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THURSDAY’S HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SUMMARIES
SOUTH FORK 2A
No. 1 EAST LINCOLN 80, No. 5 LINCOLNTON 51
Lincolnton 17 6 12 16—51
E. Lincoln 23 17 23 17—80
LINCOLNTON 51—Grooms 4, Kris Robinson 27, Derr 4, Gash 4, Davis 6, Motz 2, Duncan, Bryant, Clark 4.
EAST LINCOLN 80—Sidney Dollar 15, Adams 4, J. Bean 9, Justin Kuthan 42, Horne 4, Zirkle, Staples, Nichols 2, Jones 2, D. Bean 2, Craig.
Notes: Top-seeded East Lincoln meets No. 3 Newton-Conover for the title on Friday at 8:30 p.m. at Lincolnton … Kuthan added 13 rebounds and his 42 points are third on the all-time single-game scoring list for East Lincoln behind 50 by Sage Surratt in 2016 and 43 by Scott Killian in 1989 … Dollar had seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Mustangs …East Lincoln has won 16 of its last 17 games… The Mustangs beat Lincolnton 89-57 at East Lincoln and 84-62 at Lincolnton during the regular season.
Records: Lincolnton 10-14; E. Lincoln 24-2.
Reported by: Chip Ashley, E. Lincoln coaching staff
NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A
(Semifinals at Hickory)
No. 1 FREEDOM 69, No. 4 WATAUGA 35
Watauga 4 13 7 9—35
Freedom 19 16 29 5—69
WATAUGA 35 (incomplete)—Blane St. Clair 14, West 3, Castle 2, Bond 3, Martin 8, Rothrock 3, Robbins 1.
FREEDOM 69—Jakari Dula 14, Michael Logan 13, Bradley Davis 14, Ledford 3, Birchfield 2, Abee 9, Rice 8, Freeman 6.
Notes: Top-seeded Freedom plays second-seeded Hickory for the title on Friday at 8 p.m. … The Patriots have won 15 straight games … Watauga had a two-game win streak snapped … Freedom also beat Watauga 80-40 in Morganton and 76-53 in Boone this season … Freedom has reached 25 wins for the 11th time in 41 seasons and will make its 13th straight appearance in the state playoffs as the conference’s No. 1 3A seed … The Patriots have failed to get to the postseason only twice in the last 39 years ( 1987-88 and 2005-2006) … If it does not get into the state 3A bracket, Watauga will miss the postseason for the third straight year after having advanced 10 consecutive seasons … Freedom head coach Casey Rogers has 279 career wins …Watauga is 200-180 in its 15 seasons under head coach Rob Sanders.
Records: Watauga 13-12; Freedom 25-1.
Reported by: Rob Scott, Freedom coaching staff.
No. 2 HICKORY 45, No. 3 ALEXANDER CENTRAL 31
Alex Central 8 6 10 7—31
Hickory 4 10 13 18—45
ALEXANDER CENTRAL 31—Jem Lowrance 13, Strickland 2, Wooten 3, Stikeleather 1, Presnell 3, Benfield 2, Elder 2, Walker 3, Kerley 2, Chapman, Herman, Hager.
HICKORY 45—Amos 4, Joyner 9, Del Valle 6, Clark 5, Cody Young 14, Abernathy 4, Long 3, Izard, Nichols, Ahlers, Culbreath, Mullins.
Notes: Hickory plays top-seeded Freedom in the tournament final on Friday at 8 p.m. at Hickory … The Red Tornadoes have won seven straight games … Alexander Central had a two-game win streak snapped … Hickory beat the Cougars earlier in the season 58-35 at Hickory and 61-43 in Taylorsville …Alexander Central’s 31 points are a season-low … Hickory’s 45 points tie the least in a winning game this year (beat Newton-Conover 45-42 in Dick’s Sporting Goods Classic on Dec. 28) … Hickory shot 42.1 percent and Alexander Central shot 35.3 … Will Del Valle’s seven rebounds led the Red Tornadoes and Lowrance led the Cougars with five … Zendai Clark had eight of Hickory’s 12 assists … Hickory went 7-for-23 on 3-pointers with Young hitting 4-of-7 while Alexander Central went 3-for-10 … There were only 17 free throws shot, eight by the Cougars and nine by the Red Tornadoes … Hickory outscored Alexander Central 19-7 off turnovers although each team had 17 miscues … Young had four of Hickory’s nine steals.
Records: Alexander Central 17-9; Hickory 21-4.
Reported by: Jonathan Watts, Alexander Central SID.
