Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
THEY TWEETED ITFollow @GazetteSports to see what sports people, locally and nationally, are saying.
What a weekend, great memories! Can’t thank everyone enough for all the love & support! Amazing!
— Retiring NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon (@JeffGordonWeb)
I like the symmetry of the 15-0 Warriors and the 0-15 76ers. Brings balance to the NBA standings.
— ESPN’s J.A. Adande (@jadande)
The Gaston Gazette | www.GastonGazette.com
HOW TO REACH US: Sports News: 704-869-1841 Fax: 704-867-5751 • Mail: P.O. Box 1538 Gastonia, 28053 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.GastonGazette.com • Page edited by Dan Moberger
Sports ’Pack pull off the upset
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
NEW YORK (AP) — North Carolina State had a two-part plan Tuesday night: clog the lane defensively against star freshman Ben Simmons and get a win.
The Wolfpack succeeded at both.Anthony Barber scored 12 of his 20 points at the foul line
and the Wolfpack held Simmons to four points in an 83-72 overtime victory over No. 22 LSU in the consolation game of the Legends Classic. See PAGE 2C for the story.
C
Neal still bound for Syracuse?Prep/college football
TREVON WILSON — Kings MountainThe junior defensive tackle had sev-en tackles and one sack as the Moun-taineers upset top-seeded Freedom, 21-6, in the second round of the 3A playoffs. Not only did the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Wilson’s pass-rushing
disrupt Freedom’s offense, it played a role in limiting Alabama recruit B.J.
Emmons to a season-low 25 yards rushing.
GASTONIACHRYSLER | DODGE | JEEP | RAM
GAZETTE PREP FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEKGAZETTE PREP FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK SPONSORED BY
Players of the week are voted on bymembers of the Gazette sports staff.
Tent
2d
a r
MARCUS GRAHAM — East LincolnThe freshman quarterback had thrown passes in only five of the first 12 games of the season for the Mustangs before record-setting senior Chazz Surratt suf-fered an elbow injury that knocked him out of the game. But Graham came off
the bench to complete 10 of 13 throws for 152 yards and one touchdown in East Lin-
coln’s 47-6 win over Wilkes Central.
Tpo
oth
152
By Richard [email protected]
GASTONIA — When Syracuse fired Scott Shafer after three years as the school’s head football coach on Mon-day, the impact on the Orange’s re-cruiting efforts went nationwide — and included Gastonia.
And record-setting Forestview run-ning back Moe Neal, who announced he was going to Syracuse in August, isn’t withdrawing his commitment to the school. But his father, Moe Neal Sr.,
said Wednesday his son was “in limbo” and is very interested in seeing the direction Syracuse takes in hiring its next coach.
“He’s still committed, but we want to see who they’re going to bring in,” Moe Neal Sr. said.
“We just want to make the sure the new coach still has Moe in his future plans.”
Syracuse.com considers Oregon of-fensive coordinator Scott Frost, Okla-homa offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, LSU defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, Notre Dame offensive coordi-nator Mike Sanford and Coastal Caro-lina head coach Joe Moglia as potential replacements.
Moe Neal Jr. already visited Boston College, Mississippi State, North Caroli-na and N.C. State, and had an unofficial
visit to Syracuse. His official visit to Syracuse is scheduled for next weekend (Dec. 4-6), and Moe Neal Sr. is trying to make sure that still happens.
“I’ve talked to the recruiting coordina-tor to make sure that’s still on,” he said.
Moe Neal Jr. finished his career as Gaston County’s all-time leading scorer (620 points) and reception leader (164 catches), while also finishing tied for second in receiving touchdowns (34), fourth in rushing touchdowns (68) and receiving yards (2,251) and fifth in rush-ing yards (4,631).
While his Forestview career ended with a road playoff loss at West Henderson on Nov. 13, his high school career won’t end until he plays in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl in Daytona Beach, Fla., from Dec. 29 to Jan. 2.
Richard Walker: 704-869-1841; twit-ter.com/jrwalk22
Neal
Jaguar RB keeping eye on Orange
a! er coach " red
Boys prep basketballBessemer City 69, North Gaston 57
NBA | Washington at Charlotte, 7 tonight, FSSE
Jack Flagler/The GazetteNorth Gaston boys basketball coach Hal White talks with guard Rakeem Brown during the Wildcats’ 69-57 loss on the road against Bessemer City on Tuesday night.
Playing for a purpose
By Dan [email protected]
CHARLOTTE — Often the first quality team-mates and coaches praise Nicolas Batum for is his balance on the court.
The guard ranks in the top three in average points, rebounds, assists and steals for the Char-lotte Hornets. Through 13 games, his all-around ability has helped upgrade an offense that was 28th in the NBA last season with 94.2 points per game. This year, after adding Batum in an off-season trade for Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh, the Hornets are averaging 104.6 points per game — good enough for fifth in the league.
But it’s the balance the Frenchman has exhib-ited in handling more meaningful tribulations than basketball that show his true character.
FOR FRANCEBatum’s hometown is Lisieux, France — a
short trip from the coast, and about a two-hour drive slightly north but mostly west of Paris.
When he was young, Batum spent a signifi-cant amount of time in the City of Light, where he now lives during NBA offseasons.
“Paris is just the most beautiful city in the world. Everywhere you go, you have something special, something different,” the 26-year-old said. “You have all these big monuments. You have the Eiffel Tower.”
So though he was across an ocean and set to play a game in Chicago against the Bulls that night, the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks on his country’s capital quite literally hit close to home. He’s been keeping his French family and friends in mind ever since. And he’s been playing like the All-Star the Hornets hoped he’d be when they traded for him last summer.
“(Terrorists) do that to affect us, to bring us down and make us act like we are scared, but since that happened, we all have (had) big games,” Batum said of fellow French NBA play-ers. “(Kevin) Seraphin in New York is playing great. (Evan) Fournier is playing great. Boris Diaw is playing great. I’m just trying to do my thing, too. We are trying to show people back in France that we think about them and we are strong.
“We may be far away from our country right now, but that doesn’t mean we don’t think about them.”
Before a Nov. 15 home game against Batum’s former team, Portland, the French national anthem played at Time Warner Cable Arena, about which Batum tweeted, “I want to thank all the fans, the NBA and the Hornets for your sup-port. It means a lot to me.” And he said fans, local and from France, have reached out with kind words to him through social media.
He has taken to Char-lotte in the brief time he’s spent in the city. Because he played for the French national team in the off-season, he hasn’t had the time to spend adjusting to his new environ-ment other Hornet newcomers have. But a countryman assured him that he’d receive a warm welcome.
Amid tragedy in home country, Batum poised to break out with Hornets
“
”
We are trying to show people back in France
that we think about them and we are strong.
Nicolas BatumCharlotte Hornets guard
Associated Press photo
After being traded from the Trail Blazers
this summer, Nicolas Batum is having a breakout season in an expanded role in his fi rst year on the Hor-
nets. The 26-year-old guard is performing at an All-Star level, ac-
cording to Charlotte coach Steve Clifford,
even through the ter-rorist attacks on his
home country of France.
>> See BATUM/Page 4C
White brings unselfishness with return to North Gaston
By Jack Flaglerjfl [email protected]
BESSEMER CITY — There are a few different reasons Hal White returned to the sidelines this year to coach the North Gaston boys basketball team, but personal pride and glorification are not among them.
Following his team’s 69-57 loss on the road to Bessemer City on Tuesday, White had some stipulations before answering a few questions in a postgame interview.
“As long as it’s about the guys, I’m good,” White said.
That selfless team concept will likely work from the top down this season, from coach to players, as North Gaston looks for a turnaround. Since White stopped coaching at North Gaston in 2005, the Wildcats went 48-183 and did not have a winning season in that time span. Last year, they finished 1-22.
White has 25 years of experience as head coach of North Gaston. He started with the Wildcats in 1976, and won 285 games in a two-decade stint with the team through the 1996-97 season. That first stint included a trip to the 1987 state finals, when the Wildcats made a surprising run to Chapel Hill in a 15-15 season before losing to D.H. Conley in the state final. The coach returned in 2003 for three more seasons, going 33-42 in his second go-round with the team.
But even with more than 300 wins in his coaching career, White and North Gaston started from square one when practices began this winter.
“We’ve got to remember that we played two schools, (Cherryville and Bessemer City) that have veteran coaches. Their teams knew come Nov. 2 what they were going to be. Our team had no clue, I didn’t know our players,” White said. “But they’re picking up the system. It’s a process. The great thing about basketball, we keep getting better, we can still do good things. We’ve got a long way to go.”
Although North Gaston has started the year 0-2, the Wildcats have been compet-itive in both contests against the Ironmen and the Yellow Jackets. Bessemer City coach Danny McDowell, who coached against White in his early career as an assistant coach to Kings Mountain’s John Blalock, called North Gaston “one of the most athletic teams in our area.”
Irish slip in NCAA rankingsOklahoma moved into third and Iowa was
fourth in the new College Football Playoff rankings, as Notre Dame slipped to No. 6.
Clemson and Alabama remained the top two teams in the third-to-last committee rankings. See PAGE 2C for the story and complete rankings.
— Associated Press
>> See WILDCATS/Page 3C
2C Wednesday, November 25, 2015 www.GastonGazette.com | ! e Gazette Page edited by Michael Banks
SPORTSHOW TO CONTACT US: FOR SPORTS CALL-INS OR TIPS, CALL: 704-869-1841, 1843 or 1849 Long Distance 800-273-3315 SPORTS FAX 704-867-5751
ON THE WEB www.GastonGazette.com SPORTS EMAIL [email protected] FACEBOOK facebook.com/GazetteSports TWITTER @GazetteSports
ODDSNBA
WednesdayFAVORITE LINE O/U UNDERDOGat ORLANDO 1! (195!) New Yorkat CHARLOTTE 2! (210) Washingtonat BOSTON 10! (199) Philadelphiaat DETROIT PK (190!) MiamiCleveland 1! (197) at TORONTOat HOUSTON OFF (OFF) Memphisat MILWAUKEE OFF (OFF) Sacramentoat OKLA CITY 12! (211) BrooklynAtlanta 2 (204!) at MINNat SAN ANTONIO 10 (OFF) Dallasat PHOENIX OFF (OFF) New Orleansat LA CLIPPERS 4! (196!) Utah
COLLEGE BASKETBALLWednesday
FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOGLA Salle 4 at PENNSYLVANIAat PITTSBURGH 21 Cornellat DUKE 14 Yaleat OREGON 22 Arkansas Stateat MISSISSIPPI 6! Georgia Stat COLORADO 13 Air Forceat LOY-MARYMOUNT 5 CS Northridgeat SAN FRANCISCO 3 UC Santa Barbaraat GONZAGA 10 Washingtonat SYRACUSE 14 CharlotteTexas A&M 3! at TEXASat UCONN 3 Michiganat CREIGHTON 2! UMassClemson 11! at RUTGERS
National Hockey LeagueWednesday
FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG LINEat CAROLINA -125 Edmonton +115at NEW JERSEY -125 Columbus +115at NY RANGERS -130 Montreal +120at MINNESOTA -145 Vancouver +135Nashville -160 at BUFFALO +150at PITTSBURGH -115 St. Louis +105at WASHINGTON -190 Winnipeg +175at DETROIT -120 Boston +110at ISLANDERS -190 Philadelphia +175at TAMPA BAY -115 Los Angeles +105Anaheim -110 at ARIZONA +100at COLORADO -120 Ottawa +110at SAN JOSE -110 Chicago +100
College FootballThursday
FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOGat UCF OFF OFF (OFF) S.Floridaat TEXAS 2 1! (72!) Texas Tech
Fridayat West KY 10! 11 (63!) MarshallIowa 2 1 (58) at NEBRASKAat PITT 5 6! (56) Miamiat BUFFALO 6! 6! (51!) UMassat AKRON 8! 11 (40) Kent Stateat GA ST 1! 1 (59!) Troyat TOLEDO 9! 8 (61) W.Michiganat C. MICH 23 24 (56!) E.Michiganat ARKANSAS 14 14 (46) Missouriat HOUSTON 1! 1 (OFF) NavyTulsa 3! 6 (64!) at TULANEat WASH OFF OFF (OFF) Wash Stateat OREGON 30! 35 (68!) Oregon StBoise St 8! 7 (58!) at SJOSE STBaylor 1 1! (OFF) at TCU
NFLThursday
FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOGPhiladelphia 2 PK (45!) at DETROITCarolina 1 PK (46) at DALLASat GREEN BAY 7 8! (46!) Chicago
Sundayat HOUSTON 2! 3 (48) New Orleansat ATLANTA 3 2 (45!) Minnesotaat CINCINNATI 7 9 (42) St. Louisat INDY 3 3 (46!) Tampa BayNY Giants 1 2! (47) at WASHOakland 1! 1! (44) at TENNat KAN CITY 3 5 (OFF) Buffaloat NY JETS 4 3! (42!) Miamiat JAXVILLE 1! 3! (46!) San DiegoArizona 8 10 (45!) at SAN FRANat SEATTLE 3 4 (45!) PittsburghNew England 5 3 (44) at DENVER
Mondayat CLEVELAND 1 2! (41) Baltimore
TRANSACTIONSTuesday’s transactions
BASEBALLAmerican League
CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Traded RHP Yency Almonte to Colorado for RHP Tommy Kahnle.
LOS ANGELS ANGELS — Promoted Bud Black to special assistant to the general manager, Mike Gallego to director of baseball development, Justin Hollander to director of player personnel, Mike LaCassa to director of minor league operations, Steve Martone to assistant general manager, Bobby Scales to special assistant to the general manager and Jonathan Strangio to assistant general manager.
SEATTLE MARINERS — Designated C John Hicks for assignment. Agreed to terms with C Chris Iannetta on a one-year contract.
TAMPA BAY RAYS — Released C J.P. Arencibia.
National LeagueATLANTA BRAVES — Agreed to terms with
RHPs David Carpenter, Chris Volstad and Madison Younginer; Cs Willians Astudillo,
Matt Kennelly, Ryan Lavarnway and Braeden Schlehuber; INFs Reid Brignac and Chase d’Arnaud and OF Matt Tuiasosopo on minor league contracts.
NEW YORK METS — Agreed to terms with RHP Stolmy Pimental on a minor league contract.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Named Bobby Henley third base coach.
BASKETBALLNational Basketball Association
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER — Assigned F Josh Huestis to Oklahoma City (NBADL).
FOOTBALLNational Football League
NFL — Suspended Carolina DE Frank Alexander one year for violating the Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse for a third time.
ATLANTA FALCONS — Signed TE D.J. Tialavea to the practice squad. Waived TE Marcel Jensen.
BALTIMORE RAVENS — Waived WR Joseph Morgan. Signed WR Chuck Jacobs from the practice squad and WR Chris Matthews to the practice squad. Claimed QB Jimmy Clausen off waivers from Chicago. Placed QB Joe Flacco on injured reserve.
BUFFALO BILLS — Signed DL Jerel Worthy to the practice squad. Released LB Kevin Reddick from the practice squad.
CAROLINA PANTHERS — Released G Reese Dismukes from the practice squad. Signed DB Ras-I Dowling to the practice squad.
CHICAGO BEARS — Signed LB Danny Mason and QB Justin Worley to the practice squad.
HOUSTON TEXANS — Signed C Dalton Freeman and LB Gerald Rivers to the practice squad. Released QB Zac Dysert from the practice squad.
MIAMI DOLPHINS — Claimed LB Quinton Coples off waivers from the N.Y. Jets. Waived CB Zack Bowman.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Waived LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar. Signed DE Phillip Hunt.
NEW YORK JETS — Signed LB Josh Martin from Indianapolis’ practice squad.
OAKLAND RAIDERS — Waived LB Ray-Ray Armstrong.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — Signed WR Jonathan Krause from the practice squad. Released LB Emmanuel Acho.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Waived DT A.J. Francis. Re-signed RB Bryce Brown. Placed LB Nick Moody on injured reserve. Signed WR B.J. Daniels from the practice squad. Placed OT Terry Poole on practice squad/in-jured reserve. Signed RB DuJuan Harris and WR Tyler Slavin to the practice squad.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Waived DE Lawrence Sidbury. Claimed DE Kourtnei Brown off waivers from Houston.
HOCKEYNational Hockey League
NHL — Announced the resignation of chief operating officer John Collins.
ARIZONA COYOTES — Recalled F Dustin Jeffrey from Springfield (AHL). Assigned G Louis Domingue and D Philip Samuelsson to Springfield.
SAN JOSE SHARKS — Signed F Dainius Zubrus to a one-year contract. Reassigned F Nikolay Goldobin to the Barracuda (AHL).
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING — Recalled D Luke Witkowski from Syracuse (AHL).
COLLEGE BASKETBALLTuesday’s men’s scores
SOUTHBelmont 80, Kennesaw St. 55Charleston Southern 77, ETSU 76Coastal Carolina 67, Coll. of Charleston 61Fairfield 113, Md.-Eastern Shore 74James Madison 106, E. Mennonite 74Louisville 85, St. Francis Brooklyn 41Morehead St. 85, Marshall 61South Alabama 78, IUPUI 68South Florida 63, Albany (NY) 61Southern U. 79, Dillard 65Tennessee 95, Army 80Tennessee St. 77, Reinhardt 61Tennessee Tech 86, Jackson St. 82, OTVMI 76, Presbyterian 61Vanderbilt 86, Wake Forest 64Virginia Tech 90, NC A&T 60W. Carolina 88, Hiwassee 63Winthrop 79, SC-Upstate 78
EASTBinghamton 81, CCSU 75Columbia 70, Wofford 59Delaware 73, Fairleigh Dickinson 72George Washington 94, Gardner-Webb 65Hartford 77, Niagara 73Mass.-Lowell 104, Wheelock 76New Hampshire 88, Brown 77Quinnipiac 69, NC Central 59Radford 86, Penn St. 74Siena 83, Bucknell 81, OTSt. Bonaventure 77, Canisius 73Stony Brook 76, Loyola (Md.) 63
MIDWESTCincinnati 64, SE Louisiana 49IPFW 57, Miami (Ohio) 53Ill.-Chicago 96, Roosevelt 58Indiana 83, St. John’s 73Saint Louis 70, North Florida 57South Dakota 83, S. Dakota Mines 63Wright St. 66, Mount St. Joseph 52
SOUTHWESTIdaho 69, Troy 63Oklahoma 96, Incarnate Word 63
FAR WESTUNLV 93, Chaminade 73
TOURNAMENTCBE Hall of Fame Classic
Third PlaceNorthwestern 67, Missouri 62
Cancun Challenge-MayanFirst Round
Cleveland St. 57, Rider 52S. Dakota St. 92, Houston Baptist 68
Cancun Challenge-RivieraFirst Round
Rhode Island 66, TCU 60FanDuel Legends Classic
Third PlaceNC State 83, LSU 72, OT
Gulf Coast ShowcaseSecond Round
Duquesne 96, Milwaukee 92, OTMurray St. 59, Pepperdine 55W. Kentucky 88, Cent. Michigan 60
Tuesday’s women’s scoresSOUTH
Alabama 72, Georgia St. 56Belmont 78, Alabama A&M 28Bethune-Cookman 67, Edward Waters 48Charleston Southern 67, Columbia International 35Davidson 62, High Point 60, OTFAU 71, Milwaukee 67Florida 99, Savannah St. 34Florida A&M 69, Kennesaw St. 67, OTFlorida St. 80, North Florida 28Furman 71, Winthrop 52Gardner-Webb 59, UNC-Greensboro 57Georgia 75, Georgia Southern 28Georgia Tech 80, Alabama St. 54Jacksonville 87, Thomas (Ga.) 50Lipscomb 93, Murray St. 85Longwood 60, NC Central 49Mississippi St. 109, MVSU 37Oakland 83, Norfolk St. 73Samford 50, Jacksonville St. 39UCF 77, South Alabama 36UNC Asheville 67, W. Carolina 45VCU 57, Campbell 34
PRO HOCKEYNational Hockey League
Monday’s late scorePhiladelphia 3, Carolina 2, OT
Tuesday’s scoresOttawa at Dallas, lateCalgary at Anaheim, late
Tonight’s gamesNashville at Buffalo, 7 Columbus at New Jersey, 7 Montreal at N.Y. Rangers, 7 St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 7 Winnipeg at Washington, 7 Edmonton at Carolina, 7 Vancouver at Minnesota, 7
Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 Boston at Detroit, 7:30 Los Angeles at Tampa Bay, 7:30 Anaheim at Arizona, 9 Ottawa at Colorado, 9:30 Chicago at San Jose, 10
COLLEGE FOOTBALLScores, upcoming schedule
Tuesday’s scoresMIDWEST
Bowling Green 48, Ball State 10 Ohio 26, Northern Illinois 21
NCAA FCS Playoffs Saturday’s first-round games
W. Illinois (6-5) at Dayton (10-1), noon Fordham (9-2) at Chattanooga (8-3), 1Citadel (8-3) at Coastal Carolina (9-2), 2S. Utah (8-3) at Sam Houston St (8-3), 3 South Dakota St (8-3) at Montana (7-4), 3 Colgate (7-4) at New Hampshire (7-4), 3:30Duquesne (8-3) at William&Mary (8-3), 3:30 Eastern Ill. (7-4) at Northern Iowa (7-4), 5
Second Round Saturday, Dec. 5
! The Citadel-Coastal Carolina winner at Charleston Southern (9-2), 1 p.m. ! Colgate-New Hampshire winner at James Madison (9-2), 1 p.m. ! Duquesne-William & Mary winner at Richmond (8-3), 1 p.m. ! Western Illinois-Dayton winner at Illinois State (9-2), 2 p.m. ! Fordham-Chattanooga winner at Jacksonville State (10-1), 2 p.m. ! South Dakota State-Montana winner at North Dakota State (9-2), 3:30 p.m. ! Southern-Sam Houston State winner at McNeese State (10-0), 7 p.m. ! Eastern Illinois-Northern Iowa winner at Portland State (9-2), 10 p.m.
PRO FOOTBALLNFL standings, schedule
AMERICAN CONFERENCEEast
W L T Pct PF PANew England 10 0 0 1.000 323 182Buffalo 5 5 0 .500 244 227N.Y. Jets 5 5 0 .500 234 208Miami 4 6 0 .400 205 249
South W L T Pct PF PAIndianapolis 5 5 0 .500 224 248Houston 5 5 0 .500 208 228Jacksonville 4 6 0 .400 211 268Tennessee 2 8 0 .200 182 233
North W L T Pct PF PACincinnati 8 2 0 .800 266 186Pittsburgh 6 4 0 .600 236 191Baltimore 3 7 0 .300 226 249Cleveland 2 8 0 .200 186 277
West W L T Pct PF PADenver 8 2 0 .800 222 183Kansas City 5 5 0 .500 257 198Oakland 4 6 0 .400 240 259San Diego 2 8 0 .200 213 282
NATIONAL CONFERENCEEast
W L T Pct PF PAN.Y. Giants 5 5 0 .500 273 253Washington 4 6 0 .400 221 253Philadelphia 4 6 0 .400 229 229Dallas 3 7 0 .300 190 228
South W L T Pct PF PACarolina 10 0 0 1.000 299 191Atlanta 6 4 0 .600 250 214Tampa Bay 5 5 0 .500 236 254New Orleans 4 6 0 .400 255 315
North W L T Pct PF PAGreen Bay 7 3 0 .700 249 198Minnesota 7 3 0 .700 211 184Chicago 4 6 0 .400 214 251Detroit 3 7 0 .300 185 274
West W L T Pct PF PAArizona 8 2 0 .800 336 216Seattle 5 5 0 .500 228 192St. Louis 4 6 0 .400 179 199San Francisco 3 7 0 .300 139 252
Monday’s late scoreHNew England 20, Buffalo 13
Thursday’s gamesPhiladelphia at Detroit, 12:30 Carolina at Dallas, 4:30 Chicago at Green Bay, 8:30
Sunday’s gamesNew Orleans at Houston, 1 Buffalo at Kansas City, 1 Oakland at Tennessee, 1 St. Louis at Cincinnati, 1 Minnesota at Atlanta, 1 N.Y. Giants at Washington, 1 Tampa Bay at Indianapolis, 1 San Diego at Jacksonville, 1 Miami at N.Y. Jets, 1 Arizona at San Francisco, 4:05 Pittsburgh at Seattle, 4:25 New England at Denver, 8:30
Monday night’s gameBaltimore at Cleveland, 8:30
SCOREBOARD
TelevisionBOXING! 8 p.m. — Premier Champions, Erislandy Lara vs. Jan Zaveck (super welterweight), at Hialeah, Fla. — ESPN
COLLEGE BASKETBALL! Noon — Battle 4 Atlantis, quarterfinal 1, Gonzaga vs. Washington — ESPN2! 2:30 p.m. — Battle 4 Atlantis, quarterfinal 2, Charlotte vs. Syracuse — ESPN2! 2:30 p.m. — Maui Invitational, seventh-place game, St. John’s vs. Chaminade — ESPNU! 3 p.m. — Vermont at Florida — SEC Network! 5 p.m. — Maui Invitational, fifth-place game, Indiana vs. UNLV — ESPN2! 5 p.m. — High Point at Georgia — ESPNU! 5 p.m. — Georgia State at Mississippi — SEC Network! 6 p.m. — Cancun Challenge, third-place game, TCU vs. Maryland/Illinois State loser — CBS Sports Network! 7 p.m. — Yale at Duke — ESPNU! 7 p.m. — Arkansas State at Oregon — Pac 12 Network! 7:30 p.m. — Maui Invitational, third-place game, Wake Forest vs. Kansas/UCLA loser — ESPN2! 8 p.m. — Prairie View A&M at Wisconsin — Big 10 Network! 8:30 p.m. — Cancun Challenge, champion-ship, Rhode Island vs. Maryland/Illinois State winner — CBS Sports Network! 9:30 p.m. — MGM Grand Main Event, cham-pionship, Massachusetts vs. Creighton — ESPN2! 10 p.m. — Maui Invitational, championship game, Vanderbilt vs. Kansas/UCLA winner — ESPN
GOLF! 8 p.m. — PGA Tour: Emirates Australian Open, opening round, at Sydney — GOLF
NBA BASKETBALL! 7 p.m. — Washington at Charlotte — Fox Sports Southeast! 8 p.m. — Memphis at Houston — NBA
NHL HOCKEY! 7 p.m. — Edmonton at Carolina — Fox Sports Carolinas! 7:30 p.m. — Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders — NBCSN! 10 p.m. — Chicago at San Jose — NBCSN
SOCCER! 9:50 a.m. — UEFA Champions League, SL Benfica at Astana — FS1! Noon — UEFA Champions League, VfL Wolfs-burg at CSKA Moscow — FS1! 2:30 p.m. — UEFA Champions League, PSV Eindhoven at Manchester United — FS1! 2:30 p.m. — UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid at Shakhtar Donetsk — Fox Sports Carolinas! 2:30 p.m. — UEFA Champions League, Man-chester City at Juventus — FS2
RadioCOLLEGE BASKETBALL! 2 p.m. — Battle 4 Atlantis, quarterfinal 2, Charlotte vs. Syracuse — 1660-AM
NBA BASKETBALL! 7 p.m. — Washington at Charlotte — 610-AM, 1590-AM, 1050-AM
ON THE AIR HIGHLIGHTS
Games ahead
Upcoming schedule for Carolina PanthersThursday: Week 12, at Dallas Cowboys, 4:30 p.m., CBSDec. 6: Week 13, at New Orleans Saints, 1 p.m., FOXDec. 13: Week 14, vs. Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m., FOXDec. 20: Week 15, at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m., FOXDec. 27: Week 16, at Atlanta Falcoms, 1 p.m., FOXcarolinapanthers.com
Upcoming schedule for Charlotte HornetsTonight: vs. Washington Wizards, 7 p.m.Friday: vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 7 p.m.Sunday: vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 2 p.m.Dec. 2: vs. Golden State Warriors, 7 p.m.Dec. 5: at Chicago Bulls, 8 p.m.nba.com/hornets
College Basketball Roundup
Associated Press
HEELS TAKE AIM AT CLASSICNorth Carolina’s Joel Berry II shoots under pres-sure from Kansas State’s D.J. Johnson during the second half of Tuesday’s championship game of the CBE Classic in Kansas City, Mo. The game was not complete at presstime.
Wolfpack rebound to beat LSU in OTNEW YORK (AP) — North Carolina State
had a two-part plan Tuesday night, clog the lane defensively against star freshman Ben Simmons and get a win.
The Wolfpack succeeded at both. Anthony Barber scored 12 of his 20 points
at the foul line and the Wolfpack held Sim-mons to four points in an 83-72 overtime victory over No. 22 LSU in the consolation game of the Legends Classic.
Simmons became the eighth LSU player in the last 42 years to get 20 points and 20 re-bounds Monday against Marquette but with NC State constantly crowding the paint, he turned into more of a passer than a shooter. Simmons had 10 assists and 14 rebounds be-fore fouling out early in overtime.
“Our plan was to really crowd the lane, flood the lane, put everybody — basically the sink— and clog it up and not let him get going with his penetration,” North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried said.
Simmons missed his first five shots against the Wolfpack’s defense before hitting a layup with 38 seconds remaining, which forged a 65-65 deadlock. He missed a chance to give LSU the lead by missing a free throw and the Wolfpack controlled overtime.
TIP-INS: North Carolina State: Tuesday was a re-
match of last year’s NCAA second-round tournament game, which the Wolfpack won by a 66-65 margin. ... Caleb Martin was shak-en up briefly with about six minutes remain-ing in the first half when he took an elbow to the face by LSU center Elbert Robinson III. Martin stayed in the game and hit a 3-point-er a few possessions later.
PHENOMENAL BARBER: Anthony Barber had a trip to remember to New York as he scored 42 points and made 21 of 23 free throws in the two games. Barber wound playing all 43 minutes Tuesday after sitting for only three minutes Monday and coach Mark Gottfried described the performance by his junior guard as “phenomenal”
UP NEXT North Carolina State: Winthrop on Friday
Day after upsetting Indiana in Hawaii, Deacons lose to Vandy
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Wade Baldwin IV and Damian Jones both scored 17 points, and No. 19 Vanderbilt easily handled Wake Forest 86-64 on Tuesday night in the semifi-nals of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
The Commodores (5-0) will play the win-ner of the game between No. 5 Kansas and UCLA for the championship on Wednesday.
Jones, who grabbed 10 rebounds, was 6 for 10 from the field and Baldwin was ever bet-ter at 6 for 8. The Commodores were never threatened in the second half and led by as many as 24 points.
Freshman point guard Bryant Crawford, who had the winning basket in the closing seconds of the first-round win over No. 13 Indiana, led the Demon Deacons (3-2) with 15 points. John Collins scored 14 and Devin Thomas added 13.
TIP-INS Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons came
into the game with five players averaging in double figures. They have five players in double figures in the last two games... The win over No. 13 Indiana was Wake Forest’s first over a ranked team since March 5, 2014, against No. 4 Duke, and its first outside Win-ston-Salem since beating No. 4 North Caro-lina on Jan. 20, 2010. UP NEXT
Vanderbilt plays the winner of No. 5 Kan-sas-UCLA for the title on Wednesday.
Wake Forest plays the loser of No. 5 Kan-sas-UCLA for third place on Wednesday.
EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GBCleveland 11 3 .786 —Miami 9 4 .692 1!Chicago 8 4 .667 2Indiana 9 5 .643 2Atlanta 10 6 .625 2Toronto 9 6 .600 2!Charlotte 8 6 .571 3Washington 6 5 .545 3!New York 8 7 .533 3!Boston 7 7 .500 4Detroit 7 7 .500 4Milwaukee 6 8 .429 5Orlando 6 8 .429 5Brooklyn 3 11 .214 8Philadelphia 0 15 .000 11!
WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GBGolden State 15 0 1.000 —San Antonio 11 3 .786 3!Oklahoma City 9 6 .600 6Dallas 9 6 .600 6Memphis 8 7 .533 7Phoenix 7 7 .500 7!L.A. Clippers 6 7 .462 8Utah 6 7 .462 8Minnesota 6 8 .429 8!Denver 6 8 .429 8!Portland 6 9 .400 9Houston 5 9 .357 9!Sacramento 5 10 .333 10New Orleans 3 11 .214 11!L.A. Lakers 2 11 .154 12
Monday’s late scoreOklahoma City 111, Utah 89
Tuesday’s scoresIndiana 123, Washington 106Memphis 110, Dallas 96Atlanta 121, Boston 97L.A. Clippers at Denver, lateChicago at Portland, lateL.A. Lakers at Golden State, late
Tonight’s gamesNew York at Orlando, 7 p.m.Washington at Charlotte, 7 p.m.Cleveland at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.Miami at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.Philadelphia at Boston, 7:30 p.m.Atlanta at Minnesota, 8 p.m.Sacramento at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.Memphis at Houston, 8 p.m.Brooklyn at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.Dallas at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.New Orleans at Phoenix, 9 p.m.Utah at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.
College Football | Latest College Football Playoff rankings
Record1. Clemson .................. 11-02. Alabama .................. 10-13. Oklahoma ................ 10-14. Iowa ......................... 11-05. Michigan St. ............ 10-16. Notre Dame ............ 10-17. Baylor ..........................9-18. Ohio St. .................... 10-19. Stanford .....................9-210. Michigan ..................9-211. Oklahoma St. ........ 10-112. Florida ................... 10-114. Florida St. ................9-214. North Carolina ...... 10-115. Navy .........................9-116. Northwestern ...........9-217. Oregon ......................8-318. Mississippi ...............8-319. TCU ...........................9-220. Washington St. ........8-321. Mississippi St. .........8-322. UCLA .........................8-323. Utah .........................8-324. Toledo .......................9-125. Temple .....................9-2
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will issue weekly rankings each Tuesday, with the fi nal rankings being announced noon Sunday, Dec. 6. The playoff semifi nals will match the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No. 3. The semifi nals will be hosted at the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31. The championship game will be on Jan. 11, 2016, at Glendale, Ariz.
— Associated Press
LATEST PLAYOFF RANKINGS
NBA | Scores, standings
Sooners take jump, Irish fallRALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer
Oklahoma moved into third and Iowa was fourth in the new College Football Playoff rankings as Notre Dame slipped to No. 6.
Clemson and Alabama re-mained the top two teams in the third-to-last committee rankings.
The Sooners (10-1) seem to be in solid shape with only one game left in their season. Okla-homa will play at Oklahoma State on Saturday with a chance to win the Big 12. The Cowboys dropped to 11th after losing its first game of the season. The committee does not seem to be hung up on the Sooners’ Octo-ber loss to Texas.
“They have performed at a high level since then, so they’ve overcome that loss with their play on the field and the success they’ve had and the wins they’ve accumulated, with now six wins over teams with .500 or better records,” committee chairman Jeff Long said.
Long said the committee took into account that Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield sat out the second half against TCU. When Mayfield was playing, Oklahoma was in control of the game, Long said.
Notre Dame (10-1) also plays its last game of the season Satur-day, a possible resume-builder against Stanford, which is ninth in the rankings.
Unbeaten Iowa (11-0) and No. 5 Michigan State (10-1) can setup a possible playoff play-in game in the Big Ten champion-ship if both win this weekend.
What else you need to know about the latest rankings as the season hits the final two weeks:
BIG TEN VS. NOTRE DAMEWhen Ohio State was unbeat-
en, it looked as if the final spot would come down to Notre Dame or the Big 12 champion.
Now it looks as if the Irish’s path to the playoff goes through the Big Ten. The Irish could be blocked without an upset or two in the Big Ten over the next cou-ple weeks.
Michigan State plays Penn State on Saturday and Iowa is at Ne-braska. If both win, that sets up a Big Ten championship game with unbeaten Iowa against Michigan State at 11-1. Again, unless Notre Dame posts some type of mon-strous blowout of Stanford, jump-ing ahead of the Big Ten champ looks very difficult.
The Irish might be able to get some help from their rivals. If USC can beat UCLA on Satur-day to win the Pac-12 South, the Trojans would play Stanford for the Pac-12 title. Also, Navy can play for the American Athletic Conference championship if it beats Houston on Saturday. The success of Trojans and Midship-men would enhance two of No-tre Dame’s best wins.
Page edited by Dan Moberger ! e Gazette | GastonGazette.com Wednesday, November 25, 2015 3C
LOCAL SPORTS
Local roundup
Prep basketball | Team previews
ASHBROOKLAST YEAR: 23-4, 12-2 Big South 2A/3A
(tied for fi rst place)COACH: Richard Carsner, fi rst seasonASSISTANTS: Von Heavner, Ken Lind-
holm, James Prince, Zack WattsRETURNING STARTERS: Malik Gingles, Sr.
SF/SG; Jeff Glenn, Sr. PG/SG; Z’Andre Givens Sr., PG/SG
OTHER RETURNERS: Seniors — Damari Hopper, DeCarolis Jefferson; Sophomore — Byron Sanders
NEWCOMERS: Seniors — Jquavius Stowe; Juniors — Chris Moore, Emmanuel Rhyne, Jaqualin Brown, Nic Heavner; Sophomores — Elijah Fife, Jaquail Brown
OUTLOOK: The Green Wave return three starters from last year’s state runner-up. With Glenn, Givens and Gingles leading the team, Ashbrook will rely on its athleti-cism, speed and defensive pressure from the backcourt in an attempt to make another deep run in the tournament.
EAST GASTONLAST YEAR: 7-17, 5-9 Big South 2A/3A
(sixth place)COACH: Eugene Farrar, fourth seasonRETURNERS: Seniors — J.C. Abernethy,
Jacob Colard, Alex Adams, Nash Jamison, Chaz Johnson; Junior — Sam Brown
NEWCOMERS: Juniors — Tyrone Brown, Justin Gomez, Zack Hager; Sophomores — Caleb Bridgewater, Cody Johnson, Ryan Grice
OUTLOOK: Abernethy is a quick guard who can get to the rim and operates well in the lane. The development of Brown, who played limited varsity minutes last year, and Johnson, who averaged 8.6 rebounds per game, will be key for the Warriors in the post.
FORESTVIEWLAST YEAR: 8-16, 7-7 Big South 2A/3A
(tied for fourth place)COACH: Chris Rayfi eld, fi rst seasonASSISTANTS: Eric Neely, Brandon
Blackley (head JV), Matt AvioliRETURNING STARTERS: Trell McCaskill,
Sr.,G; Ben Henderson, Sr., GOTHER RETURNERS: Seniors — Marquez
Grey, Adrian Coxum, Devajae Dawkins; Sophomore — Saveon Falls
NEWCOMERS: Juniors — Logan Stone, Justin Fulcomer, Tremayne Booker, Malik Hatten; Sophomores — Nick Gibson, John Gibbs
OUTLOOK: Henderson and McCaskill both averaged double fi gures last year in scoring, so their leadership will be key for the Jaguars as the team looks to rebound from a diffi cult 8-16 season.
HUNTER HUSSLAST YEAR: 16-8, 11-3 Big South 2A/3A
(third place)COACH: Walter Wallace, fi fth seasonRETURNING STARTERS: Dra Potts, Sr.,
G/F; Marion Whitely, Sr., PG; Cress Wor-thy, Jr., G/F; Antwanez Barnett, Jr, F/G
OTHER RETURNERS: Senior — Jordan Taylor; Junior — Kwayvion Griggs; Sopho-mores — Blake Wilson, Jahleer Black
NEWCOMERS: Senior — CJ Gill; Juniors — Akiethio Carson, Cliff Baldwin, Queves Graham; Sophomore — Suany Jiminez; Freshman — Marcus Mauney.
OUTLOOK: There are many parallels between the Huskies and the team many see as their toughest competition in the conference — Ashbrook. Both lost a fi rst-team All-Gazette player, (Isaiah Whaley for Ashbrook, Gaston Day transfer Quan McCluney for the Huskies). However, even without McCluney, this is a Huss team that will expect to compete for a top spot in the conference with four returning starters and good depth.
LAKE NORMAN CHARTERLAST YEAR: 18-7, 12-2 Big South 2A/3A
(tied for fi rst place)COACH: Aaron Reeves, fi fth season
ASSISTANTS: Travis Dancy, Chet Korznski, Pat Lilly
RETURNING STARTERS: Nick Worthy, Sr., G; Troy Cracknell, Jr., G; Grayson Hickert, Jr., F
OTHER RETURNERS: Seniors — Jalen Hancock, Matt Penner, Thomas Fabian, Josh Queen, Tre Reynolds
NEWCOMERS: Seniors — David Gonzalez, Spencer Ashford; Sophomores — Michael Ashford, Landon Calton, Connor Reed
OUTLOOK: The Knights split the Big South title with Ashbrook last year, and with three returning starters will look to be near the top of the conference again. Barrett Hancock and Malik Mccormick (combined 30.3 points per game) are key losses, but there is plenty of experience and talent to step up in their place.
NORTH GASTONLAST YEAR: 1-22, 1-13 Big South 2A/3A
(tied for seventh place)COACH: Hal White, fi rst season since
2005ASSISTANTS: Brian Rogers, Jeff Johnson,
Stewart RiceRETURNING STARTERS: Cameron Adams,
Jr., SG; Rakeem Brown, Sr., PG; Austin Primm, Soph., PF/C
OTHER RETURNERS: Senior — Brian Mobley; Junior — Tommy Mcneal
NEWCOMERS: Seniors — Wriston West, Tyler Swing, Tay Thomas; Juniors — Don-tereus Roberts, Clay Thompson, Dylan Betts, Kade Christian
OUTLOOK: White, the longtime Wildcats coach from 1976 to 1997 and again from 2003 to 2005, returns this season. He has won 318 games as North Gaston coach and will hope to rebuild a program that has not had a winning season since 2005.
SOUTH POINTLAST YEAR: 10-13, 7-7 Big South 2A/3A
(tied for fourth place)COACH: Kody Kubbs, sixth seasonASSISTANTS: Devares Friday, Jasotn Tant,
Jonathan Graham, Robert RobinsonRETURNING STARTERS: Blake Zieske,
Soph., G; J.T. Starr, Sr., F; Diontrea King, Sr., G
OTHER RETURNERS: Seniors — Nick Grillo, Trey Freeman; Juniors — Nick Muse, Niren Johal
NEWCOMERS: Juniors — KJ Rounds, Neeral Patel; Sophomores — Charles Cason, Zach Baker, Moses Neuman
OUTLOOK: Zieske and Starr will look to lead the backcourt after the loss of Ryan Williams (graduation) Brandon Reeves (transfer to Gaston Day). That pair accounted for 26.6 points per game last year. With the combination of youth and the football season overlap, it may take a little while for South Point’s players to adjust to new roles.
STUART CRAMERLAST YEAR: 7-16, 1-13 Big South 2A/3A
(tied for seventh place)COACH: Brad Sloan, third seasonASSISTANTS: Demetri Koutsoupias,
Shawn WatsonRETURNING STARTERS (multiple lineups):
Corey Stowe, Jr. G; Kobe Sithisaribouth, Jr. G; Duncan Hopkins, Jr., G; Wade McLain, Sr., F; Isaiah Foust, Jr., F; Jordan Sherrill, Sr., C; Scott Moore, Sr. PF
OTHER RETURNERS: Junior — Kierian Digsby
NEWCOMERS: Seniors — Ethan Quinlan, Nick Smith; Juniors — Cameron Lewis, Will Willburn; Sophomores — Dylan Collins, Dezure Mouldin
OUTLOOK: The Storm feature seniors on the roster for the fi rst time, and according to coach Brad Sloan, will be looking forward to seeing where it stacks up against the rest of the conference. The 6-foot-9 Sherrill and 6-foot-4 Moore will give Cramer a size advantage against many teams.
Big South boys
From staff reports
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALLBelmont Abbey 87, North Green-
ville 81, OT — The Crusaders went on a 19-6 run in the fourth quarter to force overtime and pulled out the win in the extra fi ve minutes. Taylor Johnson (21 points), Gabrielle Bethel (12 rebounds) and Briana Grier (six assists) led Belmont Abbey (1-3, 1-0), which plays at Lees-McRae on Dec. 2.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALLNorth Greenville 77, Belmont Ab-
bey 58 — Nick Hough (14 points), Tyler Horn (eight rebounds) and Ray Chen (four assists) led Belmont Abbey (2-3, 0-1) in the loss.
VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALLSouth Point 62, Highland Tech
39 — Blake Zieske scored 22 to lead the Red Raiders (1-0), while Charles Cason added 10 points and nine rebounds. Jason Osemeka led the Rams (0-4) with 10 points. South Point will take on Bessemer City in its next game on Dec. 1. Highland Tech faces Mountain Island Charter on Monday.
East Gaston 62 Burns 60 — Chaz Johnson scored 29 points with 11 rebounds to lead the Warriors (2-1) to a victory. Jacob Colvert added 12 points, fi ve rebounds and fi ve assists, while J.C. Abernethy scored eight points with four assists. The Warriors will take on Crest on Dec. 2 in their next game. Burns (2-1) will face Chase on Dec. 1.
Hunter Huss 71, Piedmont Community Charter 54 — Antwanez Barnett scored 22 points to go with 14 rebounds and six assists. Jahleer Black added 11 points and Dra Potts scored 10 as the Huskies (1-0) started off their season with a victory. Adrian Delph led Piedmont Community Charter (5-2) with 16 in a losing effort, while Christian Walker scored 14 and Gejuan Williams added 12. Huss will face Vance on the road Dec. 1, while Pied-mont Community Charter will travel to Challenger on Monday.
Forestview 62, Lake Norman 47 — Ben Henderson (14 points), Trell McCaskill (12 points) and Adrian Coxum (eight points) led Forest-view. Brian Dow had 13 points for Lake Norman.
Cherryville 82, Sugar Creek 42 — Christian Jones (16 points), Jaiden Hunt (12 points), Taveon Hardin (12 points), Tre Lockhart (10 points) and Landon Hudson (10 points) led the way for
Cherryville (2-0), which plays at West Lincoln on Tuesday.
Ashbrook 73, Crest 67 — Malik Gingles (26 points, eight rebounds, four steals) and Nic Heavner (12 points) led in scoring and Z’Andre Givens and Jeff Glenn combined for 14 assists for Ashbrook (1-1), which hosts Hickory on Dec. 2. Jaylon Wray led Crest with 24 points.
Davidson Day 64, Gaston Day 59 — Quan McCluney (28 points) and M.J. Armstrong (22 points) led Gaston Day (2-1) in the loss.
Christian Family 65, Victory Christian 36 — Deontae Sanders had a team-high 14 points for Victory Christian (2-2).
East Rutherford 65, Stuart Cramer 50 (Monday) — Dezure Mouldin led the Storm with 15 points.
Piedmont Community Charter 66, Community Christian 40 (Monday) — Adrian Delph (13 points, seven assists) and GeJuan Williams (12 points, six rebounds) led Piedmont (5-1).
Victory Christian 43, Carolina Christian 37 (Monday) — Dustin Crawford (12 points, seven rebounds, three steals) led Victory Christian.
VARSITY GIRLS BASKETBALLHunter Huss 69, Piedmont
Charter 41 — Nykeria Chambers (16 points, six steals), Nautica Falls (20 points, fi ve steals) and Gia Perez (14 points, seven rebounds) led Hunter Huss (1-0), which hosts Vance on Dec. 2. Demoniya Cole (11 points), Gabby Long (seven points) and Jordan Duckett (fi ve points) led the way for Piedmont (3-3).
Ashbrook 70, Crest 37 — Trinity Jones (22 points, three assists), Evonna McGill (12 points, 11 rebounds, fi ve blocks) and Sherry Johnson (eight points, 10 re-bounds, seven steals, fi ve blocks) led Ashbrook (2-0), which hosts Hickory on Dec. 2.
North Gaston 69, Bessemer City 35 — Kendal Cloninger (15 points, fi ve steals), Spencer Britton (10 points, 10 assists, six steals), Sar-ah Grace Hayes, Raven McCombs and Kassie McTaggart (eight points each) led North Gaston (2-0), which hosts Cherryville on Monday. Ierra Dameron (18 points) led Bessemer City.
South Point 53, Highland Tech 34 — Casey Almond (17 points) and Sonia Okoroji (eight points) led Highland Tech (1-4), which plays at Mountain Island Charter on Monday.
Cherryville 40, Sugar Creek 22 — Cita Banks had a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds), and
Bayleigh Henley (eight points) and Bre Tuft (10 points) also led the way for Cherryville (1-1), which plays Tuesday at West Lincoln.
Victory Christian 40, Christian Family 31 — Jade Moore (22 points, seven steals) and Xiomara Moore (15 points, seven rebounds) led Victory Christian (3-1).
Piedmont Community Charter 56, Community Christian 16 (Monday) — Gabby Long (14 points), Katie Guitirezz (12 points, fi ve steals), Courtney Williams (nine points), Cydney Williams (eight points) and Damoniya Cole (eight steals) led Piedmont.
Victory Christian 46, Carolina Christian 23 (Monday) — Jada Moore (20 points, six steals) and Xiomara Moore (12 points, fi ve rebounds, fi ve steals) led Victory Christian.
JV BOYS BASKETBALLSouth Point 42, Highland Tech 32
— Tay Battle (13 points) and John Gross (seven points) were South Point’s (1-0) leading scorers. Addison Beam (11 points) and Devin Bradley (six points) led Highland Tech (1-3), which plays Monday at Mountain Island Charter.
Ashbrook 54, Crest 28 — Justin Lucas (16 points), Camron June (12 points), Jaquese Hemphill (nine points), Jaquan Hemphill (six points) and V. Cherry (three points) led the way for Ashbrook (2-0).
Christian Family 28, Victory Christian 18 — Luke Whitted led Victory Christian (0-3) with eight points and fi ve steals in the loss.
Stuart Cramer 70, East Rutherford 67 (Monday) — Zytavious Murrell (22 points) and Zach Glenn (21 points) led the Storm in the win.
Piedmont Community Charter def. Community Christian (Monday) — Matt Chambers had 21 points for Piedmont.
Carolina Christian 34, Victory Christian 14 (Monday) — Luke Whit-ted (eight points, three steals) led Victory Christian.
JV GIRLS BASKETBALLAshbrook 11, Crest 9, OT — Cassi-
dy sanders (four points), joy barge (four points) and megan farris (nine rebounds) (1-0) host hickory on Dec. 2.
MIDDLE SCHOOL VOLLEYBALLHolbrook at Grier, not reported —
Holbrook (1-5*) hosts Southwest next Tuesday. Grier (1-4*) hosts Stanley next Tuesday.
Kings Mountain 3, Burns 0 (Mon-day) — Abbie Harris (six aces),
Jenna Ramsey, Kyan Crocker, M.C. Lowrance (offensive leaders) and Ashlynn Marr (defensive leader) led Kings Mountain (3-2).
MIDDLE SCHOOL WRESTLINGYork Chester 51, Mount Holly
42 — Aquarius Miles, Jaylen Rollinson, Noah Shook, Bernard James, James Seigle, Jahaad Wilson, Derrick Duff, Angel Hernandez and Elijah Neal won for York Chester (4-3), which hosts Stanley next Wednesday. Jake Underhill, Conner Cobb, Josh Green, Tyreece Morris, Brock Wilken, Caleb Mace and Atraiyu Yeldell won for Mount Holly (1-6), which hosts Holbrook next Wednesday.
Cramerton 60, Stanley 42 — Hunt-er Miller, Cameron Dyer, Corbin Allen, Bryan Metcalf, Carter Price, Landon Sprinkles, Andrew Shell, Nick Reaves, Clark Styers and Jackson Concannon earned wins for Cramerton (4-3), which hosts Bessemer City next Wednesday. Stanley (4-3) visits York Chester next Wednesday.
Holbrook 48, Grier 36 — Wes Parker, Angel Velazquez, Nick Groves, Matthew West, Lane Rob-inson, Keshawn Harris, Braden Williams and Garet McGinnis won for Holbrook (2-5), which visits Mount Holly next Wednesday. Brandon Sain, Ray Mackey, Chris Wells, Tyler Derr, David Ortiza, Jordan Mackins and Isaiah Beard won for Grier (1-6), which hosts W.C. Friday next Wednesday.
Southwest 90, Bessemer City 12 — Southwest (5-2) hosts Chavis next Wednesday. Bessemer City (0-7) visits Cramerton next Wednesday.
Belmont 64, W.C. Friday 30 — Houghton, Jaquay Warren, Will Bowman, Dylan Neagle, Ridge Pate, Omari Hunt, DeAngelo Bruton, Andrew Warren, Isai Pena, Carter Merrill, Kendall Karr and Hunter Mason won for Belmont. Whitesides, Wallace, Paysour, Murphy and Dunovant won for W.C. Friday.
Belmont vs. Chavis/W.C. Friday vs. Chavis, not reported
Burns 60, Kings Mountain 33 (Monday) — Ryne Smith, Calem Messick, Zach Crawford, Jere-miah Brown, Kobe Rikard, Jalen Roberts and Trey Crawford won for Kings Mountain.
MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS SOCCERHolbrook at Grier, not reported —
Holbrook (6-0*) hosts Southwest next Tuesday. Grier (3-2*) hosts Stanley next Tuesday.
*-indicates record before Tuesday’s games.
Tuesday night, North Gaston jumped out to a 10-2 lead and stayed in front through much of the first half before Bessemer City went on an 11-2 run at the end of the second quarter to tie the game at 29 heading into the break. North Gaston junior guard Cameron Adams was hot in the first half, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the first quarter. In the third, senior power forward Tay Thomas got into the middle of the Bessemer City zone, doing damage from the foul line area to keep the Wildcats in front on his way to a 19-point game.
But late in the game, turnovers hurt North Gaston. The Yellow Jack-ets were able to create steals and get easy buck-ets or free throws on the other end, as junior guard Ja’hari Guthrie knocked down 6 of 8 from the line in the fourth on his way to a 20-point game. North Gaston led, 50-47, with 7:21 to go in the game, but Bessemer City dominated the final few minutes to win by double figures, 69-57.
The previous night, a close game against Cher-ryville from wire-to-wire was decided when Jaid-en Hunt of the Ironmen knocked down a shot to win with 2.4 seconds remaining.
North Gaston does not have a win to show for two straight solid ef-forts to start the year, but White is confident the team will learn to close games better as the sea-son goes on.
“That’s part of the pro-cess. We’re getting better each night. We had fewer turnovers, we’re work-ing on it, but we have so much more to learn and so much more to do, but we’re going to get there,” he said.
North Gaston will have a break of longer than a week before running it back against the same two opponents it faced to start the season. The Wildcats will take on Cherryville on Dec. 2 and Bessemer City on Dec. 9, both at home in Dallas.
Continued from Page 1C
<< Wildcats
4C Wednesday, November 25, 2015 ! e Gazette | GastonGazette.com Page edited by Dan Moberger
PRO FOOTBALL / PRO BASKETBALL
Gaston County has turned to The Gazette for 136 years fornews of our community and its people. Our readers knowthey can !nd information in The Gazette that can’t be foundat any other source.
The Gazette also connects readers with their friends andneighbors, informs us about interesting people in thecommunity and reminds us what makes Gaston Countya great place to live.
We don’t just deliver news, we deliver a connectionto the community.
Nobody deliverslike we do.
Local news.
There’s a lot going on in Gaston County and there’sno better place to !nd out about it than The Gazette.
A Halifax Media Group Company
80286
“When I got traded, Boris Diaw was the first guy I called,” Batum said. “I said, ‘Talk to me about the city and the peo-ple.’ He said, ‘Oh, you’re going to love it. Trust me.’
“I love it. I went from the Northwest to the Southeast, so it’s totally different from where I was in Oregon. But the weather is nice, the people are great and all of the teammates, I like.”
CAPITALIZING ON AN OPPORTUNITYBatum’s presence on the court is al-
ready giving Charlotte fans a reason to be optimistic.
He’s averaging a career-high 16.9 points per game, topping 20 points four times in the past seven games, and is shooting 44.3 percent overall and 42.7 percent from three-point range. He’s getting to the line 4.1 times per game, a career high, and knocking down 89.5 per-cent of those attempts, also a career high.
But it’s not just his scoring that has Batum drawing acclaim from teammates and coaches. Though he’s a guard, his 6.1 rebounds per game are third on the team. He’s second on the team in steals per game, using the long reach of his 6-foot-8 frame to disrupt passing lanes. And his unselfishness with the ball has him second on the team in assists with 4.1 per contest.
“Nic was just being Nic — you know, Mr. Do-It-All,” point guard Kemba Walker said after Batum put up an efficient 24 points and handed out eight creative assists in a 116-111 home win over the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 18. “He does it all for us, and it’s re-ally exciting to have him around. We need him at that level for us to win.”
“He can do everything — a jack-of-all-trades,” fellow Hornet newcomer Jeremy Lin said. “Being able to play with him is a tremendous opportunity. He can find you. He can cut. He can score in a lot of
different ways.”Batum’s all-around performances are
starting to become more regular while he and his new teammates have learned to play with each other during the young season. In Monday night’s come-from-behind, 127-122 win in overtime against Sacramento, Batum was two assists shy of a triple-double, with 18 points, 10 re-bounds and eight assists.
“Four of his last five games, he’s been at an elite level, an All-Star level,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said prior to Char-lotte’s blowout win over Philadelphia last Friday. “He has size. He has skill. He has great feel for the game. He’s a good com-petitor. If he can do that, it puts our team in a really good spot.”
Batum agreed.“If I can try to do everything, like score
and involve my teammates, I’m going to do it,” he said. “With this team, I have more opportunities to show what I can do, especially scoring-wise.”
Batum was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for his on-court feats in the days following Nov. 13. And the timing of the honor was not of little sig-nificance to him.
“Being recognized, even just for a week, is still nice, especially for the week we had in France,” he said. “That’s going to show what we can do for our country, too. To be named Player of the Week during that week was a big thing for us.”
After starting 0-3, the Hornets have a chance to improve to 9-6 with a fourth straight win in tonight’s 7 o’clock tip off on their home court against Washing-ton. If Charlotte hopes to continue its improvement, Batum, with his versatile game and resilient attitude, will be a key component.
“He’s a terrific guy,” Clifford said. “I mean, he’s absolutely team-first, wants to do the right thing, cares about his teammates and he cares about winning.”
Dan Moberger: 704-869-1849; Twitter @Dan Moberger
Continued from Page 1C
<< Batum
Nicolas Batum, left, and Jeremy Lin, both new to the Hornets in 2015, celebrate after Batum hit a 3-pointer against the Trail Blazers in Charlotte on Nov. 15. The team played the French national anthem before the game, two days after attacks on the country’s capital.Associated Press
CHARLOTTE (AP) — It is Sunday morning at Ron Rive-ra’s house and the Carolina Panthers coach sits down to eat a familiar breakfast of cin-namon french toast and ham steak prepared by his wife.
It’s the same thing he eats before every Panthers Sun-day home game — at the same time.
He talks with Stephanie over coffee. At precisely 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time — ex-actly 4 ! hours before a 1 p.m. kickoff — the fifth-year coach’s ride arrives to take him to the stadium.
Once there, Rivera has a whole new, lengthy set of superstitions, culminating a week full of rigid rituals.
He dons a black shirt — “Not for any specific reason other than the last time I wore it we started winning, so I keep doing it,” he says — and puts on the same set of black Nike shoes he has worn for three years. They are re-served just for game day.
He eats a peanut butter and oatmeal cookie his wife has made for him.
He walks out of the stadi-um tunnel careful to avoid going through the large Pan-thers inflatable on the field.
“That’s for players only,” he says.
After sidestepping the inflat-able, Rivera jogs out to the 20-yard line, turns to the crowd to find where Stephanie is seated and signals “I love you” to her with his left hand.
“Then, I’m ready for the game,” he says.
Rivera’s superstitious ritu-als seem to be working.
The Panthers are 10-0 this season and have won
14 straight regular-season games overall, which only increases his superstition.
“Unfortunately, winning sort of does that,” Rivera says with a laugh.
Rivera’s players have no-ticed some of his supersti-tions. Tight Greg Olsen says it’s nothing unusual.
“I think everybody in the football world is supersti-tious,” Olsen says. “As play-ers, we order out from the same restaurant on Thurs-days and we’ve sat in the same seats to eat it for 10 straight weeks. ... We try to do the same things.”
Quarterback Cam Newton arrives for his Wednesday press conference and sits
alongside reporters in press row and chats for about five or 10 minutes before step-ping behind the podium. It’s something he started earlier this season and has contin-ued every week as the win streak continues.
Rivera has other supersti-tions, some of which he just refers to as just “routines,” like making sure power points during game week are in the same order. He doesn’t deny he’s superstitious by nature.
He wears the same col-ored clothes to practice depending on the day. And he makes certain to wear a different outfit to every press conference.
“I’m bad now, but I was
much worse as a player,” Ri-vera concedes.
Rivera played nine seasons at linebacker with the Chica-go Bears. He was part of the dynamic 1985 championship team that started 12-0 and came within one victory of a perfect season, losing only to Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins on a Monday night.
Rivera wore only two helmets during his career, forced to go to a backup after his original cracked.
He wore the same wrist-bands. He wore the same socks. He went through the same rituals before every game, such as organizing his stretches in a certain order.
But Rivera claims he never took it too far, like some of his teammates who refused to wash certain articles of clothing for fear of breaking the winning streak.
“Oh yeah, I washed. Trust me,” Rivera said with a long laugh. “We had a couple of guys that didn’t wash certain things and their lockers got pretty ripe.”
Most players had some kind of superstition or ritual, and some were good for a laugh, Rivera said. Steve Mc-Michael, a Bears defensive tackle who eventually be-came a professional wrestler, needed help from Rivera to complete his routine.
“First of all, he really loved his looks,” Rivera says. “So he’d get dressed and ready to go, and then he’d come stand in front of my locker and look at me, and I’d say, ‘Yes, you are the best-looking defen-sive tackle in the league.’ And then he’d say, ‘All right, I’m ready to go.’”
NFL | Week 12: Carolina at Dallas, 4:30 p.m. Thursday, CBS
Associated PressPanthers head coach Ron Rivera gives an ‘I love you’ sign to his wife as he takes the fi eld before Sunday’s game against the Redskins at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Rivera makes no qualms about it, he’s superstitious. If it’s not eating the same meal before every game or wearing the same colors, it’s fl ashing the ‘I love you’ sign to his wife during warmups from the same spot on the fi eld.
Very superstitiousCHARLOTTE (AP) — The NFL has suspended
Carolina Panthers defensive end Frank Alexander without pay for a minimum of one year for violating the Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse for a third time.
Alexander, who is on injured reserve, was suspended twice last season for a total of 14 games by the NFL for
substance abuse violations.Alexander’s latest suspension could force the
Panthers to cut ties with the former fi fth-round pick. He tore his Achilles in training camp and was lost for the season. He was waived-injured and reverted back to the team.
On Monday, Panthers defensive end Wes Horton was suspended four games for violat-ing the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances. And injured wide receiver Stephen Hill was suspended one game for violating the NFL’s policy and program for substances of abuse.
Panthers coach Rivera’s rituals seem to be paying off
Alexander
CAROLINA PANTHERS (10-0)This week: at Dallas Cowboys (3-7), 4:30 p.m.
ThursdayCarolina will win if: Cam Newton passes as
well as he did last week, when he threw for a career-high fi ve TDs — to fi ve receivers.
Carolina will lose if: Tony Romo and Dez Bryant get on a roll. Remember: Dallas is unbeaten, too ... when Romo plays, going 3-0 in his appearances.
Noteworthy: First team in the half-century Super Bowl era to start 10-0 after being below .500 the season before (7-8-1).
Quoteworthy: “We know we’re good at a lot of things. We know we’ve got to improve on a lot more things.” — Newton.
Week 13: at New Orleans SaintsNEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (10-0)
This week: at Denver Broncos (8-2), 8:30 p.m. Sunday
New England will win if: Coach Bill Belichick devises ways to fl uster Brock Osweiler in the QB’s second start of his NFL career.
New England will lose if: All those injuries to skill players and offensive linemen fi nally catch up to Tom Brady and Co. against an elite defense.
Noteworthy: Patriots would clinch an NFL record-tying seventh division title in a row with a victory.
Quoteworthy: “At the end of the day, they fi nd ways to win,” Buffalo coach Rex Ryan, after the Bills’ 20-13 loss to the Patriots on Monday night.
Week 13: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
NFL notebook
PANTHERS DE ALEXANDER SUSPENDED FOR 1 YEAR
A LOOK AT THE NFL’S UNBEATENS
