Danny Anderson, in his fourth season as head boys’ basketball coach at Maiden High and his 36th as a head coach, started the season needing 15 wins to reach 700 for his career./PHOTO COURTESY OF ERNIE MASCHE
Maiden’s Anderson starts year 15
wins shy of 700 for his coaching career
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
Some basketball tidbits as we enjoy a Sunday morning working on getting ready to shift to winter sports coverage:
SOUTH FORK 2A GIRLS
- Defending champion: Lincolnton (12-2, 18-8).
- Defending tournament champion: Newton-Conover.
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SNIDER
Three new head coaches: Chet Korcynski is the only real “new” head coach in the league, taking over at Lake Norman Charter for Bobby Williams. The other new ones previously coached at their schools –
WHITE
Sylvia White at Newton-Conover and Frank Snider at Maiden…White coached the Red Devils twice before, compiling a 145-72 record in eight seasons with her most previous being 2000-01 through 2003-2004…When she returned for a second stint in 2000-01 her first team went 0-20; three years later, the Red Devils went 22-9 and reached the West Regionals… Snider last coached the Maiden girls in 2003-04 with his last two teams each going 16-11, and he has coached the Maiden boys twice for a total of 15 seasons.
- Last year: Bandys went 10-14, ending a string of 11 seasons in the state playoffs… East Lincoln had its third straight winning season … Lincolnton won a league title for the first time since a 2012-13 share and its first outright crown since 1999-2000… Maiden went to the state playoffs for the fifth straight season … Newton-Conover made its 16th straight state playoff appearance and had its 16th consecutive non-losing record … West Lincoln is 6-68 over the previous three seasons.
SOUTH FORK 2A BOYS
Defending champion: East Lincoln (13-1, 25-6).- Defending tournament champion: Lincolnton.
- Two new head coaches: John Cloninger takes over at Lincolnton, replacing retiring Bob Cowie and Kyle Cornwell takes over at West Lincoln, replacing David Hansel.
- Anderson could get No. 700: Maiden head coach Danny Anderson, starting his fourth season with the Blue Devils, is within striking distance of 700 career wins. He has 686 after one game this season, 47 of those at Maiden.
- Hancock hits milestone: East Lincoln head coach Jon Hancock picked up career win No. 350 in the Mustangs’ season-opening victory on Friday at North Gaston. He’s 26-6 at East Lincoln and built his career record in stints as head coach at Lincolnton, Forestview, East Burke and Mallard Creek.
- Last year: Bandys went 15-1 under head coach Adam Dutka, its first winning season since 2009-2010… East Lincoln won a league title for the third time in four seasons … Lincolnton reached 20 wins for the third straight year … Maiden’s 17 wins were its most since 2004-05… Newton-Conover experienced its third straight losing season … West Lincoln won once in 23 games, posting its 36th consecutive losing record.
NORTHWESTERN FOOTHILLS 2A GIRLS
Defending champion: East Burke (12-0, 27-2).- Defending tournament champion: East Burke.
- No coaching changes: All seven head coaches return, led by Bunker Hill’s Randy Joines, who is in his 10th season with the Bears and 30th overall… Based on past success rate, East Burke head coach Crystal Bartlett could reach 100 career wins (75-16 in three years as season began).
- Last year: Bunker Hill increased its win total by seven, going from 2-23 to 9-17… East Burke was 27-1 in conference games and 54-6 overall in the previous two seasons and has nine straight winning records and 11 consecutive bids into the state playoffs… Fred T. Foard has its fifth straight losing season, going 14-106 in that stretch … Hibriten has 15 straight losing seasons and has been at least .500 only once in the last 20 years … Patton earned its fifth state playoff bid, going 15-12.
NORTHWESTERN 2A BOYS
Defending champion: Patton (12-0, 21-7).- Defending tournament champion: Draughn.
- No coaching changes: All seven head coaches return from last year, when Yates Jensen debuted at Draughn with a 22-7 team … Hibriten’s Chad Keller, in his second tenure with the Panthers (62-38, four years going into the season), starts the season with the most wins among league bosses (135)… Dennis Brittain will need nine wins this season to reach 100 for his career at Patton.
- Last year: Bunker Hill went from 2-23 to 13-13, collecting its 11th state playoff bid in 12 seasons … Draughn had back-to-back state playoff trips for the first time in school history… East Burke is 10-39 over the previous two seasons after having reached the state playoffs 17 straight years before that … Fred T. Foard experienced its third straight losing season … Hibriten posted its fourth straight winning season and got into the state playoffs for a fourth consecutive season… Patton went to the postseason for the fifth straight year… West Iredell was 5-43 over the last two years.
NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A GIRLS
- Defending co-champions: Freedom (13-1, 23-5) and Watauga (13-1, 22-5).
- Defending tournament champion: Freedom.
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PARHAM
Spartans’ Parham sidelined: There are no new head coaches in the conference, but South Caldwell’s Jeff Parham is currently sidelined after having heart surgery… Haley Barrett is coaching the Spartans – assisted by Scott Parham and Karen Isbell – while Parham recovers… Parham is 359-182 in 20 seasons at South Caldwell … Hickory’s Barbara Helms starts the year at 377-56 at HHS and 415-93 in 18 seasons overall (she was also head coach at East Burke)… The league’s third 300-game winner is Amber Reddick at Freedom, who starts the season at 305-90 in 14 years at her alma mater.
- Last year: Alexander Central went 4-20, a year after going 16-11 and posting its sixth straight winning record … Freedom reached 20 wins for the 10th straight season, reaching the postseason for the 14th straight year … Hickory (13-12) posted its 27th straight winning season … McDowell went to the state playoffs for the 34th year in a row… South Caldwell’s 9-15 record was only its second losing record over the previous 15 years … West Caldwell (0-14) failed to win a league game for the first time since 1997-98 and for the fifth time in school history.
NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A BOYS
- Defending champion: Hickory (13-1, 27-3).
- Defending tournament champion: Hickory.
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ROGERS
Two new head coaches: Former West Caldwell star Billy Anderson is back at his alma mater, leaving East Carteret to coach the Warriors (he starts the year with 213 career wins… The other new head coach is Patrick Clark at St. Stephens, whose coaching experience is primarily with East Burke… Casey Rogers returns for his 13th year at Freedom, where he was a star guard for his dad, Terry, and he has 255 career wins… Watauga’s Rob Sanders can become the fifth league coach with 200 career boys’ wins (187 to start the year) – Rogers, Anderson, Alexander Central’s Ed Willis and Hickory’s Andy Poplin all have more than 200… Poplin’s career total is not yet available; he is 113-29 at HHS after five seasons.
- Last year: Alexander Central won 11 fewer games than the year before, snapping a four-year stretch with winning records … Freedom won 20 games for the third straight season and for the sixth time in seven years while going to the state playoffs for the 12th straight time and 29th time in 30 seasons … Hickory posted its fourth straight year of 20 or more wins and its 10th in the last 11 seasons while making the postseason for the 17th straight year; the Red Tornadoes have won or shared a league title nine times in 11 years … McDowell is 46-10 in the previous two seasons and has missed the postseason only twice since 1988-89 …St. Stephens hasn’t had a winning season since 2012-13… South Caldwell went from 14 wins the year before to 3-21 last season … West Caldwell kept alive its string of postseason appearances (38)… Watauga went .500 overall, its third straight non-winning season.
