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2A 

Lincolnton boys 62, Surry Central 60

Lincolnton was seeded #16 in the west in the NCHSAA 2A boys basketball playoffs and Surry Central was seeded #17, so you would have expected a close game--and it doesn't get much closer than this.  The Wolves defeated the Golden Eagles in Tuesday's first round game at LHS 62-60. 

The Wolves led the whole game; they were ahead by four points at halftime and by nine going into the final period; their largest lead was 12 points in the 3rd quarter, but in the 4th, Surry Central camecrawl back, tying the game with 14 seconds left. The Wolves got the ball inbounds and junior Tyler McClain took a mid-range shot; it missed, but he got his own rebound, and was fouled on the ensuing shot. McClain made both free throws to seal the win for the Wolves. He finished with 19 points,  3 rebounds and blocked a shot. Landen Lyerly had a dozen points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. Seniors Andrew Phelps and Khalil Yarborough each had 9 points and Phelps had a rebound and Yarborough had 7 rebounds. Freshman Nehemiah Thompson led with 3 steals. The Wolves, hwo won their 20th game of the season, will travel to Reidsville on Friday (March 1at) for Round 2. The #1 seed in the west, the Rams beat Madison Tuesday night 92-19.

Lincoln Charter boys 76, Maiden 70

The Eagles got their 20th win of the season, beating the Blue Devils. The LCS boys will visit Salisbury, the #2 seed, who beat Anson in round one 85-39.  

Other boys 2A playoff scores:

Shelby (#8) 54, Brevard (#25) 43

Newton-Conover (#3) 80, West Stanly (#30) 58

Randleman (#6) 93, Burns (#27) 69

East Gaston (#22) 80, West Caldwell (#11) 78

Bandys (#23) 58, North Stanly (#10) 56

Other Friday games:

Bandys @ North Surry (#7)

East Gaston @ Randleman

Trinity (#19) @ Newton-Conover

Monroe (#9) @ Shelby

North Wilkes girls 59, West Lincoln 42

A strong fourth quarter finish made it closer but the West girls lost in round one.  Carolina Robinson scored 17 points  to lead the team in scoring.  

Lincoln Charter girls 51, Maiden 40

Like the LCS boys, the LCS girls, the #12 seed, eliminated Maiden (seeded 21st) from the playoffs. They'll play Friday at #5 seed Randleman.

Other girls 2A playoff scores:

T.W. Andrew (#8)  63, Burns (#25) 28

Shelby (#9) 60, Pine Pake Prep (#24) 43

East Surry (#13) 54, Bandys (#20) 43

Other Friday games:

Shelby @ T.W. Andrew

1A boys

South Stokes (#1) 81, Highland Tech (#32) 46

1A girls 

Highland Tech (#21) 33, Piedmont Community (#12) 26

Albemarle (#4) 73, Mtn. Island Charter (#29) 19

Uwharrie (#11) 46, Bessemer City (#22) 43

3A

East Lincoln girls 79, Forestview 33

The #3 seeded East girls scored all the points they needed in the first half to beat the Jaguars.  They led by 51-20 at halftime and 73-28 at the end of the third period.  With the win over the #30 seeded Forestview team, East earned another home game Friday against #19 seed Freedom, 59-53 winners over North Davidson.  

Taniyah Thomas led the scoring with 15 points; she had 5 rebounds and 5 steals, two assists and blocked a shot.  Lane Pethel had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Abbie Hege and Nevaeh Atkins each scored a dozen points; Hege had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a blocked shot; Atkins had two rebounds.  Emma Montanari had 11 points, 5 rebounds, three steals and three assists, and blocked four shots.  Kiara Anderson had 9 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists and a steal.  Brooklyn Miller scored 5 points; Maddie Matz & Melody Schmitz each had two.  

Northwest Cabarrus girls (#15) 62, North Lincoln (#18) 40

Stuart Cramer girls (#6) 64, Fred T. Foard (#27) 49

Hibriten girls (#11) 63, Hickory (#22) 49

St. Stephens girls (#24) 60, Piedmont (#9) 42

West Henderson girls (#8) 59, South Point (#24) 43

Dudley girls (#16) 53, Crest (#17) 41

North Lincoln boys 78, Franklin 35

The Knights, seeded #16 in the 3A west, scored 50 points in the first half and limited the Panthers to just 35 for the whole game. 

North had five players with double figure scoring in a balanced attack.  Ty Sanders had 13 points, 4 rebounds, two assists and two steals; Carson Engstrand scored 13 points, had 6 rebounds, three assists and three steals.  Kellen Karr scored 12 points, had 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.  Tanner Lineberger scored 11 points, had 4 rebounds and two assists. Malik Bledsoe had 10 points, a rebound and a steal.  Ben Heavner had eight points, a rebound, an assist, and two sreals.  Caleb Kidd scored 5 points; Emerson Viverette 4, Lipe Sipe 3.  

The win means North will once again play at unbeaten Hickory on Friday in round two.  The Red Tornadoes, the #1 3A west seed, beat #32 West Charlotte 89-64.  

Piedmont boys (#8) 66, East Lincoln (#25) 65 

Freedom boys (#9) 79, South Point (#24) 73

Crest boys (#5) 71, Statesville (#28) 60

Northwest Cabarrus boys (#220 75, Kings Mtn. (#11) 71

Hunter Huss boys (#18) 83, North Henderson (#15) 52

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