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Middle schools nearing tournament time

By Tommy Fleming | The News Herald

Published: February 1, 2010

Morganton, NC - Heritage
Wrestling
The Heritage Middle grapplers lost 63-24 to visiting West McDowell Jr. High on Thursday, but three Eagles remained unbeaten.
West McDowell (12-0 in the conference) secured nine pins, one decision and one forfeit in the match.
Heritage (9-2) won five matches. The Eagles had three pinfalls along with two tough decision victories.
Christian Giles defeated Casey Heldman by an 8-2 decision in the opening 85-class match. Griffin Bates (95) followed with a pinfall triumph at the 2:06 mark against Michael Pressley. Heritage led 9-0.
Three Heritage wrestlers remained unbeaten on the season.
The Eagles' Lance Powell (121) led 2-0 after one period and 3-2 at the conclusion of the second before gaining an escape for a 4-2 victory.
Dustin McDaniels (162) led 5-2 at the conclusion of one frame before pinning Caine Ingle just 22 seconds into the second period.
Heavyweight Daniel Morton pinned the Spartans' Daniel Buchanan with one second remaining in the opening period in the final bout of the match.

Liberty
Boys basketball
The Liberty Middle boys basketball team tasted the sweetness of their first conference win of the season with a resounding 68-51 triumph against visiting East McDowell Jr. High on Tuesday.
"It was a great team effort," said Liberty head coach David Waters. "DJ Lynch and Scooter Winters had good all-around games."
The Knights were led offensively by the inside-outside duo of Matthew Williams (22 points) and Hayden Caraway (20 points).
Brock Toner supplied eight points while Collins Hamer added seven in the victory.
The Knights lost a close game at East Burke Middle on Thursday. Caraway led Liberty with 17 points. Williams contributed 12 while Toner added eight points.
Wrestling
The Liberty wrestling squad flattened East Burke Middle by an 84-11 score at home on Thursday.
The Knights improved to 7-4 in conference action.
Winners included Cody Patton, Monty Davis, Will Duncan, Dalton Shipley, Landon Colley, Logan Pearson, Nick Davis, Chase Baird, Drew Lewis, Jesse Bunton, Daniel Pritchard, Chandler Laws, Jimmy Merriman and Teddy Boliek.

Table Rock
Wrestling
The Table Rock grapplers split two matches in the past week.
The Falcons crushed Walter R. Johnson in the home finale on Thursday by a 77-18 score.
Table Rock obtained nine pinfalls, one tech fall and three forfeits while giving up three forfeits in the upper weight divisions.
Claiming pins were Skyler Smith (85), Logan Miller (105), KJ Nadeau (114), Keith Hicks (121), Dalton McGalliard (127), Dawson Perkins (132), Emmannuel Saddler (137), Austin Saddler (142) and Brian Mayfield (147).
Kyle Lee (95) won by a tech fall while DeAndre Carpenter, Cheng Leng Yang and Tyler Brogley each captured forfeit triumphs.
In the preliminary matches, Alan Holden and Landon Kincaid won by decisions while Lige Clark pinned his opponent for the win.
The Falcons stumbled at Liberty, losing 57-36 on Jan. 21.
Table Rock picked up six pins (Miller, Nadeau, Hicks, McGalliard, Emmannuel Sadler and Austin Saddler) in the match.
In preliminary action, the Falcons secured victories from Tyler Gramer (by decision), Kyle Lee (decision), Lige Clark (pin), Christopher McGinnis (pin) and Christian Romaine (pin).

Walter R. Johnson
Wrestling
The Walter R. Johnson Middle wrestling team strolled past visiting East McDowell Jr. High by a 60-33 score on Thursday.
The Yellow Jackets secured eight pins and two forfeits.
Picking up pinfall wins were Omari Logan, Braxton Gantt, Jason Lackey, Thomas Singley, Taylor Stanfill, Trevor Propst, Josh Puett and Scott Harlow.
Josh Lester and Luke McKinney gained victories by way of forfeits.
Walter R. Johnson was scheduled to travel to Icard today to try and gain a sweep of East Burke Middle on the season.
Boys basketball
The Walter R. Johnson Middle boys basketball escaped East McDowell Jr. High's gym with a narrow 50-48 triumph on Thursday.
The Jackets held a 22-point lead in the early portion of the fourth quarter, then held off a late Trojans' rally to seal the win.
Leading the offensive charge for the Jackets were Jevon Morris (12 points), Chad Kincaid (10), Jacob Rooks (6), Khris Gardin (6), Trenton Totty (4), Tyriq Ervin (4), Gabe Logan (4), Kasen Wilson (2) and Landon Edwards (2).
Walter R. Johnson is now 11-0 in the conference and 12-0 overall. The Jackets won the 2009-10 regular season title in the Foothills Athletic Conference.
Girls basketball
The Walter R. Johnson Middle girls basketball squad downed East McDowell Jr. High 40-30 in Marion on Thursday.
The Lady Jackets improved to 8-3 in conference play and 9-3 overall.
Mary Michaux and Courtney Tate led the scoring with 16 and 11 points respectively.
Logan Dunston produced six points, Krissy Surratt added five and Adrinna Freeman had two points in the triumph.
The Lady Jackets were scheduled to tangle with unbeaten East Burke at home today.

East Burke
Boys basketball
The East Burke Middle boys basketball team has won five games in a row.
The Raiders knocked off West McDowell 37-29 in Marion on Tuesday and then beat Liberty 57-47 at home on Thursday.
In Thursday's home win, seventh-grader Alex Kelly connected on eight straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win for the Raiders. Kelly scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter.
Raiders' guard Larry Clark contributed 13 points. Dillon Phillips added eight points while Drake Haas (5), Eric Gilbert (3) and Elijah Reese (2) rounded out the team totals.
In Tuesday's road win in Marion, East Burke was led offensively by Kelly (10), Haas (9), Clark (5), Phillips (4), Gilbert (3), Reese (2), Michael Adams (2) and Matt Brittain (2).
The Raiders are scheduled to close out the regular season today with a trip to conference leader Walter R. Johnson. Tipoff was slated for approximately 5:15 p.m.
Girls basketball
The East Burke girls basketball squad crushed Liberty 60-20 on Thursday.
Nine different Lady Raiders scored in the lopsided triumph.
Sydney Hicks led the offensive weapons with 14 points. Other scorers for East Burke Middle included Kelsey Houser, 4; Lauren Arney, 10; Kristen Moore, 6; Tiffany Wright, 4; Sydney Haas, 8; Maurianna Moore, 4; Aubrey Smart, 6; and Alyssa Cornett, 4.
The "Raider of the Game" was Maurianna Moore.
East Burke Middle improved to 11-0 in conference play and 13-0 overall.
The Lady Raiders were scheduled to close out the regular season with an away game today at Walter R. Johnson.
East Burke has earned a first-round bye in the upcoming Foothills Athletic Conference tournament. The Lady Raiders will host a semifinal contest on Monday, Feb. 8.
Wrestling
The East Burke Middle wrestling squad lost to Liberty on Thursday.
Individual match winners for the Raiders included Dylan Hicks and Nick Laurent.

Middle School Calendar
Today (weather permitting)
Basketball
East Burke at Walter R. Johnson
Liberty at Heritage
East McDowell at Table Rock
Wrestling
Walter R. Johnson at East Burke
Heritage at Liberty
Table Rock at East McDowell
** Ends Regular Season**
Wednesday
Wrestling
FAC Wrestling Tournamenth hosted by West McDowell Jr. High, 2 p.m.
Thursday
FAC Basketball Tournament
First-round games at higher seeds

The roundup is compiled by Tommy Fleming, The News Herald's Middle School sports coordinator.