Local female trio competing with the boys

By BRETT KNIGHT
Staff Writer


They’ve heard it all — the snickers, the jokes and the teasing.
But McMichael’s Michelle Wilson, Reidsville’s Briana Maynard and Rockingham’s Lauren Payne knows it comes with the territory.
Just some added motivation, they say.
“A lot of people think you can’t do it and you want to prove yourself more,” said Payne, who is 4-13 in her first year with the Cougars. “At times I think the ragging is funny, but at times it gets me ticked off. It makes me want to wrestle more and take my aggression out on my opponent.”
Maynard got some odd looks as she entered the gym in her cheerleading uniform before Tuesday night’s Reidsville-West Stokes match. She has posed as part cheerleader/part wrestler this season, but she wasn’t there to cheer. Instead, she quickly dressed into her wrestling attire in search of her first victory of the season. She didn’t win, but she frustrated her opponent, Chris Pruitt, in the 130-pound weight class. She lost by decision; it was her first non-pin defeat of the season.
After the match, she quickly changed back into her cheerleading uniform.
“She is amazing,” Reidsville coach Mike Armstrong said. “She does a little bit of everything, including cheerleading and wrestling. She is a different person when she gets on that mat. He (Pruitt) wasn’t happy because he couldn’t pin her. Briana gave him fits and refused to get pinned. He told me after the match that she was one of the toughest opponents he has faced this year.”
Maynard said technique is the hardest part of wrestling, but she is getting better each day.
“Anyone can have the strength, but if you don’t know what to do with it, it’s useless,” said Maynard, a junior. “Because, if you know what body part to pull or how to turn someone over at what time, they certainly have the advantage.”
It didn’t take long for Wilson, who has been wrestling for the past six years, to become known. She had an impressive start, taking first place at 103 pounds in the county tournament. She went 2-0 in the junior varsity division, which included two pins.
“I was like, ‘Wow,’ because it was so awesome,” she said. “I just didn’t want to get pinned. I wasn’t worried about losing that much. I just didn’t want to get pinned.”
Wilson was a respectable 8-11 heading into Wednesday night’s match against Southern Guilford. In an early season dual match, she suffered her first loss with a pin in fewer than 20 seconds. Wilson saw the defeat as one of many learning experiences she would face along the way.
“I was like, ‘This isn’t going to be easy’,” she said. “I know that guys don’t want to lose to a girl.”
It hasn’t been easy for any of the three wrestlers. Heading into each match, the trio knows the majority of their opponents are going to be more experienced, stronger and more physical.
For McMichael coach Jon Bullins, who has coached three other female wrestlers, it is a learning process — not only for Wilson, but for most female wrestlers at the high school level.
“I feel like she is at a disadvantage every time she steps on the mat,” Bullins said. “In almost every match, she is weaker than her opponent. In every match, the guy will wrestle her harder because they don’t want to lose to a girl. She has lost a couple of close matches this year because of just that reason.”
Wilson, who has been involved in wrestling for the past six years – including youth programs and middle school — got a unique experience at the Southern Alamance Duals, facing a female wrestler from the host school. At first, she thought it might be an easy match. She then learned her opponent had eight years of wrestling experience.
“I knew she would be strong and, yes, she was a girl, but so am I,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t take her lightly.”
A second-period pin gave Wilson a perfect 1-0 record against female wrestlers.
One of the first obstacles the girls had to overcome was getting accepted by their teammates. Their hard work and dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“She works hard every day in practice, just like a guy,” Devan McCain of Reidsville said of Maynard. “She is like one of the guys. She never stops working and goes all out. One thing that impressed me is that she is physical and doesn’t complain.”
Unlike Wilson and Payne, Maynard had never been part of a wrestling team. Wilson was a member of the team at Western Rockingham Middle School for two years while Payne was a manager at Rockingham Middle.
Wrestling is still fairly new to her, but she is picking it up.
“It seemed like something new and is something I haven’t tried yet,” said Maynard, who actually didn’t tell her mother she was wrestling until after she started practice. “I actually thought about going out last year, but was definitely going out this year. It was something I thought I might be good at.”
Despite having no wins in her first year, Armstrong has noticed an improvement.
“She really has matured in wrestling,” said Armstrong. “Briana has a lot more to her arsenal than most first-year wrestlers and has better technique than she had than when she started.”
Payne describes the atmosphere in Wentworth as a family-like — she views her male teammates as brothers. And her “brothers” haven’t always taken too kindly to the reaction and actions by opposing wrestlers and coaches.
At a weekend tournament, one opposing coach told Payne during the post-match handshake that she was too pretty to be wrestling.
“That didn’t make me happy, and I was a bit angry,” she said. “I believe he was picking and trying to be nice at the same time, but it still got me mad.”
Following a defeat, Payne got an unexpected question to go along with the after-match handshake.
“After he pinned me, he helped me up and asked me for my number,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. All the guys took up for me on that and weren’t happy with the guy.”
RHCS head coach Robert Lamberth — who has coached only two girls (including Payne) in his 28 years as wrestling coach — and his team look out for their lone Lady Cougar.
She doesn’t get special treatment when it comes to workouts and practice. Once she steps on that mat, she is one of the guys.
“She is a wrestler,” Lamberth said. “She’s not a girl and she’s not a guy. She is a wrestler. She knows that, but she works real hard but is a quick learner. She’s only a ninth-grader but drills her moves real well.”
Wilson describes her teammates as “close-knit” and “family” and has one certain fan that pulls for her.
Her brother, senior Alex Wilson, helped the Phoenix to the 2-A state dual team championship a year ago. He isn’t easy on Michelle.
“He is more of a pain,” Michelle said, laughing. “He is always making me drill harder, but I don’t mind it. It’s cool.”
All three girls say they intend to return next season.

McMichael’s Michelle Wilson

Rockingham’s Lauren Payne

Reidsville’s Briana Maynard

Lady Cougars win low-scoring affair

Staff Report
ELON — Despite scoring just 13 points in the second half, Rockingham County used a 20-point second quarter to slip past Western Alamance, 45-38 Tuesday night in Triad 3-A Conference girls’ basketball action.
Led by Ashley Palm’s 21 points and seven rebounds, the Lady Cougars improved to 16-3 on the season and in doing so eclipsed last year’s win total of 15. In Triad 3-A Conference action, RCHS is now 6-3 on the year.
With the loss, the Lady Warriors fell to 2-12 overall and 1-7 in conference games.
“We just can’t get in synch right now,” said Rockingham County head coach Woody Wall. “We’ve been a bit sluggish, but still good enough to win the last couple ballgames.”
Following last Friday’s loss at Greensboro Dudley, the Lady Cougars have now won two straight games and are currently in third place behind Dudley and Northeast Guilford — atop the Triad 3-A Conference.
The game was tied 12-12 at the end of one quarter, but the Lady Cougars opened things up with a 20-point second quarter.
Leading 32-22 at halftime, the Lady Cougars extended their lead slightly by outscoring the home team 7-4 in the third. Western was able to outscore RCHS 12-6 in the fourth quarter, but it was a little too late for the Lady Warriors.
Shea White led Western Alamance with 14 points, including 4 three-pointers. Mackenzie Owen also chipped in with nine.
In addition to Palm’s 21, RCHS got nine points from Krystal Moore and eight from Lindsay Puckett. Moore added six rebounds and four assists and Puckett pulled down seven rebounds, grabbed six steals and dished out two assists.
RCHS returns to action Friday night against Bartlett Yancey at home. The Lady Cougars won the first meeting, 62-33 back on Jan. 8.
“We have to just shoot our way out of this slump,” added Wall.
Friday’s game tips off at 6 p.m. in Wentworth.

SUMMARY
RCHS (16-3, 6-3) — Ashley Palm 21, Krystal Moore 9, Lindsay Puckett 8, Kylie Keck 6, Elizabeth Ferguson 1, Hannah Livengood, Katie Pace, Jessica Lowe.
W. ALAMANCE (2-12, 1-7) — Mackenzie Owen 9, Shea White 14, Desiree Lea 5, Ashley Green 6, Mariah Neal 1, Natasha Williamson 3.
BY QUARTERS
Rockingham Co. 12 20 7 6 — 45
W. Alamance 12 10 4 12 — 38

Panthers get back to winning ways

Staff Report
GREENSBORO — One night after shooting just 19 percent in a 54-45 loss to county foe Rockingham, Morehead got back into its offensive flow Tuesday night at Western Guilford. Led by the duo of KaShaun Johnson and Adam Hairston, who both scored 13 points apiece, the Panthers jumped out to a 16-6 first quarter lead and went on to a 58-45 victory over the Hornets.
Morehead, which improved to 9-9 overall and 4-5 in the Triad 3-A Conference, led by 11 at halftime (27-16) and never looked back. Hairston and Johnson combined for 15 of the 27 first half points for the visitors.
“We played straight up man-to-man defense for most of the first half,” said Morehead coach John Harder. “That got us going. We got some steals and got some points off our defense.”
Both Hairston and veteran forward Cameron Wade have had two solid games on offense in the past two contests. Hairston, who scored 16 in the loss to RCHS, is averaging 14.5 points a game over the past two games, while Wade is averaging 9.5 points coming off the bench.
Reserve guard Tino Dalton buried a couple of key three-pointers in the third quarter to keep the momentum in Morehead’s favor.
Leading the way for Western in the loss was Nick Sparks with 12 points. Monte Alston added 10.
MHS will be back in Greensboro Friday night as it takes on Dudley.
Game time is set for 8 p.m.

RCHS scores road win over Panthers

Steve Cannuli
Sports Editor
Outscoring Morehead 35-22 in the second half, Rockingham County erased a 23-19 halftime deficit and came away with a 54-45 victory over the Panthers Monday night in Triad 3-A Conference action.
The game was tied 35-35 with one quarter remaining — thanks to a 16-12 Cougar edge in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, it was all “Buck” Parker as the junior forward finished with game-highs in points (26) and rebounds (19).
“This is as big a win since I’ve been here at Rockingham,” said RCHS head coach Jeff Hamilton. “We had never won here since I started coaching.”
The win also proved big because Rockingham County and Morehead are both tied at 3-5 in the Triad 3-A Conference. Overall, the Cougars are now 9-8 while the Panthers dropped to 8-9.
Both teams return to action tonight in what is scheduled to be a three-game week. RCHS is at Western Alamance tonight and Morehead travels to Western Guilford.
As the fourth quarter began, Morehead struck first and took a 37-35 lead with 6:50 left in the game. Over the next four minutes of play, baskets for the Panthers were hard to come by as the home team was 4 of 16 (25 percent) from the field in the period.
Conversely, Rockingham County shot a high percentage in the period — in large part due to Parker’s rebounding and scoring. Six of Parker’s nine second-half rebounds came in the fourth quarter and four were of the offensive variety.
Twice off missed free throws late in the game, Parker scored put back baskets.
His dunk with 2:20 left in the game gave the Cougars a 48-40 lead, that brought the RCHS faithful to their feet.
During a four-minute stretch in the final period, the Panthers — who led 14-8 at the end of one quarter — were outscored 11-3.

Conference proposal for RHS shot down

By STEVE WILLIAMS
Special to the Review
A preliminary agreement that would have allowed Reidsville to switch out of a proposed new conference into another one was shot down last week at a North Carolina High School Athletic Association meeting.
Realignment, which will go into effect for the 2009-10 school year, is done every four years by the NCHSAA as enrollment numbers change. The state’s first draft was announced at the end of November and placed Reidsville in a six-team conference that featured none of the Rams’ traditional rivals and would cause expense and travel headaches.
Schools were allowed to formulate and suggest alternatives and present them to the state before the second draft, which is expected to be announced Feb. 8.
Reidsville athletic director Ted Jones said he thought a solution had been worked out only to see objections emerge at the meeting last week.
“We had proposed that we would swap with Randleman and Randleman had agreed to it,” Jones said. “Everybody was in agreement with that until we got to the meeting. Then it was totally different.”
The original draft had Reidsville with High Point Andrews, Winston-Salem Atkins, Winston-Salem Carver and a couple of Randolph County schools – Trinity and Wheatmore.
Randleman, which is in Randolph County, was with Graham, Burlington Cummings, Bartlett Yancey, Eastern Randolph and Providence Grove and Siler City Jordan Matthews.
A couple of those schools had objections to the Randleman-Reidsville switch.
Bartlett Yancey, Cummings and Graham are all closer to Reidsville than any of the schools in the first draft proposal.
The state had difficulty dividing the 2-A schools in this part of the state because so many had moved up to 3-A since the last realignment. In the North State 2-A Conference alone, McMichael, Eastern Guilford and Southern Guilford grew to 3-A size. That left Reidsville, Atkins and West Stokes (located in King) in 2-A. West Stokes, which has considerable travel woes in the current conference, was put in a 2-A/1-A split league with schools in closer proximity.
That left Atkins and Reidsville to be positioned elsewhere. Meanwhile, High Point Andrews, Trinity and W-S Carver are all dropping from 3-A to 2-A and were in need of a new league. (Wheatmore is a new school that will relieve crowding at Trinity when it opens in 2009).
While Trinity, Wheatmore, Andrews, Atkins and Carver are all within a 30-minute radius of each other, Reidsville’s closest trip in that league would be to Atkins, about 45 minutes.
“There were lots of different proposals, so many that it’s hard to even cover them all,” Jones said, noting that a split 2-A/3-A league that would have grouped Reidsville with the other three Rockingham County schools was one of the first he proposed before the state’s original draft.
The enrollment number used for Reidsville’s classification was 939, putting them within 102 students of being at the top of the 2-A list. The lowest number for a 3-A school on the list was 1056. McMichael was the third smallest with 1,067. Rockingham County was listed with 1,205 and Morehead with 1,162.
Now, Jones said, it’s wait and see.
“We’ll see what the state comes up with,” he said. “I don’t have a clue about where they are going to put us, but I have a feeling we’ll be right where we’re at.”
While sub-committee discussions are going on this week, the entire realignment committee will assemble in Chapel Hill next week.
“They’ll evaluate all the comments and suggestions,” said NCHSAA spokesman Rick Strunk. “Hopefully a new draft will be posted on the web site sometime next Friday (Feb. 8) afternoon.”
After possible adjustments to the second draft, a final conference plan is due out in March. An appeals period will follow with the final decision due in May.

Lady Panthers squeak past WAHS

Brett Knight
Staff Writer
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win for Morehead.
The question in the fourth quarter seemed to be which team wanted to score first more than which team wanted to win as Morehead hosted Western Alamance. In a fourth quarter that saw both teams score only six points, Kali Cuttaia’s layup with 1:47 left gave the Lady Panthers a four-point cushion and the momentum they needed to squeak out a 43-40 victory.
Friday’s final stanza was not a bad one from a defensive standpoint as both teams combined for 11 turnovers and only two field goals. However, from an offensive standpoint, it was a quarter that would make any coach cringe and shake his head. There was plenty of head-shaking and disbelief as both teams struggled from the field.
“I don’t know what happened in that second half,” said Morehead coach Monte Dillard. “We just got out of our offense and let them come back on us. Basically, we put it in cruise control after the first quarter. And we are not a good enough team to do that, especially this late in the year.”
A 12-point first quarter lead went only to 10 at halftime, but the Lady Panther lead dwindled down to only one as Western outscored the home team 18-8 in the third quarter. However, neither offense could come to life in the fourth quarter as the only points in the first six plus minutes was a Mecail Martin free throw that gave MHS a 40-38 lead with 4:53 left. Both teams went a combined 2 of 19 from the field in the fourth. One statistic that Dillard won’t like is the 17 missed layups by the home team. However, Cuttaia, a freshman, came through with the biggest basket of the game as she scored an uncontested layup off a no-look pass from Amber Dalton at the 1:47 mark. Western actually followed suit 16 seconds later as McKenzie Owen scored Western’s lone basket in the fourth on a layup to get the visitors back to within two.
Owen actually got a chance to tie the game with 1:08 left with two free throw opportunities. However, she came up empty on both attempts, which forced Western to foul in hopes of getting the ball back.
PeLaura Hairston added an insurance point with 57 seconds left as she went 1 of 2 from the charity stripe to make it 43-40. The Lady Warriors had a couple of chances on their next possession to get within one or tie the game, but failed to hit a basket. MHS got possession of the ball with close to 40 seconds left in the game and started eating up the clock with anticipation of a Western foul coming. Shockingly, the Lady Warriors didn’t put too much pressure on the Morehead guard and didn’t foul. The visitors did force a turnover a midcourt with less than three seconds left, but weren’t able to get a shot off before the buzzer.

Women DHS 56, RCHS 46 OT; Men DHS 82, Rockingham County 50

Your Thoughts

We would like to hear your thoughts about the recent incident and punishments handed down following the fight between Reidsville and Atkins.
Let us know what you think.

Lady Rams continue waiting game

By STEVE CANNULI
Sports Editor
Last Friday's altercation that put a halt to the Reidsville-Winston-Salem Atkins boys' basketball game has now had a trickle-down effect on Reidsville High School's girls' basketball team.
Reidsville, which was scheduled to play at Winston-Salem Prep on Friday, was informed Wednesday that the boys' and girls' basketball games were not going to be played.
According to Lady Rams' head coach Casey Elrod, administrators at W-S Prep felt that because of the closeness between its school and W-S Atkins, there was fear that further problems could take place.
The cancellation means that the Lady Rams, who are scheduled to play at home against West Stokes Tuesday night, will now go 10 days between North State 2-A Conference games. Last week's game with Atkins was the only one of the week for the Lady Rams - meaning when RHS meets West Stokes it will mark the team's third game in the past 13 days.
The Lady Rams, following their 97-51 win over Atkins last Friday, climbed back above .500 (2-1) in the North State and are still alive for the conference championship.
Reidsville's conference loss came at the hands of first-place Eastern Guilford (65-55) back on Jan. 15. Overall, Reidsville is 6-7 on the year.
"It can be little bit of a momentum killer for us," said Elrod, whose team has won two straight games after dropping three in a row to Rockingham County, Greensboro Grimsley and Eastern. "I think it's still going to be a very good year for us."
The Lady Rams were also hampered last week by Thursday's weather-related school closing.
NCHSAA prohibits schools from practicing on days when schools are closed due to weather.
County schools also took exams last week, which made for added stress on players and coaches.
"This has probably been the strangest years of coaching I have ever seen," added Elrod.
On Tuesday, Rockingham County had its games with Morehead wiped out due to a weather-related decision by the county's director of transportation. The decision to not allow buses out after school hours, forced RCHS and MHS to move their basketball games to Monday night.

Rivalry games postponed to Monday

Staff Report
EDEN — Tuesday night’s basketball games between Rockingham County High School and Morehead High School were cancelled due to a decision to not allow buses out after school hours.
The decision was made by the Rockingham County School’s director of transportation.
Many other counties were also not allowing any after-school activities.
The games will be made up on Jan. 28 with the junior varsity boys’ game beginning at 4:30 p.m. in Eden.
Next up for Rockingham County will is Greensboro Dudley on Friday night and Morehead will play host to Western Alamance.
RCHS will now have three games next week, beginning with Morehead on Monday and wrapping up on Feb. 1 with a home game against Bartlett Yancey. The teams will also travel to Western Alamance on Jan. 29.
In addition to the RCHS on Monday, Morehead also plays at Western Guilford on Tuesday and at Dudley on Feb. 1.
Reidsville was not scheduled to play on Tuesday and it returns to action against Winston-Salem Prep on Friday.
RHS has three games scheduled for next week, West Stokes (home) on Tuesday, McMichael (away) on Wednesday and Eastern Guilford (home) on Friday.

Penalties for Reidsville-Atkins fracas could come Wednesday

REIDSVILLE -- A decision on what penalties will be handed down in connection to the altercation that took place during Friday's Reidsville-Atkins boys' basketball game, could come as early as Wednesday afternoon.
According to the NCHSAA's Que Tucker, nothing new had developed in the situation on Tuesday. Tucker, like many of the area's administrators, were involved in Tuesday's conference re-alignment meetings.

MHS swims to conference swimming title

Staff Report
It was a two-team battle at Friday’s Triad 3-A Conference swim meet, which was held at the Eden YMCA. Morehead and Western Guilford accounted for 17 first-place finishes and were the teams to beat.
On the boys’ side, the hometown Panthers took first in four events and captured the conference championship, while the Lady Hornets used 4 first-place finishes of their own to win on the girls’ side.
Morehead finished 41 points ahead of Western on the boys’ side with 263 points. Taking third was Northern Guilford with 212 points, followed by Rockingham County (200), Western Alamance (154) and Northeast Guilford (116).
The Lady Hornets racked up 295 points on the girls’ side, followed by Morehead (273) and Northern Guilford (195). Rounding out the rest of the field were Western Alamance (132), Rockingham (126) and Northeast Guilford (125).

One catch for Simpson at East-West Shrine Game

While Coastal Carolina's Jerome Simpson finished with just one catch for 18 yards in the East's 31-13 loss, the East's quarterbacks did not give the former Reidsville Ram much to work with.
On two passes, Simpson had little or no chance to haul in the reception -- one overthrown and one hit the ground in front of him.
The game was played Saturday night at Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston.
Next up for Simpson, the NFL Combine Feb. 20-26 in Indianapolis.

McMichael swept by E. Guilford

Staff Report
MAYODAN — Tony Rogers scored 17 points to lead four Wildcat players in double figures and helped East-ern Guilford to a 71-62 victory over McMichael.
The third quarter was the difference in the game as Eastern outscored the home team, 16-8. McMichael, which had a 36-34 lead, was outscored 37-26 after halftime.
Leading the way for DMHS in the loss were Dylan Caple and Terrell King, who both scored 16 points. Brent Scales scored eight points, John Miller had seven and Clayton Doss added six in the loss.
Also scoring in double figures for Eastern were Trey Radcliff (15), Quayshad Williams (14) and Mark Jerni-gen (11).
Girls's Recap
E. Guilford 50, McMichael 25
MAYODAN — Eastern Guilford held McMichael to single digits in all four quarters, outscored McMichael, 28-12 in the second half and coasted to a 50-25 North State 2-A Conference win.
Lashonda Anderson recorded a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds as Eastern used a 12-5 run in the second quarter to lead 22-13 at halftime. Capricia Smalls finished with 13 points and eight blocks.
Only three players scored for the Lady Phoenix, who dropped to 7-8 overall and 1-2 in conference play led by Brooke Hensley with 13. Jasmine Price had seven and Krystie Thomas had five.
Eastern improved to 13-3 and 4-0.

Fracas puts end to RHS game

By STEVE WILLIAMS
Special to the Review
The heat of the battle erupted into a bench-clearing melee Friday night, forcing suspension of the North State 2-A Conference basketball game at the RHS gymnasium between Reidsville and Winston-Salem Atkins.
With Atkins leading 41-38 with 2:20 left in the third quarter, a couple of players became involved in a shoving match in the end zone under the Reidsville basket and drew a double technical foul. But the situation quickly worsened and players from both teams left the bench to turn the court into a battle-field. While fists flew, coaches and administrators worked to get the situation under control.
“Tempers flared and things got out of hand,” said RHS assistant principal Lamont Dixon, who helped restore the peace. “The next thing you know the crowd got involved and escalated the situation. Thank God, both sides didn’t get into it full blown or we would have a mess in here.”
Que Tucker, Deputy Executive Director of the NCHSAA and a former resident of Reidsville when she coached at RHS, was at Friday’s game but left before the incident. She handles these matters for the state association.
Reached Saturday, Tucker said that the NCHSAA would get reports from the officiating crew and view game video before deciding on penalties for the players and schools.
Any player ejected from a game draws a two-game suspension and if it can be determined from the game officials’ report or from a video that players left the bench and joined the fight, schools would be fined $1,000.
“I won’t make any ruling until I talk to the officials so that they can say to me that these players were ejected,” Tucker said, adding that officials sometimes can’t determine if other players should be ejected when the fight involves more than the original combatants.
“If they (game officials) can’t say to me that other players should be ejected, but we can determine that by looking at the video, we could say that these players will also be ejected.”
But there are other possibilities.
“Sometimes leaving the bench by itself doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re ejected,” she said. “Leaving the bench and you actually participate in the fight is an ejection. But if you do not participate and you left the bench, that could be viewed entirely differently.”
Whether or not the game will be resumed at a later date is also yet to be determined by the way the officials left it when play was suspended. Conference officials may also be involved in that ruling.
Another possible result is that teams involved can be barred from participating in the playoffs. Lo-cal school administrations can also take additional action.
Tucker said there’s been a spate of similar incidents this season.
“Just in the past three weeks, I have dealt with three different situations where a player left the bench in a basketball game to participate in an altercation that was occurring on the floor,” she said. “In those instances I didn’t have to see a video. The report came from the officials and from the A.D. (athletic director). When they corroborate that is, in fact, what happened there’s a $1,000 fine to the school.”
Reidsville coach Bill Walton said Saturday that he stresses to his team that fighting carries serious consequences.
“We’ve talked about leaving the bench. I have them sign a contract. I’ve got a written document that specifically tells them they have to be under control and they can’t leave the bench. We’ve talked about that so I don’t know if there’s anything else we could have done.”
He said the situation came about so fast that there was little the coaches could do.
“We can grab two kids but if five more are fighting, there’s nothing that can be done,” he said.
Two school resource officers were at the game and additional Reidsville police department officers were called to the gymnasium. Both teams were told to stay in their dressing rooms for a while and law enforcement was on hand as Atkins players loaded the bus and left the campus.
“I’ve been coaching 26 years and it’s never happened to any of my teams before,” said Walton, who is in his third year at RHS.
“If you’re defending your teammates or trying to help, that’s being teammates, but if you’re just out there joining in the fracas, that’s just unfortunate.”
Atkins entered the game with a 2-0 conference record while Reidsville was 0-2 and in a must-win situation to keep alive any hopes of repeating as league champion, having lost a couple of tough road games to Eastern Guilford (overtime) and West Stokes.
The game was close most of the way, although Atkins never trailed after rallying from an early 7-4 deficit to take a 12-11 lead at the first-quarter break. The Camels extended it to 31-22 in the second quarter thanks to the red-hot outside shooting of Travis Clark, who nailed four three-pointers in the period.
Atkins pushed the margin to 33-22 with the first hoop of the third quarter but the Rams made a spirited rally. A pair of three-balls by Tyrell Houghton and two hoops by Kerry Hammock sparked a 16-8 run that closed the gap. It became 41-38 when Jarrett Barnett hit a layup on a pass from A.J. Williams with 2:25 left.
The altercation then put basketball on the back burner to simmer before decisions of the state and local school leaders are handed down.
Reidsville’s next scheduled game is out of conference Friday at Winston-Salem Prep.
Reidsville and Atkins are scheduled to meet again in Winston-Salem on Feb. 5. Whether or not that game will be played is one of the questions that will be determined in the coming days.

Todd McShay's NFL Draft Sleeper: WR Jerome Simpson

Photos from the RCHS vs. NEGHS basketball game

Photos from RHS, MCHS and RCHS Swimming

Sarah Wilkes Invitational begins tonight

By BRETT KNIGHT
Staff Writer
With the state dual team wrestling tournament less than three weeks away, several teams are making final preparations for a run to the postseason. The 23rd Annual Sarah Wilkes Invitational, which begins tonight at Morehead, will feature some of the state’s best teams so fans should expect some action-packed wrestling in the two-day event.
“This will the toughest tournament we will compete in this year,” said Morehead coach Greg Frey. “Each weight class will be full of (state) ranked kids.”
Several familiar teams will be making a return to Eden including last year’s Sarah Wilkes champion and defending 3-A state champion in Winston-Salem Parkland.
The Mustangs ran away from the rest of the competition a year ago with 263 points as 12 Mustangs finished fourth or better in their respective weight classes. Parkland had two wrestlers win championships, while Jack Britt (187.5 points) and Morehead (172), which finished second and third respectively, had three individual champions. Enka and Mt. Tabor rounded out the top-five a year ago and will also be back this year. Rockingham County, which finished 16th will make the short trip of Wentworth to take part in the event.
Bassett (Va.), Davie County, Eastern Alamance, Gray’s Creek, George Washington (Va.), Northeast Guilford, Northwest Cabarrus, Northwest Guilford, Randleman, Robinson, Shelby, South Rowan, Southern Lee, Southern Alamance, South View, Trinity, Union Pines, West Carteret and Western Harnett make up the rest of the 25-team field.

East receivers coach impressed with Simpson's all-around game

By STEVE WILLIAMS
Special to the Review
HOUSTON – The wide receivers coach for the East team in Saturday’s Shrine Game likes what he sees in Reidsville’s Jerome Simpson and that’s not even including his pass-catching ability.
Shawn Jefferson, receivers coach for the Detroit Lions and a member of Dick Vermeil’s all-star staff this week, is impressed with Simpson’s work ethic.
“The things that sticks out to me the most about him is his eagerness to learn and his attention to detail,” Jefferson said when contacted by phone Thursday. “He’s soaking up every word and he’s trying to do things exactly right, so that tells me as a coach that this guy is very detailed and takes a lot of pride in the way he works.”
Jefferson is a bit of an expert on the subject of NFL wide receivers. He caught 470 passes in 13 seasons in the NFL, starting with San Diego in 1991 and ending with Detroit in 2003. He also played four seasons in New England and three in Atlanta. He had receptions in two Super Bowls (1994 with Chargers and 1996 with Patriots) along the way.
Jefferson also was impressed with Simpson’s blocking.
“It doesn’t take a lot of talent to block. You should see this guy in practice. He’s sprinting down field to get a block for his teammates. To me, that’s the type of guy I want on my team. That says a lot about his character.”
And what about the abilities that allowed Simpson turn sensational into the routine in his years at Reidsville High and Coastal Carolina University?
“He’s very athletic with great hands,” Jefferson said. “He was God-gifted with great hands. He makes all the catches you’d want to see a receiver make.
“He can jump like Michael Jordan. You should have seen the catch he made the other day in practice where he went up above everybody and caught a deep pass. Everything you throw to him he’s catching. He has gloves for hands.”
Jefferson will also be at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
“I’m not sure who all the receivers are that are going to be there, but I’ll be hard pressed to go to the combine and find a receiver there that has better hands than him. He’ll turn some heads at the combine.”
Jefferson hasn’t noticed Simpson’s purported lack of speed.
“With tall guys like that, you typically don’t find the blazing speed. Granted, for a guy 6-2, you don’t find burners. But I’ll tell you what -- he has enough speed to play this game. I haven’t seen anybody catch him in practice when he’s caught a pass and got loose. He has enough speed.
“Sometimes in this game of football we get so tied into that a receiver should run this, should look like this. Now we’re interested in football players and that’s what this kid is, he’s a football player.”
Jefferson said Simpson would get plenty of playing time in Saturday’s game.
“He’s come in and picked up the system well. Hasn’t had any trouble with that. He’ll be the Z receiver so I’m interested in seeing what he’s going to do. I know he’ll do a good job and any ball that’s near him, he’s going to catch it.
“In terms of pure play-making ability, he hasn’t taken a back seat to anybody. He came in and tried to put some ownership on this position. All five receivers have been doing well … now if they can take what they do in practice and apply it to game day. I’m anxious to see all of them and what they can do.”
And there should be plenty of plays for Simpson.
“He’ll have ample opportunity to go out there to make plays because he’s going to play a lot,” Jefferson said.

Rams, Lady Cougars face mid-season tests

By STEVE CANNULI
Sports Editor
The Reidsville Rams and Rockingham County Lady Cougars both have big mid-season games on Friday night, but for vastly different reasons.
For the Rams, who are 3-7 overall, they are in search of North State 2-A Conference win No. 1. Reidsville (0-2) plays host to Winston-Salem Atkins.
The Lady Cougars, who are 14-1 overall, are looking to keep pace with the other top two teams in the Triad 3-A Conference - Greensboro Dudley and Northeast Guilford. At 4-1 in conference play, Rockingham County plays host to Northeast Guilford.
After waiting on several players due to the Rams' state football championship run, Reidsville got off to a slow start, dropping four of its first five games. With a single win over county-rival Rockingham County, the Rams were 1-4 heading into the losers' bracket of the annual Danville Register and Bee Holiday Shootout. Reidsville then mustered back-to-back wins over Chatham and Dan River - the only time this season - and headed back into regular season play at 3-4.
Since the team's fourth-place finish in Danville it has been an uphill struggle once again for the Rams and third-year head coach Bill Walton.
Losses to Greensboro Grimsley (non-conference), Eastern Guilford and West Stokes has Reidsville at 3-7 and searching for an identity.
"No question about it, we are struggling to find ourselves," said Walton. "We are losing games more than teams are beating us."
Friday's game is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Reidsville High School.

Lady Cougars close to last year's win total
Last year's win total of 15 could be match Friday night with a Rockingham County victory over visiting Northeast Guilford.
The Lady Cougars, whose lone loss came at the hands of Greensboro Dudley (8-4, 4-0), are tied with the Lady Rams (4-1), who also have a single loss to the Dudley Lady Panthers. Dudley knocked off Northeast Guilford, 47-33 on Tuesday night. In the loss, Northeast got nine points each from key returners Deandre Murray and Je'Taime Stevens.
Rockingham County, which led Dudley through three quarters, lost to the Lady Panthers, 68-62 back on Jan. 2.
Over the last five games, junior guard Krystal Moore is averaging 23.6 points per game and for the season is averaging just over 20 points per game.
"Krystal is playing with a lot of confidence," said head coach Woody Wall, following last Friday's win at Western Guilford, in which Moore led all scorers with 26 points.
Friday's game tips off at 6 p.m. in Wentworth.

Winn to continue wrestling career at Duke

By BRETT KNIGHT
Staff Writer
Alex Winn has always been a fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels. He has cheered for the light blue and white for as long as he can remember. However, in November, the senior grappler chose to pull for a darker shade of blue when he verbally committed to continue his wrestling career at Duke University.
Winn made his official visit to the Durham campus on Nov. 9-10 and admitted that he didn’t think the trip would be too appealing. Having been a Carolina fan for so long, Winn was actually thinking he would end up in Chapel Hill for his college career.
What a difference two days can make. Winn got to visit the campus, tour the athletic facilities, meet members of the team as well as the coaching staff and even take in a Duke basketball game along with the famous Cameron Crazies.
“I was blown away on my visit,” said Winn, who is currently 33-2 heading into this weekend’s Sarah Wilkes Invitational. “A lot of colleges are known for their partying, sports or study. Duke just seems to blend from a social point of view. I loved the campus and the surroundings. I definitely see myself there.”

McMichael dominates Southern Alamance Duals

Staff Report
GRAHAM — McMichael turned Saturday’s Southern Alamance Duals into its own personal playground.
The Phoenix lost only eight matches in the one-day event, averaged 68.75 points in their four easy wins and came home with the championship.
DMHS notched wins over Burlington Williams (72-6), Southern Alamance (69-8), Grimsley (62-18) and Graham (72-9). The team won by an average margin of 58.5 points (68.75-10.25) as they won 11 or more matches against all four teams. With the top finish, the Phoenix improved to 30-5 overall.
The 14 DMHS wrestlers went a combined 48-7 led by Dakota Holt (119), Josh Befort (135), Daniel Hopper (140), Ben Gleiser (145), Travis Ward (152), Joseph Silvers (160), Brach Walker (189), Steven Chestnut (215) and Matt Gardner (285) who all went a perfect 4-0.
Stephen Easter (125) and Chance Smith (125) both went 2-0 on the day, while Kenny Harris (171) and Alex Wilson (130) both went 3-1. Also competing for the winners were Michelle Wilson (1-2) at 103 and Greg Smith (1-3) at 112.
In the first match of the day, McMichael won 13 of 14 matches against Williams to roll to the 72-6 win. Recording pins were Holt, Wilson, Befort, Hopper, Gleiser, Silvers, Harris, Chestnut and Gardner.
In the second round win over Southern Alamance, the Phoenix got pins from Wilson, Holt, Chance Smith, Wilson, Befort, Hopper, Ward, Silvers, Walker, Chestnut and Gardner.
McMichael defeated Grimsley 62-18 thanks to the help of Holt, Befort, Hopper, Ward, Harris and Walker, who all had pins.
The fourth round win over Graham saw Holt, Chance Smith, Wilson, Gleiser, Ward, Silvers, Harris, Walker, Chestnut and Gardner pick up pins.
McMichael will host West Stokes next Wednesday night in a North State Conference dual match.
The match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

Panthers take first at New Kent tourney

Staff Report
NEW KENT, Va. — The four-hour bus drive to New Kent turned out to be a good one for Morehead after all. Looking to compete against some new teams in the Virginia area, the Panthers made themselves right at home at Saturday’s New Kent Tournament. Seven Panther wrestlers placed in the top-seven in their respective weight classes, including four champions as MHS won the 11-team tournament with 167.5 points.
Host New Kent took second with 162 points, followed by Brentsville. Rounding out the top-five were Lancaster and Matthews.
“We knew Lancaster and New Kent were good teams,” said Morehead coach Greg Frey. “The rest of the field, we didn’t know anything about really.”
Leading the way for the Panthers were Bobby Shanor, Alex Winn, Neal Stultz and Micah Stanfield, who all won championships.
Shanor extended his state’s best winning streak to 86 as he went a perfect 3-0 in the 140-pound weight class. He major decisioned Sam Frere of Lancaster by a 14-4 score to take first.
Winn was champion at 152 with a pin at the 4:40 mark over L. Lally of Lancaster.
Stultz pinned Brett Akers of Deep Creek at the 1:39 mark in the championship match at 170, while Stanfield won the title at 285 with a pin over Nick Demith of Fork Union at the 1:19 mark.
MHS got solid second-place finishes from the trio of Chris Stanley (130), Greg Stanfield (189) and Ian Kirkman (215). They went a combined 6-3.
D.J. Giles (103), Austin Swayne (119) and Marty Hall (125) all finished third in their weight classes with 3-1 records.
Isaiah Witcher also placed as he took fourth at the 112-pound weight class with a 2-2 record. George Brown wrestled as an alternate and was fourth at 285.
“I thought everyone wrestled well considering we were missing three starters,” said Frey.
“This tournament helped. We just wanted to see some different teams and a different style of wrestling and we did. All this traveling and staying in hotels is preparing the team for states. It is becoming pretty normal for them now.”
MHS will return home this weekend to host the Sarah Wilkes Invitational, which gets underway Friday night. Friday’s action will start at 6 p.m. and will continue at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.

Note: The first name for Lally was not provided to the Eden Daily News.

McLeod ties for 7th at Pine Needles

Staff Report
SOUTHERN PINES — Reidsville’s Payne McLeod fired a pair of 75s over the weekend and tied for seventh in an Eastern Junior Golf Association event at Pine Needles.
Adam Stephenson of Greenville was winner of the boys 16-18 division with 145 (72-73). Michael Marshburn (74-73) of Cary and Zach Edmondson of Morrisville (72-75) tied for second at 147.
McLeod, a junior at Reidsville High School, bogeyed his first three holes of the tournament Saturday but came back with two birdies, helping him finish at four-over 75.
In the second round, he had four bogeys and no birdies on his card.
A strong field of 53 players teed it up at 6,850 yards in the boys 16-18 division.
Alex Wise of Eden tied for 27th with a pair of 79s and Pennrose Park Country Club junior champion Matthew Younts was 42nd with 86-81.

McMichael hoopsters record sweep

Staff Report
GREENSBORO — Krystie Thomas scored 14 points and helped McMichael to a 46-40 North State 2-A Conference victory over Southern Guilford Friday night in Greensboro.
Teammates Jasmine Price (12) and Brooke Hensley (10) combined for 22 points for the winners, who led 22-21 at halftime.
Molly Southard contributed eight points for the Lady Phoenix, who led by three (34-31) heading into the fourth quarter.
Leading the way for Southern in the loss was Camille Horne who had a team-high 12 points. Rachel Evans scored 10.

Boys
McMichael 75, S. Guilford 69
GREENSBORO — McMichael saved its best for last Friday night at Southern Guilford. Trailing by 12, the Phoenix erupted for 30 points in the fourth quarter, including 24by the duo of Terrell King and Dylan Caple and came away with a key 75-69 North State 2-A Conference win over the Storm.
DMHS saw itself behind 57-45 after three quarters of play, but was on fire in the fourth especially from the free throw line. As a team, the Phoenix hit 14 of 18 shots from the charity stripe, including an 11 of 12 performance from King as the Phoenix improved to 6-10 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
King scored 15 of his game-high 33 points in the final stanza, while Caple scored nine of his 14 in the same span. Trailing by seven, King hit four straight free throws thanks to two technical fouls from Southern. McMichael hit another basket to get within one and eventually took the lead.
Leading the way for the Storm in the loss was Quincey Gardner who had 17.

DMHS too much for Reidsville swimmers

Staff Report
The improving Reidsville High School swimming teams ran into an experienced and tough task Friday night hosting McMichael High School at the Reidsville YMCA.
Despite a combined 9 first-place finishes, Reidsville was swept by McMichael — losing 90-77 on the girls’ side and 82-69 in the boys’ meet.
“From a core group of swimmers, the men have made great strides,” said Reidsville swim coach Gayle Ferguson. “The women continue to improve also.”
The Rams recorded five wins, while the Lady Rams finished with four.
Ben Fraser won a pair of events, taking home first place in the 500-meter freestyle (6:32.45) and the 200-meter individual medley (2:48.25) events.
Other wins came from Vaughn McKinney (2:42.78) in the 200-meter freestyle and James Scheer (1:13.90) in the 100-meter breaststroke.
Reidsville’s 200 medley relay team, consisting of Scheer, Fraser, McKinney and Ross Haigler, won with a time of 2:06.33.
The Lady Rams got four victories from four different swimmers.
Sarah Alston Trent won the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:41.92, Lauren Dixon won the 200 i.m. with a time of 3:05.31, Lyndsey McKinney won the 500 freestyle with a time of 7:14.34 and Francie Trent won the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:31.76.
“McMichael has some awesome swimmers,” said Ferguson. “They have some great senior talent to round out their relays.”
Defending state champion Elliott Casey of McMichael recorded two individual wins (100 free and 50 free) and was part of two winning Phoenix relay teams.
Reidsville was back in action on Saturday at the Unicorn Invitational at the Edison Johnson Recreation Center in Durham.
The conference meet is scheduled for Jan. 24 at Rockingham County High School. McMichael is the host school.

Panthers pick up key road win

Staff Report
YANCEYVILLE —Morehead picked up a key Triad 3-A Conference win Thursday night in Yanceyville. Led by the trio of Quenton Hood, Greg Perkins and KaShaun Johnson, who all scored 13 points, the Panthers de-feated Bartlett Yancey, 50-42.
With the win, MHS improved to 7-6 overall and 2-2 in conference play heading into tonight’s road game at Northeast Guilford.
“This was a big win for us,” said MHS coach John Harder. “We played well in the first half and put four solid quarters together. It was one of our most complete games of the year.”
Six players got into the scoring column for the visitors from Eden led by Hood, Perkins and Johnson, who combined for 39 of the 50 Panther points. Adam Hairston added five, Justin Goggin scored four and Cameron Wade contributed with two.
After leading by two points (14-12) after one quarter of play, MHS took the momentum thanks to a 13-6 scor-ing advantage in the second quarter to lead 27-18 at halftime.
The lead went to nine as MHS added 14 more points in the third quarter. Bartlett Yancey, which beat Rockingham County 87-82 Tuesday night, was able to cut the lead to six late in the third quarter, but got no closer the rest of the way.
“Tonight we were making the extra pass which resulted in a lot of layups,” said Harder. “We were in man-to-man defense all night except for one possession late in the game.”
Nine different players got in the scoring column for the Buccaneers led by Terrell Lea with a team-high seven points. Ryan Buryns and Brock Charette both added six.
Tonight’s game with the Rams will begin at 7:30 p.m. in McLeansville.

Free throws cost Reidsville at UNCG

Staff Report
GREENSBORO - Eastern Guilford made good on 26 of 30 free throws and outscored Reidsville 14-6 in overtime as the Wildcats turned away the Rams, 81-73 Thursday night at UNCG.
The game was a back and forth effort that featured 10 tied scores in the second half alone.
While the Wildcats were playing their 16th game of the season, Reidsville was on No. 9. Eastern Guilford, which is now 9-7 overall and 2-0 in North State 2-A Conference play, got four players in double figures - led by Terry Carter and Quashad Williams, each with 16. Tony Rogers and Mark Jurnigan each chipped in with 15.
Reidsville, 3-6 overall and 0-1 in the conference, lost despite a game-high 22 points from Greg Black. Marcus Pickard (12), Jarrett Barnett (10) and A.J. Williams (11) all finished in double figures.
Tied at 67-67, the two teams headed into the extra session and Williams (a 6-5, freshman) on a fourth-chance effort gave the Wildcats a quick OT lead.
Darrence Jumper, the Rams' freshman center, evened the score at 69-69 with his offensive put back.
With 1:57 left in the overtime, Eastern put together a five-point spurt - capped off by Carter's three-pointer. His long range shot, along with a field goal from Trey Radcliff, gave Eastern a 75-69 advantage.
Greg Black and Jarrett Barnett then connected on field goals, cutting the Reidsville deficit to 77-73.
However, the Wildcats as they were all night made good on free throws (4 of 4) to help seal the victory.
While Eastern thrived from the line, the Rams did not. Reidsville was just 11 of 20 from the "charity strip."
Eastern's Rogers alone made 10 of 12 FTs.

McMichael perfect in win over Rams

Staff Report
MAYODAN — It’s not often a team can record a perfect score in wrestling. However, the Phoenix made it look rather easy Wednesday night at home against Reidsille.
McMichael scored 14 wins either by pinfall or forfeit and remained unbeaten in conference action with an 84-0 win over the Rams.
McMichael, which improved to 26-5 overall and 3-0 in the North State 2-A Conference, had nine pins, seven which came in the first period.
The home team also got 30 points the easy way with five forfeits.
Steven Easter got things started at 130 with a first period pin over Briana Maynard. Josh Befort and Daniel Hopper got wins the easy way at 135 and 140 with forfeits.
At 145, Ben Gleiser pinned Michael Wrenn in the first period, while Travis Ward did the same to Devon McCain at 152.
In the 160-pound weight class, Joseph Silvers pinned Jamil Pettiford in the first period to make the score 36-0.
The winner at 171 was Kenny Harris, who pinned Will Moore in the first period, while Brach Walker won at 189 with a first period pin over Dustin Genopolus.
Steven Chestnut recorded a first-period win over Dillon Vernon at 215.
Matt Gardner (285), Greg Smith (103) and Michelle Wilson (112) all won by forfeits to make the score 72-0 in favor of the home team.
At 119, Dakota Holt notched a third-period pin over Cody Luckett, while teammate Chance Smith capped things off at 125 with a second period pin over Terrell Dickerson.
McMichael will return to action Saturday as the Southern Alamance Duals.

Lady Cougars roll as Wall wins No. 300

By STEVE WILLIAMS
Special to the Review
WENTWORTH - Rockingham County's Woody Wall claimed his 300th career coaching victory Wednesday night as his Cougars continued their superb season.
Wall, who took over for his father W.A. Wall in 1991-92 as only the second coach in school history, was caught by surprise by assistant coaches Dale Gammon and Scott Isley when he was presented the game ball after a 71-38 victory over Northern Guilford.
"A lot of people here really surprised me tonight," the 48-year-old coach said. "It means a whole lot. It's something that's a good milestone to hit and I'm real proud of he girls who have allowed me to stay in it this long.
"About 240 more wins and I'll catch Daddy," he said with a chuckle. "I don't know if that will happen. I'm real humbled by it. There's not a coach one that's ever won a ball game. You get them prepared, but it was the girls who did it."
Wall said he really wasn't counting down to 300 but realized it was a possibility last year when he was asked to provide his career record when he was named coach of the East-West All-Star game.
"I had to have it for the East-West game last year and Scott and Dale (assistant coaches) happened to see it. I knew I had a chance to get it this year when I turned it in (to the East-West organizers) but I haven't thought about it much this year."
He thanked his wife Daphne for her support.
"She becomes a basketball widow during the season with all the time you put in," he said. "She's been real supportive and this wouldn't have been possible without the support of the family. A lot of young coaches aren't staying in it as long now with so many other things to do."
This year's team is now 13-1 overall and 3-1 in the Triad 3-A Conference after the win over Northern, a first-year school that includes only freshmen and sophomores. The Nighthawks fell to 5-9 and 1-3.
The final 33-point margin of victory was a bit misleading, Wall said.
"We didn't play real well and we still scored 72 points so we had to do something right," he said. "It didn't seem like we could pull away from them."

MHS continues dominance, beats Rams

Staff Report
MCLEANSVILLE — Morehead remained perfect in Triad 3-A Conference wrestling action Wednesday night at Northeast Guilford.
The Panthers picked up nine wins, including five by forfeit and cruised to an easy 51-21 victory over the Rams at Northeast Middle School.
MHS jumped out to an early advantage winning three of the first four matches by forfeit.
The visitors won seven of the first nine matches as they improved their overall mark to 18-2 overall and 5-0 in conference action.

Cougars falter late, lose to B-Yancey in OT

Staff Report
WENTWORTH - Despite leading most of the way, Rockingham County was outscored 17-12 in overtime by Bartlett Yancey and fell 87-82 Tuesday night at Bartlett Yancey High School.
Tied at 70-70, the Buccaneers took advantage of offensive rebounds and Cougar turnovers.
RCHS committed 28 turnovers and was 18 of 27 from the free throw line.
With the loss, RCHS fell to 7-5 overall and 1-2 in Triad 3-A Conference action.
"We were flat from the very beginning," said RCHS head coach Jeff Hamilton. "Every basketball game is a game within itself. Your record does not matter and they wanted it more than we did."
RCHS, which led 34-33 at halftime, got a game-high 27 points from Wantrel "Buck" Parker. Justin Ward, who made two free throws to force overtime, chipped in with 20 points and Dusty Kenealy added 16.
The turning point in the game came in the third quarter. With the Cougars leading by seven, the visitors missed a dunk and after a pair of FTs and a B-Yancey three-pointer and the lead was shaved down to just two.
The Cougars return to action tonight against upstart Northern Guilford.
Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

McMichael loses conference opener

Staff Report
KING — McMichael played three solid quarters in Monday’s North State 2-A Conference opener against West Stokes. The third quarter proved to be the difference maker as the Wildcats outscored the Phoenix 17-7 and went on to the 60-47 victory.
DMHS trailed by only four (27-23) at halftime, but the 17-7 scoring disadvantage in the third put the visitors down 14 heading into the final eight minutes. West Stokes scored two quick baskets to start the third and was up 10.
“As soon as they inbounded the ball they went down the court and scored,” said McMichael coach Randel Galloway. “We miss a shot and they come back down and score again. That was a quick turnaround. We kind of played behind for a while. It was a mental breakdown.”
With the loss, McMichael dropped to 5-10 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
West Stokes, which had two players score in double figures led by J.D. Mabe’s 20 points, also held McMichael’s leading scorer Terrell King to a season-low five points.
“He struggled a little bit tonight,” Galloway said. “Terrell just couldn’t find his jump shot tonight and they played pretty good perimeter defense. They played man-to-man all night long. It was typical West Stokes.”
West Stokes also shot the ball well, burying seven 3-pointers, while McMichael failed to connect from outside.

Dudley hammers Lady Panthers, 67-41

By BRETT KNIGHT
Staff Writer
This one was over with early. Dudley made itself right at home in Eden Tuesday night, especially in the first quarter. DHS jumped out to a 16-0 lead, forced 14 MHS turnovers, raced out to a 25-4 lead in the first eight minutes and eventually cruised to a 67-41 Triad 3-A Conference win.
Defense pretty much told the tale in the opening half as Dudley forced 21 Morehead turnovers, while holding the home team to 13 points. The full-court press gave MHS fits in the first 16 minutes as Dudley turned several miscues into easy transition baskets. Veteran guard Helen Terry led the charge with nine points, four steals and four assists before halftime.
The loss snapped Morehead's three-game winning streak as the Lady Panthers dropped to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Dudley improved to 3-0 in Triad action and 7-3 overall.
The first half pretty much belonged to the visiting Lady Panthers. First half statistics included 19 of 34 shooting (56 percent), 21 forced turnovers and 11 steals, while holding the host Lady Panthers to only 6 of 20 shooting.
DHS ran off 16 straight points before MHS notched its first basket of the game as Pelaura Hairston scored on a lay up with 1:30 left in the opening quarter. Dudley scored the last seven points of the quarter to lead by 21 heading into the second.
MHS only had three players score in the first half led by Amber Dalton with five points. Both Hairston and Mecail Martin had four each.

Third quarter dooms Panthers

Staff Report
Morehead had Dudley on the ropes for at least one half. But the third quarter got in the way. Trailing by only one at halftime (20-19), MHS ran into a buzz-saw after halftime as Dudley outscored the home team 28-5 in the third quarter on its way to a 58-44 victory.
Dudley (9-2, 3-0 in the Triad 3-A Conference) put the game away with the 28-point third quarter, which saw Marcus Heath score all 11 of his points. Brandon Pennix chipped in with six in the third stanza.
The home team was held to only two field goals (Quenton Hood, Greg Perkins) and one free throw from KaShaun Johnson.
Staff Report
Morehead had Dudley on the ropes for at least one half. But the third quarter got in the way. Trailing by only one at halftime (20-19), MHS ran into a buzz-saw after halftime as Dudley outscored the home team 28-5 in the third quarter on its way to a 58-44 victory.
Dudley (9-2, 3-0 in the Triad 3-A Conference) put the game away with the 28-point third quarter, which saw Marcus Heath score all 11 of his points. Brandon Pennix chipped in with six in the third stanza.
The home team was held to only two field goals (Quenton Hood, Greg Perkins) and one free throw from KaShaun Johnson.
Pennix led Dudley with a team-high 14 points, while Heath had 11. Josh Cobe added nine and P.J. Hairston contributed with eight.
MHS finished the game on a high note as it outscored Dudley, 20-10 led by Johnson with six. Cameron Wade scored four in the fourth, while Perkins and Caleb Wade both had three in the final eight minutes.
Johnson was the lone Panther in double figures with a game-high 16 points.
Morehead will look to get back to winning ways Thursday night at Bartlett Yancey.
Game time is 8 p.m.

Panthers blank Bucs, 80-0

Staff Report
YANCEYVILLE — Morehead was the heavy favorite heading into Monday’s road wrestling match with Bartlett Yancey and backed it up in a big way. The Panthers continued its winning ways in rather impressive fashion, rolling to an 80-0 victory over the Buccaneers.
Morehead recorded seven pins in the shutout and had 30 points thanks to five forfeits. The Panthers, who improved to 4-0 in the Triad 3-A Conference and 17-2 overall, will be back in action Wednesday night at Northeast Guilford.

RCHS swept by MHS, Western Guilford; defeats Reidsville

Staff Report
WENTWORTH — Morehead recorded a key Triad 3-A Conference win over Rockingham County Monday afternoon in Wentworth. The Panthers had wins in five events and won 88-80 over the Cougars. Western defeated Rockingham, 87-78 as part of the tri-meet.
On the girls’ side, Morehead rolled past Rockingham County 105-62 as did Western Guilford, 111-55.
Morehead’s Catharine Moore won a pair of events, winning the 100-meter backstroke (1:21.53) and the 200 freestyle (2:40.91). Teammate Tori Huffman won 200 i.m. (3:04.75) and the 100 breaststroke (1:33.00).
Also recording wins for MHS were Brittany Toney (50 free), Melissa Underwood (100 butterfly), Ashlee Lemons (100 free) and Megan Mericle (400 free) — in addition to the 400 free relay, the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay.
The lone RCHS win came from Alex Pergerson (200 i.m.).
In the loss to Western Guilford, Rockingham got a win from Katie Ormond in the 100 breaststroke.
On the boys’ side, leading the way for the Cougars was Brett Paschal with a pair of individual wins. He took first in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 1:07.19 and the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:18.71. Teammate James Perry was the winner in the 200-meter individual medley (3:28.22), while Chris Espinoza had a winning time of 1:30.20 in the 100-meter breaststroke.
Recording wins for the Panthers were Jamie Hunter (2:45.16) in the 200-meter freestyle, Jake Snyder (27.90 seconds) in the 50-meter freestyle and Andrew Shelton (6:07.62) in the 400-meter freestyle.
In the 200-medley relay, Rockingham (A team) took first with a time of 2:21.73. MHS (A team) also won the 200-meter freestyle relay and had the winning team in the 400-meter freestyle (4:30.18).
RCHS will return to action Wednesday with a home meet with newcomer Northern Guilford at 5 p.m. Morehead will host Western Guilford (4:30 p.m.) on Wednesday as well.

RCHS sweeps Reidsville
Swimming for the first time in nearly a month, the Reidsville High School swim teams lost their meet with county-rival Rockingham County on Friday. Despite four wins, the Lady Rams were edged by RCHS, 83-81 and the Cougars rolled past the Rams, 101-45.
On the boys’ side, the Cougars won eight of the 11 events — led by Brett Paschal’s wins in the 100-meter backstroke (1:11.68) and the 100-meter freestyle (1:00.58).
RCHS also got wins from Jacob Weeks (200 free), Will Garrison (200 i.m.), Timmy Herndon (50 free), in addition to the 200 medley, 200 free and 400 freestyle relays.
For the Rams, wins came from James Scheer (100 breast) and Ben Fraser (500 free).
In the girls’ meet, Reidsville recorded wins in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, along with Carolyn Fagan (100 butterfly), Lyndsey McKinney (500 free) and Francie Trent (100 breaststroke).
Rockingham County’s wins came from Danielle Merriman (200 free and 100 back), Katie Ormond (50 free), Hayley Almstead (200 i.m. and 100 free) and the 200 free relay.
Reidsville is back in action at 6 p.m. on Friday. The meet will be held at the Reidsville YMCA.

Lady Panthers remain perfect in Triad

By BRETT KNIGHT
Staff Writer
Western Guilford had the advantage in the first and third quarters. However, Morehead had the momentum when it counted the most — the second and fourth quarters. The Lady Panthers used runs of 16-0 and 12-0, outscored the Lady Hornets 30-9 during that span and came away with a 54-37 victory.
The win improves Morehead’s overall record to 5-6, but more importantly the team goes to a perfect 2-0 in the Triad 3-A Conference heading into Tuesday night’s game with Dudley, which is also undefeated.
“I told the girls they can crack a smile about this win, but not a whole smile,” said Morehead head coach Monte Dillard. “As soon as this game was over I started thinking about Dudley. It’s going to be tough every night in this league.”
While Dillard’s thoughts were on Dudley following the game, he had to be pleased with what he saw from his Lady Panthers, who turned an early six-point deficit into a 12-point halftime lead against Western. Other bright spots in the game included a 46-29 rebounding advantage, holding the Lady Hornets (1-10, 0-2) to a pair of two-point field goals in the second half while forcing 12 turnovers and holding the visitors to zero point for at least five plus minutes twice.

Morehead wins Enka Duals

Staff Report
ENKA — Morehead finally had a close match in Saturday’s Enka Duals as it met up with host Jets in the finals. The Panthers ended up the day at a perfect 5-0 as D.J. Giles recorded a win by technical fall in the final match as Morehead beat the Jets, 35-30.
With the match tied at 30-30 with one match remaining, Giles dominated the 103-pound weight class as he won by a 20-3 tech fall. The first-place finish from the 16-team event improved Morehead’s overall record to 16-2.
MHS notched wins over Asheville (62-12), Pisgah (62-12), Alexander Central (46-25), Walhalla, S.C. (47-32) and Enka.
Enka finished second in the one-day event at 4-1, while Alexander Central was third at 3-2.
“I didn’t expect to win the match with Enka because we had two starters out,” said MHS coach Greg Frey. “But some kids stepped up. We needed a match like this to prepare us for later. It made the kids really work.”
Four MHS wrestlers finished the tournament at a perfect 5-0 including Bobby Shanor, Alex Winn and Neal Stultz. Micah Stanfield went 4-0. Shanor’s current winning streak now stands at 81.
The Panthers will have two dual matches this week including Monday as they travel to Yanceyville to take on Bartlett Yancey. MHS will be at Northeast Wednesday and will take part in the New Kent Tournament next Saturday in Virginia.

Lady Phoenix get back to .500

Staff Report
MAYODAN — McMichael got its overall record to .500 (6-6) Friday night with a 46-30 non-conference victory over Tunstall, Va.
Brooke Hensley scored a team-high 15 points for the Lady Phoenix, while teammate Jasmine Price added 14 for the home team.
Memorie Neal scored six points for the Lady Phoenix, who outscored Tunstall 11-2 in the third quarter.
Katelyn Stephens led the way for Tunstall (3-5) with a game-high 18 points.

RHS wrestling loses battle of Rams

Staff Report
Looking for its first win of the season, the Reidsville Rams faced off with Northeast Guilford in their second match in the past three nights.
The Rams, despite wins from Cody Luckett and Will Moore, fell to the Northeast Rams, 66-11 Friday night at Reidsville High School.
At 119, Luckett pinned Sam Summers in the first period.
Moore, wrestling at 171 pounds, recorded a second-period pin of Northeast’s Steven Cook.
Reidsville, which was without six weight classes, forfeited 30 points to the Rams.
James Perry, Dillon Vernon, Dustin Genopolus, Devon McCain and Terreal Dickerson all suffered losses for RHS.
The Rams return to action Wednesday night at McMichael.

Cougars record first conference win

By STEVE WILLIAMS
Special to the Review
WENTWORTH — The way Rockingham County coach Jeff Hamilton has it figured, the Cougars are in a battle with five teams for two spots in the state 3-A playoffs.
It’s pretty much a given that Greensboro Dudley, Northeast Guilford and upstart Northern Guilford are favored to take the top three berths in the Triad 3-A Conference. That leaves Rockingham, Western Alamance, Eden Morehead, Bartlett Yancey and Western Guilford to contend for the remaining two spots.
To that end, Hamilton knows the importance of beating those four teams when they meet head-to-head. The first of those tests came Friday night at the RCHS gymnasium and the Cougars used a solid effort to roll past Western Alamance 64-42, just two days after suffering a loss to Greensboro Dudley.
“They’re one of the five teams we’re in contention with for two spots, so we’ve got to win against them,” Hamilton said after his team improved to 7-4 overall. “Now we’ve the second game on the road Tuesday at B-Y.
“It’s always big to get that first conference win,” he added. “Last year, it took us to game three or game four to get it. We didn’t want to slip to 0-2.”
Western arrived with a 4-1 record and was coming off a big win over Eden Morehead Wednesday. But they also entered the gym with No. 1 scorer Kenneth Lindsey on the sidelines, the result of an elbow injury suffered in the late stages of the Morehead game.
“I think it would have made a difference,” Western coach Carter Gerlach said of Lindsey’s absence. “Would we have won? I don’t know. We didn’t play well and it sort of snowballed. We didn’t do a very good job of keeping the ball out of the paint and we let the frustration get to us.”
Hamilton said Western not having Lindsey added to the must-win scenario his team faced.
“Without Lindsey tonight, in my mind, that put even put a little more pressure on us,” Hamilton said. “They’ve got their best player out and playing at home, you’ve got to win. It’ll be a different game down there, but we’ve got a ways to go before we play that one.”
The Cougars pretty much had this one in hand after 15-6 run to close the first quarter left them on top 17-10. The Warriors got within five a couple times in the second quarter (21-16 and 25-20) but baskets by Jordan Puckett, Clint Walker and Devin Moyer sparked an 8-0 run that left RCHS up 33-20 with 30 seconds left in the half.
Western got a couple of hoops to slice it to 33-24 and gain a little momentum heading into halftime, but two baskets by Buck Parker and a three-pointer by Justin Ward kept the Warriors in double digit distance in the early stages of the second half.
The Cougars then put together an 8-2 streak to end the period and claim a 49-32 margin heading into the final eight minutes. The lead peaked at 62-36 on free throws by Clay Reid and Toy Beeninga in the late stages.
“We played real well tonight. We had stretches where we looked probably the best we’ve looked all year,” Hamilton said.
The Cougars shot better than 50 percent from the floor (24 of 47) and made 15 of 28 free throws.
“They knocked down their shots and played hard,” Gerlach said. “And they were pesky in that zone.”
Parker led the Cougars with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor and 3-of-3 from the line. He also grabbed eight rebounds.
Ward collected 14 points (4-7 FG, 5-7 FT) and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Moyer finished with 12 points (5-18 FG, 2-7 FT) and three assists and Dusty Kenealy had a solid all-around game with five points (2-2, 1-2), eight rebounds and four assists.
Donald Britt led Western with 11 points. The Warriors hope to have Lindsey’s 20.0 points-per-game average back in the line-up next week.

SUMMARY
WA (4-2) — Donald Britt 11, Kyler Gregory 8, Chris Bradsher, Ryan Smith 2, Cameron Baker 9, Alex Mitchell 2, Casey Roberts 5, Billy Williamson 5.
RC (7-4) — Devin Moyer 11, Clint Walker 3, Dusty Kenealy 6, Buck Parker 21, Justin Ward 14, Jake Wall, Clay Reid 1, Pierce Moore 2, Toy Beeninga 1, Jordan Puckett 5, Chris Burgess.
BY QUARTERS
W. Alamance 10 14 8 10 – 42
Rockingham 17 16 16 15 – 64

Rockingham swimmers sweep Western Alamance

Staff Report
WENTWORTH — Rockingham County made it a clean sweep of Western Alamance Thursday evening in Wentworth.
The Cougars remained undefeated in Triad 3-A Conference action (2-0) as they won nine events for a 100-57 victory, while the Lady Cougars (2-0) also stayed perfect in conference with a 95-67 win thanks to five victories.
Leading the way for the Cougars was Brett Paschal, who had two individual wins for the home team. He placed first in both the 100-meter freestyle (1:07.25) and the 100-meter backstroke (1:20.75).
On the girls’ side, RCHS got individual wins from Katie Ormond, Hayley Almstead and Danielle Merriman.
RCHS will return to action tonight at Reidsville.
The meet will start at 6 p.m. at the Reidsville YMCA.

King leads Phoenix to 65-46 win over Magna Vista

Staff Report
MAYODAN — McMichael certainly got 2008 off to a good start Wednesday night against non-conference foe Magna Vista.
After mustering only seven points in the opening quarter, the Phoenix outscored the Warriors 40-20 and cruised to a 65-46 victory.
“We got off to a slow start for a second straight game,” said McMichael coach Randel Galloway. “I wasn’t happy with what we did, but we turned it around in the second quarter.”
The first quarter saw the visiting Warriors, who lost to both Morehead and Liberty Christian Academy in the Danville Register & Bee Holiday Shootout, outscored DMHS 14-7 in the first eight minutes.
But it was a different game in the second as the home team took a 28-21 lead into the locker room thanks to a 21-9 scoring advantage.
McMichael’s lead increased thanks to a 19-point third quarter led by Terrell King, who scored 10 of his game-high 24 points in the stanza. He also finished the game with six steals.

Panther survive scare from Dudley

Staff Report
As expected, MHS did get a bit of a scare from visiting Dudley Wednesday night. The up and coming team from Greensboro had the lead after 10 matches but the veteran MHS squad turned it up a notch in the end. Morehead won the final four matches, including one by pinfall and one by forfeit to come away with a 38-20 victory.
“We faced a tough team when we were in a bad situation,” said MHS coach Greg Frey. “We knew it would be tough because Dudley had greatly improved over the last three or four years.”
Morehead went into the match without two key starters in Victor and Michael Cresenzo, who are both nursing injuries. Frey isn’t sure when either wrestler will be able to return to the lineup.

Artis, Hairston lead Lady Panthers to win

Staff Report
ELON — Monte Dillard was right in that Morehead would see a much different Western Alamance team a second time around as both teams met up in Wednesday night’s Triad 3-A Conference opener.
After disposing of the Lady Warriors, 61-36 in last Friday’s consolation games of the Capital One Bank Classic, the Lady Panthers had to use a 16-11 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter to come fight off a hungry Western team to come away with a 52-45 victory.
With the win, the Lady Panthers improve to 4-6 overall and 1-0 in conference play heading into Friday night’s home game with Western Guilford.
Three different players scored in double figures for the visitors including Jakeita Artis, who scored a team-high 14 points, while recording five of Morehead’s 16 steals.
Teammate PeLaura Hairston finished with a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Amber Dalton added 10 points, including three 3-pointers to help MHS to the victory.
Leading the way for Western in the loss was McKenzie Owen, who netted a game-high 16 points.
Western got off to a solid start, outscoring Morehead 18-12 in the first eight minutes.
The Lady Panthers chipped away at the lead in the second, outscoring Western, 12-8 to trail by only two (26-24) at halftime.
The second half was the difference maker thanks to a 28-19 scoring advantage by the Lady Panthers in the final 16 minutes.
Morehead finished with a 36-30 advantage in the rebounding department led by Hairston with 13.
Shenika Scales added eight rebounds for the winners.
Also scoring for the Lady Panthers in the win were Scales (six), Kali Cuttaia (four), LaKeshia Wilson (four) Jakell Meadows (two) and Nerissa Peace (one).
Friday’s game with the Lady Hornets will begin at 6 p.m.

Lady Cougars suffer first loss of season

WENTWORTH - For three quarters Wednesday night, Rockingham County played nearly flawless basketball against Triad 3-A power Greensboro Dudley. However, basketball is a four-quarter game and the fourth proved to be the nemesis of the Lady Cougars, who fell to the Lady Panthers, 68-62.
Leading 54-46 with one quarter left to play, Rockingham County was outscored 22-8 in the fourth by Dudley (5-3) and in the process giving the Lady Cougars (10-1) their first loss of the season.
In what was the Triad 3-A Conference opener for both teams, it was the speed and athleticism of Dudley which proved to the difference.
"What beat us was their athleticism," said Rockingham coach Woody Wall. "Basketball-wise, I still think we're the better ball team. However, she ran a lot of people in and out."
"Rockingham is a heck of a team," said Dudley head coach Krystal Britton. "Woody's teams are always well coached and tonight was no different."
After out rebounding the Lady Panthers, 12-8 in the first half the Lady Cougars began to tire and fall victim to Dudley's depth and constant rotation. The Lady Panthers, who got scoring from eight different players in a 22-20 third quarter, out rebounded RCHS 17-7 after the break.
"We made a lot of mistakes that we have to go back and fix and tonight we were lucky to come away with the win," added Britton.
Leading 59-57 with 3:57 left in the game, Rockingham County saw its longtime lead cut to one point following a three-pointer from Dudley's Helen Terry. Terry, who sat out the first half, scored 15 points in the final two periods - including 2 for 5 from three-point range.
"She's a great spark for us," Britton said of Terry's play. "We have freshmen and two sophomores on this team and we are trying to build players."
Rockingham County's Krystal Moore lifted her team's lead back to two (62-60) with a free throw at the 2:31 mark. However, the 1 for 2 offering would be one of the keys to the Lady Cougars' first loss of the season.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Cougars were 2 for 8 from the line and missed three layups during that span as well.
"We looked real good for a while, but I knew we couldn't match up with their up and down play all night," said Wall.
Dudley's Amanda Hairston tied the game with her offensive rebound and putback basket at the 2:00 mark. Moments later, Hairston gave the Lady Panthers the lead with a second straight field goal.
Leading 64-62, Dudley scored the last four points of the game - thanks to a pair of Terry free throws and one each from Hairston and Porscha Roach.
"They dictated the style of play in the second half," added Wall.
RCHS lost despite a 20-point, five-assist effort from Moore and 16 points from Elizabeth Ferguson.
Center Ashley Palm fouled out with 28 seconds left in the contest, but not before registering six points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Along with Terry, Dudley also double-digit efforts from Breonna Patterson (15), Hairston (13) and Jessica Farr (11).
While the depth of the Lady Panthers produced scoring from eight different players, all of Rockingham's 62 points came from its five starters - Moore, Palm, Ferguson, Lindsey Puckett and Kylie Keck - and Jessica Lowe.
Dudley's bench outscored Rockingham's 20-6.
"I thought Rockingham did a good job of executing their offense. Fortunately for us, we stayed a little fresher," said Britton.
The Lady Cougars raced out the gates and led 34-24 at the half. The game was tied 15-15 at the end of one, but RCHS outscored its visitors 19-9 in the second quarters - sparked by 9 of 15 shooting (60 percent). Moore scored five points in each of the four quarters and six of Puckett's 12 points came in the second.
Rockingham County returns to action Friday night against Western Alamance.
Friday's game is slated for 6 p.m. in Wentworth.

SUMMARY
GBO. DUDLEY (5-3) - Breonna Patterson 15, Kiara McIvor 4, Jessica Farr 11, Amanda Hairston 13, Desiree Drayton 5, Helen Terry 15, Porscha Roach 3, Chell Jackson 2.
RCHS (10-1) - Krystal Moore 20, Kylie Keck 2, Lindsey Puckett 12, Elizabeth Ferguson 16, Jessica Lowe 6, Ashley Palm 6.
BY QUARTERS
Dudley 15 9 22 22 - 68
Rockingham 15 19 20 8 - 62

Panthers fall to W. Alamance, 56-51

Staff Report
ELON — The fourth quarter was the difference maker in Wednesday’s Triad 3-A Conference opener between Morehead and Western Alamance. With the game tied at 42 all at the end of three quarters, Western Alamance outscored the Panthers, 14-9 to come away with a 14-9 victory.
Two familiar names hurt Morehead on the hardwood just they did on the gridiron back in the fall. Kenneth Lindsay and Donald Britt combined for 33 points, including a game-high 21 points from Lindsay. Donald Britt scored 11 points for the winners.
With the loss, MHS dropped to 5-5 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Three players scored in double figures for MHS, which was limited to only three field goals in the final eight minutes. Greg Perkins scored a team-high 14 points, while KaShaun Johnson had 13 points. Adam Hairston contributed with 11.
MHS will return to action Friday night with a home game against Western Guilford.