The Lees-McRae Bobcat women closed out the regular season in fine style Thursday night, as Lauren Casey scored a career high 29 points to lead the Lady Bobcats to an 89-76 comeback win over Converse at Williams Gym. Casey's 23 made up a good portion of the Lady Bobcats 61 second half points in the come from behind win. Converse led the entire first half and took 34-21 lead into the intermission. After the break Casey sparked the Lady Bobcats' comeback with eight points and a steal that resulted in a 10-2 run to tie the game at 38 with 17:36 remaining in the clock. Converse continued to keep things out of reach but the Lady Bobcats orchestrated a 10-0 run with 12 minutes to go, and cut the lead to just one, 51-50. Courtney Furr canned a three to tie the game at 63 with less than five minutes remaining. The two teams traded the lead five times and had two ties over the next two minutes before Casey was fouled shooting a three sending her to the charity stripe. Casey made all three free throw attempts to give the Lady Bobcats a 70-68 lead with 2:41 left to play. Over the next couple of minutes, The Lady Bobcats forced a turnover and scored, stole an inbounds pass and scored, and hit 12 of 16 free throws down the stretch. LMC went 45 percent from the field and 54 percent from three in the second half, and 37 points off of 39 Converse turnovers for the game.
Both Bobcat teams now enter into the Conference Carolinas tournament, with the Lady Bobcats traveling to Limestone Sunday night for a 7pm tip. The Bobcat Men are at Coker for first round action on Saturday.
February 2009 Archives
Donald Sims stands six feet one inch tall, but Thursday night at the Holmes Center, he was a giant, scoring a career high 35 points and hitting 9 three pointers, to lead the Mountaineers to a critical win over North Division leader Chattanooga, 88-82. Two of those three pointers came in the final minute of the game to seal the win. The Mountaineers led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but the Mocs went on a 34-19 run to take its first lead in 26 minutes at 76-75 with 4:09 to go. The Apps regained the lead 17 seconds later on a Sims three but UTC scored six of the next 10 points to knot it at 82-82 and set up Sims' last-minute heroics. Sims broke the tie with a long-range three-pointer with 57 seconds left to play. After the Mocs' Stephen McDowell missed a game-tying three and following an ASU timeout, Sims drained his ninth three-pointer of the evening from 25 feet with 14 seconds remaining to get the win. Isaac Butts had four points and three rebounds in the first three minutes of the game but spent the next 17 minutes on the bench due to foul trouble. The big man came back with 13 minutes to go in the second half and took off, finishing with his ninth double-double of the season with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in just 16 minutes of play. Kellen Brand added 18 points and a season-best seven assists on 8-of-14 shooting with four rebounds. Donterious Hughes dished out five assists of his own to go along with 13 points and a perfect 5-for-5 mark from the charity stripe. The Apps made 15-of-20 from the line in the game and 21 assists in the game, the second-highest total of the season. The Apps improve to 12-16 overall, 9-10 in the SoCon, and more importantly, stay in the hunt for one of the North Division's two first-round byes in the tournament next week. A win on Saturday over Samford and a Western Carolina loss to Chattanooga, gives ASU the first-round bye, and that is very important, because no team without a bye has won the SoCon Tournament since it went to a four-day format back in 1993. Saturday is the final games of the regular season for both Mountaineer basketball teams, and the double header will begin with the Mountaineer women hosting Georgia Southern, tip off is at 1pm, then the Mountaineer men will take the floor against Samford, with tip off at 330pm.
The Ashe Lady Huskies were eliminated Thursday night from the state 2A tournament, falling to Salisbury 72-37. Shi-Heria Shipp scored 16 points for Salisbury who jumped out to a 26-8 lead after the first quarter and took a 45-14 advantage into halftime. Kim McNeil led Ashe County with nine points. The Lady Huskies end the season with an outstanding 26-2 record.
Also in the 1A playoffs, Mt Airy defeated Alleghany 45-22.
In other girls play off games Thursday night:
McDowell defeated Independence 57-50
Butler eliminated East Burke 80-61
Freedom downed East Gaston 73-44
South Caldwell beat Concord Robinson 49-37
S. Caldwell will play at Mallard Creek
Butler plays at McDowell
and East Meck travels to Freedom
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Newton-Conover got by Shelby 42-40
E. Rutherford defated Mitchell 60-34
Smoky Mtn over Bandys 81-72
Newton-Conover will travel to Smoky Mtn
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Regional 4A Boys teams in the sectional finals Friday night will see Myers Park travel to Freedom;
in 3A, Hickory at Gastonia Forestview; and in 2A, The Ashe Huskies host Forest Hills; Smoky Mountain is at Shelby; and West Caldwell goes to Madison.
The Avery Lady Vikings won again Thursday night in the Western Sectional Semifinal, defeated Highland Tech 87-36 and advance to the sectional final Friday night. Avery got off to a slow start, leading 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, and turnovers plagued both teams, but in the second quarter, the Lady Vikings got their game face on and outscored the Lady Rams 28-10, and took a commanding 40-21 halftime lead. The Lady Vikings continued to control the contest in the second half, leading 58-29 at the end of the third, and went on a 29-7 run in the final period to seal the deal. Katelynn Eudy got ten of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter. Allison Vance finished the game with 15 points and five rebounds, Lauren Avery put up 10. Avery's defense was strong throughout the game, forcing 20 first half turnovers, and holding Highland Tech to just 15 second half points. After the game MTN's Len Murphy had a chance to talk to Lady Viking Head Coach Missy Lyons about her teams accomplishments this season, and hopes for next week. <<<Tune in to hear comments>>> Friday night, the Lady Vikings will play Robbinsville for the sectional final. Robbinsville was a 77-35 winner over Highlands. As a result of the Thursday night win, MTN will have both the Thursday night and Friday night games on this weekend. We'll air the Thursday night win over Highaland Tech on Saturday night at 830. Then we will air the Friday night final on Sunday night at 830. And that's just a little of the basketball that MTN will have on this weekend. We will also air the Lees McRae Bobcat games twice, both the mens and the womens games, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons beginning at 2pm.
High School basketball playoff action from Wednesday night saw Daniel Waln lead the Huskies with a game high 25 points, and Tommy Spangolo score 20 points, grab 18 rebounds and dish out five assists in the Huskies 78-60 win over Providence Grove in West Jefferson. Tatum Lemly added 13 for Ashe who advance to the sectional final Friday night against Forest Hills.
The Ashe Lady Huskies are in action Thursday night against 24-3 Salisbury at Ashe County High School.
The Avery High Lady Vikings are in action Thursday night as well at Avery gym and the MTN Cameras will be there to catch all the action of Avery vs Highland Tech, and the game will be shown on MTN Saturday night beginning at 830. Should the Lady Vikings win that game, they would advance to the Sectional Final Friday night against the winner of the Highlands vs Robbinsville game, and MTN Will be at that one and will air it on Sunday night at 830.
In other boys action from Wednesday night,
Freedom over Harding 78-69.
Myers Park beat East Burke 76-53.
East Gaston over Alexander Central 44-42.
Shelby defeated Mountain Heritage 68-51.
Madison downed East Rutherford 64-52.
West Caldwell over Pisgah 74-66.
Salisbury defeated Wilkes Central 74-62.
After playing five of its last six games on the road, Mountaineer men's basketball returns home to host the final two games of the regular season against division rivals. The first of those two is Thursday night against Chattanooga, who are alone atop the North Division Standings, and can clinch sole possesion of the division title with one win in their final two games. The Mountaineers want to keep that from happening at the Holmes Center, not just on principle, but because the Apps could finish as high as a tie for second place in the division if they win against Nooga Thursday and Samford on Saturday. In the last meeting between the two, Kellen Brand led ASU with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting while Josh Hunter grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with eight points. But it was not enough as they fell 78-74 to the Mocs January 15th. Appalachian has won three of the last five meetings and are 15-10 against em in Boone.
The Mountaineer women are off until Saturday's season ending double header, when they host Georgia Southern at 1, and the men tip off against Samford at 330 at the Holmes Center. Come out and send the Mountaineers to the Conference tournament with lots of love...
Mountaineer baseball bounced back from the loss to Wake Forest with a big day at the plate for Issac Harrow, who had a grand slam and a 7 RBI day for the black and gold in its 11-5 win over Gardner Webb Wednesday. The MOuntaineer Third baseman went 4-5, on the day, the slammer put the Apps up 7-0 in the second inning, and he added RBI doubles in the first and fourth innings and an RBI single in the fifth to cap his career best performance. Second baseman Wes Hobson and catcher Jeremy Dowdy chipped in with two hits apiece and first baseman David Towarnicky drove in two. True freshman Andrew Webster held Gardner-Webb to a single run on three hits over five innings of work, and struck out five for his second win. Appalachian opens the true home season this weekend against defending SoCon champion Elon. There is rain and snow in the forcast so check for schedule updates at goasu.com.
MTN will be broadcasting the Lees McRae Bobcat basketball games from Tuesday night against Erskine this Saturday and Sunday afternoon, beginning at 2pm. MTN will be showing both the Lady Bobcats and the Bobcat mens games from start to finish on both days. MTN's Len Murphy had a chance to visit with Lady Bobcat head coach Sebastian Wild who pointed out that his team played Erskine a close game earlier in the season, but it just got away from them. <<<>>> Ashley Holland is the leading scorer for Lees McRae with 362 points on the year, Laren Casey at 322, and Courtney Furr right behind with 315 points this season. The Lady Bobcats are 7-19 on the year, and play their last game of the regular season at home Thursday night against Converse.
Tuesday nights game against Erskine was the last regular season game for the Bobcat men. Conference Carolinas tournament play begins Saturday.
The Bobcat men's tennis team defeated Lincoln Memorial without losing a set during the non-conference match Wednesday afternoon in Banner Elk. Nandor Solymosi continued his four match win streak with a 6-0, 6-2 win at the number one position. Solymosi and former Watauga Pioneer Graham Battle continued their three match win streak at the number three doubles position with an 8-3 victory. With the win the Bobcats improve to 4-5 on the season. In addition, SOlymosi has been named the Conference Carolinas men's tennis Player of the Week for week number 2. He is 3-5 overall, 2-0 in conference play.
Seven Bobcats scored in a 9-8 double overtime loss to Pfeiffer in conference lacross action Wednesday. Kyle Ficken had one goal and one assist, and Derin Vacca had two goals to led the Bobcats with two points apiece. The Bobcats are off until March 11th when they travel to Mars Hill.
Lady Bobcat Softball split a Conference Carolinas doubleheader with Belmont Abbey Wednesday, losing the opener 2-1 but winning game two 1-0 on a complete game two-hitter by Amanda Dodson in the circle. Lees-McRae is now 8-6 overall and 1-1 in Conference play. The Bobcats travel to Erskine Saturday.
The Lees-McRae men's volleyball team is off to an 8-1 start and are ranked in every team and individual category against Division I and Division II opponents. The Bobcats are ranked third nationally with a .889 winning percentageand currently ride a seven match win streak. Colin Kelly is ranked ninth in kills per set. The team is ranked 23rd. Juan Ramirez is 15th in assists per game. The team sits at 21st. Ryan Black is 16th in the nation in blocks per set and as a team, the Bobcats are 10th. Black is also 20th in the nation in hitting percentage. The team is 22nd in that category. Robert Ritchie is ranked 32nd in digs per set and Ramirez is 34th. As a team the Bobcats are 10th. The younger of the two Black brothers, Jeff, is 34th in aces per set. The team currently sits 29th in that stat.The Bobcats will put their 8-1 record and seven match win streak on the line Saturday at the Mount Olive Tournament.
The State Basketball Playoffs are underway, in Boys action Monday night, the Watauga Pioneers traveled to Charlotte to take on Ardrey Kell in first round action, but came up short, falling 66-54 and bringing their 08-09 season to a close. The Pioneers end the season with a record of 15-12 and a Northwestern Conference mark of 7-5. The Lady Pioneers are on the road Tuesday night, for their first round contest against Mount Tabor in Winston Salem, we'll have results on Wednesday on MTN.
The Ashe Husky Boys were winners in the first round of the 2A west sectional. Tommy Spagnolo poured in 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Huskies over East Davidson 65-62 in West Jefferson. Tatum Lemly added 16 points and Daniel Waln chipped in 11 for the Huskies, who almost blew a 10-point lead in the final quarter but held on to win. The Huskies advance to take on 18-9 Providence Grove at home on Wednesday. The Lady Huskies first round game is Tuesday night against West Davidson in West Jefferson.
The Avery Lady Vikings host Elkin Tuesday night at Avery High School.
The Cloudland Lady Highlanders lost to Hampton Monday night 46-42, the Highlander boys will take on Hampton Tuesday night. In other playoff games involving regional teams,
Freedom defeated Providence 70-39.
East Burke over Gastonia Ashbrook 64-60.
Alexander Central defeated Berry Academy 75-57,
East Gaston over McDowell 78-31,
Monroe downed North Wilkes 93-66,
Wilkes Central defeated West Stanly 67-62.
Hendersonville over East Wilkes 65-55.
Natahala beat Alleghany 59-35.
Monroe over North Wilkes 93-66.
MOuntain Heritage defeated Bunker Hill 71-50.
Hibriten over Brevard 77-51.
Madison downed Bandys 79-55.
Pisgah over Mitchell 68-63.
West Caldwell defeated Patton 66-30.
The Mountaineer women could not get by the Spartans down in Greensboro Monday night, falling to UNCG 74-60 and dropping their fourth straight SoCon contest. A 12 point deficit at the break and 13-3 run by the Spartans in the opening minutes of second half play were the deciding factors. Seven second half points by Brittany Mixon and 10 by Sade Means helped ASU to pick up its play in the late minutes of action, but it wasn't enough. Sade Means led the Apps with 15 pointss, Sam Ramierez put up 13, Mixon ended the game with 11 points and 10 rebounds, getting her eighth double-double of the season. ASU returns to action in their final home and regular season contest against Georgia Southern this Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Holmes Center, the first game of a double header with the Mountaineer men, who will face Samford at 330. The Mountaineer women will honor senior Brittany Mixon before the tip off. The Altamonte Springs, Florida native is the sole senior on the women's team.
The Mountaineer mens team will play Thursday night at the Holmes Center, facing Chattanooga, tip off is at 7.
ASU's Katie Boyd was named Southern Conference Player of the Week and Ashley Stubbs was named Pitcher of the week for their performances Feb. 16-22. The honor is Boyd's second-consecutive to begin the season and fourth of her career. Boyd hit .700 over the weekend at the Kickin' Chicken Classic, going 7-for-10 in the series. Stubbs earns her first Pitcher of the Week honor during a week where she did not allow an earned run in 12 innings. She threw a complete-game three-hitter in the 4-3 win over Coastal Carolina striking out a career-high eight batters. In the weekend finale, she threw a no-hitter against Western Carolina. The notable thing about these two awards, its the first time in school history that ASU has swept the two SoCon awards. The Mountaineers are back in action this weekend at the Troy Invitational.
The Lees McRae Bobcats welcome Erskine to Williams Gym Tuesday night, and the MTN Cameras will be there to catch all the action, and you'll get to see the games this weekend. The Bobcat men are coming off a 71-61 loss to Coker Saturday, and the Lady Bobcats also suffered a 10 point loss to the lady Cobras, 84-74. Bobcat mens coach Scott Polsgrove talked to MTN's Len Murphy about his two star players, Aaron Woodacre and Kyle Boardman. <<<>>> Saturdays game against Erskine will be the last regular season game for the men, the Lady Bobcats will have one more on Thursday when they host Converse. The Conference Carolinas tournament begins March 2nd.
The Lees-McRae Lady Bobcats women's lacrosse team picked up their first win of the 2009 season with a 21-3 win over the Converse Valkyries Saturday afternoon. The Cox Sisters led the Lady Bobcats, Desiree scored 5 goals and Cheryse scored 4. Desiree also led the team with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Lees-McRae will travel to Erskine College Saturday.
