M.S. ROUNDUP: Liberty girls remain unbeaten

The Liberty girls basketball team took advantage of a cold shooting performance by Walter R. Johnson, as the Lady Knights coasted to a 38-26 Foothills Athletic Conference home victory Thursday in Morganton.

Lindsey Adams led the Lady Knights (5-0, 4-0 FAC) in scoring with 12 points (including 6 of 7 free throws) and three assists, while Malarie Tallent added 11 points.

WJMS (2-1, 4-1) was led offensively by post player Christina Perkins (10 points) and Taylor Gardin (10 points). Point guard Ansley Rooks had a team-high three assists.

Table Rock 39, West McDowell 27 - Ariyana Williams scored 14 points in leading a balanced scoring attack as the Lady Falcons claimed a 12-point home conference triumph.

Table Rock other offensive leaders were Amy Rhoney (9), Jade Crump (6) and Laney Hodges (4).

Hodges grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots, while Rhoney snagged four boards while dishing out two assists. Williams was credited with four steals.

Ashlyn Wolfe led West McDowell with 11 points.

East Burke 41, Heritage 37 - The Lady Raiders captured their first conference win of the season with a four-point triumph at Heritage on Thursday.

East Burke (1-3 FAC, 2-3) will host East McDowell, while Heritage (0-3) visits West McDowell on Jan. 5.

Boys basketball

Walter R. Johnson 49, Liberty 39 - The Yellow Jackets fought off a fourth-quarter rally to seal a 10-point win to remain unbeaten in conference play.

WJMS led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter.

Liberty’s Daxton Bostian hit a late trey to cut the Yellow Jackets’ advantage to eight points (31-23) at the conclusion of the third period.

The Knights trimmed the deficit to three points (31-28) behind Ben Brittain’s eight fourth-quarter points.

Bostian led the Knights with 15 points and two assists. Will Kirk contributed eight points, while Brittain added eight points and eight boards. Austin Davis scored six points.

“I was once again proud of my team’s heart and determination in the fourth quarter,” LMS coach David Waters said. “When we learn to box out and are able to play focused and together for four quarters, we are going to be a dangerous team going forward."

Walter R. Johnson (3-0) hosts rival Table Rock on Jan. 5, while Liberty (1-3 FAC) returns to the hardwood Jan. 9 with an away showdown with the Falcons.

Table Rock 36, West McDowell 26 - The Falcons closed out the 2011 campaign with a 10-point home victory Thursday against West McDowell Jr. High.

TRMS broke open a tight game (tied 8-8 after one period) by storming to a 21-12 halftime advantage.

Russell Cuthbertson led the Falcons with nine points, five rebounds and four steals. Bailey Ragle chipped in with eight points and Niguel Moore added seven points and seven boards.

Table Rock played its second consecutive game without leading scorer and rebounder BJ Emmons.

Table Rock (3-1 FAC) will travel to face off with unbeaten WJMS on Jan. 5.

Wrestling

East Burke 60, Heritage 34 - The Raiders moved to 4-0 in the Foothills Athletic Conference with a strong showing Thursday at home versus Heritage.

EB’s Tanner Gilbert, Jacob McMonagle, Brent Terry, Noah Gilbert, Justin Franklin, Dillon Childers, Trevor Gilbert, Jakob Prestwood, Eli Duckworth and Michael Stillwell won their matches via pinfall.

In preliminary matches, Dawson Bolick won by pin and Katrina Huffman lost by pin.

“Overall the team did an outstanding job of getting the win over our rival school. Individually we’re still giving up way too many points. It's still the little things like letting them get a takedown or getting a reversal and getting escapes that we’ve got to work on,” EBMS coach Aaron Hildebran said.

“I like the position that we’re in right now being 4-0, but we’ve got a lot of wrestling still left and we’ve got to keep being dominate and not get a big head or someone will beat us.”

Heritage’s Alan Roth claimed his first win while Aubrey Hendricks claimed a pinfall victory at the 119 class. The Eagles’ Austin Brigman (135) and Mark Hudgins (140) won by forfeit.

HMS’ final two victories came from Michael Carswell (152) via pinfall and Timmy Abee (160) with a major decision.

“Even though we finished with a loss, it was a great learning experience for a very young team,” HMS coach Doug Hallyburton said. “East Burke’s size and experience was difficult to overcome.”

Heritage (0-3 FAC) will host West McDowell while East Burke (4-0) visits East McDowell on Jan. 5.

West McDowell 73, Table Rock 18 - The Falcons suffered a conference loss at West McDowell Thursday in Marion.

Table Rock picked up pinfall victories from Garrett Ward (103), T.J. Benjamin (130) and Cody Grasse (140).

“Our main concern is that whether we win or lose we do it with grace. We work hard year-round to build character in these kids and it is important that it carries through our sports program,” TRMS coach Mason Webb said.

“They have had a tough week of wrestling and hopefully 2012 will bring us some good matches. The team continues to wrestle with heart and courage.”

Table Rock will host WJMS on Jan. 5.