“It’s tough to come inhere and win back-to-back. To do it isjust remarkable andthere’s only a smallclass of kids in NorthCarolina that havedone it — it’s an elitegroup of wrestlers.”

Smith fell behind

twice in the match,1-0 and 2-1, beforerallying to tie thematch at 2-2 in thethird set and win itwith 43 seconds left inthe overtime round.

At the 2-A level,Oakley won the statechampionship at 126pounds. Oakley wonby decision, but wasdominant in his matchagainst Cayman Car-penter from BunkerHill, with four pointsin the first round andfive each in the secondand third to win 14-0.Oakley becomes a

See STATE, page 2B

PJ Ward-Brown / Speical to The Courier-Tribune

A HAT TRICK — UCA’s Hayden Waddell captured histhird state championship Saturday.

AHS’ Smith, UCA’sWaddell and Martin,WHS’ Oakley win titles

PJ Ward-Brown / Speical to The Courier-Tribune

BACK-TO-BACK — Asheboro High School’s Michael Smith celebrates a state title.

By Chris Stilescstiles@courier-tribune.com

@ChrisStilesCT

Asheboro Courier Tribune - 02/17/2019

Copyright (c)2019 Gatehouse Media, Edition 02/17/2019February 18, 2019 8:14 am (GMT +5:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to 75% from original to fit letter page

3 STORES IN ASHEBORO, 1 IN RANDLEMAN, 1 IN BISCOE & 1 IN SEAGROVE OPEN 7 DAYS

$2599SPECIAL PRICE

Eagle

$2449Ctn.

Riverside

Neese’sSausageSausage

Ctn.

$319LB.

$899

Coors &Miller Lite

12 Pk. 12 Oz. cans & bottles

12 OZ. 24 PK$1499

Natural Light

L D Cigarettes

$2449Ctn.

$2399Ctn.

Berley

$699

Milwaukee’sBest

Ice & Light

15 PK

2 FOR$3.50

6 PK. CANSCoke OR Pepsi

REG. $2.19 EACH

The Courier-Tribune

Sunday, February 17, 2019 2BSports

1512-F Zoo Pkwy Asheboro • 336-626-5707Hours: Thursday - Sunday 11 am - 9 pm

Want to try SomethingDifferent?

Daily Specials:

Thursday: Meatloaf ~ Friday: LasagnaFriday, Saturday, Sunday: Baby Back Ribs

~ Daily Specials ~~ SSalladds ~ PPasttas && SStteakks ~

ASHEBORO — A back-and-forthaffair throughout came down to thefinal seconds, then an overtime ses-sion. But when the score was addedup on Friday night, the Southwest-ern Randolph High School varsityboys basketball team fell short.

The Cougars lost to SoutheastGuilford, 56-52 in overtime, toclose out their regular-season.

SWR never led in the overtimeperiod, though they had a chanceto tie the score in the final minutebefore SEG free throws gave theFalcons the two-possession leadthat proved to be the final score.

“We didn’t execute down thestretch and that falls on my shoul-ders,” SWR coach Matt Kisersaid. “We had every opportunity.They made a big shot and somebig plays when they needed to.”

SEG was 7-for-8 at the free-throwline in the extra session, while SWRwas 1-for-2. A 3-pointer by SEG’sLars Nilsen on the first possessionof overtime was SEG’s only field goalof the period, but that gave themthe lead they would not relinquish.

The game went to overtimeafter SEG’s Antonio Hooks hit agame-tying 3-pointer with twoseconds left in regulation.

SEG (2-10 Mid-Piedmont Con-ference, 6-18 overall) took a 53-51lead with 1:25 to go when Cam-eron Kimber hit a 3-pointer, butthe Cougars answered on a TannerFerguson trey with 55 seconds leftto go up 54-53. Two free throws by

Chris Hardin with 8 seconds re-maining stretched the Cougar leadto 56-53 before Hooks’ clutch shot.

SWR finishes their regular-seasonslate at 1-11 in the MPC and 5-19overall, and the Cougars will bethe No. 7 seed in the conferencetournament next week, opening atSouthern Guilford on Tuesday.

“The big thing is playing 32 min-utes,” Kiser said. “We’ve played withevery team in our conference for ahalf or for three quarters, but it’sa matter of doing it for all 32 min-utes. We need to take care of theball and rebound and if we do thosethings I feel good about our chancesno matter who we’re playing.”

Tanner Ferguson scored 28points for SWR on his seniornight and Hardin had 12. Kim-ber led SEG with 15 points.

Seniors Adam Callahan, BlakeGarner, Brighton Long and Fergu-son were honored before the game.

“I appreciate all the work they’veput in the program and their dedi-cation and time,” Kiser said.

Both teams struggled offensivelyearly in the game and SEG led 8-4after the first quarter. SWR took thelead for the first time when Fergusonhit a 3-pointer to go up 15-14 midwaythrough the second, and the Cou-gars led 20-18 at half after a LukeDalke bucket late in the period.

SEG used a 10-2 run to start thethird quarter and took a 28-22 lead.The Cougars answered with theirown run of 11-3 to take a 33-31 leadand led 38-35 at the end of the third.

SWR led by as many as five inthe fourth and never trailed in theperiod until after Kimber’s three.

SWR boys lose heartbreakerBy Chris Stilescstiles@courier-tribune.com

@ChrisStilesCT

StateFrom page 1B

two-time state champion afterwinning in 2017 as a fresh-man; he lost in the state finallast year.

“I knew it was going tobe tough,” Oakley said. “Mymindset changed comingback from a loss last year inthe finals. I got my mindsetback where it needed to be.”

“If any kid deserves it,it’s him,” WHS coach PhilipYarbrough said. “He’s theconsummate teammate andputs everyone else in frontof himself. So to see himachieve his ultimate goalis fulfilling for all of us.”

He joins his brother as atwo-time state champion.

“He came down in thewarmup area and gave mesome motivation,” Oakleysaid. “He also took a loss hissophomore year and he alwaysgives me tips and helps me.”

Martin won the 1-A statechampionship at 182 bypinning Voyager’s WesleySharpe in 46 seconds.

“It means a lot and itfeels good,” Martin said.

“I’ve worked hard for this. Icouldn’t have done it withoutCoach (Chris) Waddell.”

Martin finishes the seasonat a perfect 59-0 after pinningevery opponent in the firstround.

“It’s incredible what he’sdone,” Waddell said.

Hayden Waddell, also fromUCA, won a 1-A state champi-onship at 120 pounds, winningthe state title for the thirdstraight year by defeatingDylan Lowery from Mitchell.

“That’s as nervous as I’vebeen,” Hayden Waddell said.“The third time being here andI was putting everything onthe line, so it was a lot to thinkabout. I’ve worked so hardand all that effort pays off.”

Winning three champion-ships and finishing an un-defeated season at 61-0 wasthe culmination of a lifetimegoal for Hayden, the son ofUCA coach Chris Waddell.

“It’s been a goal since Iwas little,” Hayden Wad-dell said. “It’s a lot of pres-sure, but now it’s a relief.”

“I wish I had 100 like him,”Chris Waddell said. “The drive,the work ethic and his mindset— and he’s very humble anddoesn’t flaunt what he does.”

UCA also made historywith one of their other wres-tlers as Heaven Fitch (54-9)finished fourth at 106, becom-ing the first female to placein state tournament history.

“It means a lot to showprogression for girls wres-tling,” Fitch said. “I’m justanother wrestler — I’m notsomething to be taken forgranted. This is what I wanted,just to place, and I did.”

She won her first matchof the day on Saturday by amedical forfeit, then pinnedher next opponent before los-ing the third-place match bymajority decision. She was2-2 in the tournament.

“She’s one of the toughestkids around,” Chris Wad-dell said. “I don’t think ofher as a female wrestler — Ithink of her as a wrestler.”

The two undefeated statechampionships and Fitchhelped lead the Eagles to theevent’s team championship,adding to the 1-A state dualteam championship the teamwon two weeks ago. UCA had99.5 points, runner-up Rob-binsville had 97.5 and third-place Rosewood had 96.5.

“Two undefeated wrestlersand state champions, unde-feated as a team, dual teamstate champions and the first

girl to place at state — it’s aperfect storm and we’ll neverhave another season like thisone,” Chris Waddell said.

The UCA coach was oneof two coaches named 1-Astate coach of the year.

“That’s cool, and it’s greatto get individual awards,but for the team to do stuffis more meaningful for me,”Chris Waddell said. “I alwaystell them I live through themand what they accomplish.”

In addition to the fourfinalists and Fitch, four ad-ditional Randolph wrestlersplaced in the tournament,including three from UCA.

Josh Poteat (34-6) fromUCA finished third at 113,recovering from a first-roundloss on Friday to win threematches on Saturday. He wonmatches Saturday by pin, sud-den-victory decision and deci-sion, finishing 3-1 in the event.

Jerry Jimenez (52-17) fromUCA finished third at 152.Jimenez pinned both his Sat-urday opponents to finish 3-1.

Caleb Bryant (55-12) fromUCA also finished third at 145.He won a consolation match bymajority decision and pinnedhis opponent in the third-placematch to go 3-1 for the week.

Trinity’s Aaron Ortega-Per-ez (42-16) placed sixth at 113,

though he lost his two matcheson Saturday, both by decision,to finish the tournament 2-3.

Six other area wrestlerswere still alive in the tourna-ment’s consolation rounds en-tering Saturday. UCA’s ShaneCuda (40-15) won a match bypin at 132, but lost his nextmatch by majority decision tofinish the tournament at 1-2.

Jaime Bernal (34-13) fromUCA won his first matchof the day at 195 by deci-sion, but lost by pin to endhis tournament at 1-2.

Asheboro’s Sam Voncan-non (53-7) lost by decisionand was eliminated at 170,finishing the tournament 2-2.

At 106, Trinity’s DavidMakupson (44-15) was elimi-nated when he was pinnedin his only match Saturday,going 2-2 for the tournament.

Steven Trim (32-12) fromRandleman was pinned andeliminated at 285, finish-ing the tournament at 2-2.

UCA’s Timmy Blake (43-20) lost by 8-4 decision in hisconsolation match at 126,ending the event at 0-2.

Sergio Saldana (45-14),also from UCA, lost his lonematch on Saturday to bowout of the tournament at 0-2.

PJ Ward-Brown / Speical to The Courier-Tribune

THAT WAS QUICK — Uwharrie Charter’s Isaish Martin pins Voyager’s Wesley Sharpe in 46 seconds during the1-A 182-pound championship Saturday.

PJ Ward-Brown / Speical to The Courier-Tribune

ON HIS WAY — Wheatmore’s Ethan Oakley records some points againstBunker Hill’s Cayman Carpenter Saturday.