Kings Mountain’s Adrian Delph is the Big South 3A boys basketball player of the year.
Delph has signed to Appalachian State.
North Gaston’s Wes Hepler, a former coach at Myers Park, was named league coach of the year.
1st Team
1. Adrian Delph (KM) Player of the Year
2. Dezure Molden (SC)
3. Blake Wilson (Huss)
4. Zeke Littlejohn (KM)
5. Tyrese McNeal (NG)
2nd Team
6. Cameron June (Ash)
7. Byron Sanders (Ash)
8. Saveon Falls (Huss)
9. Eli Paysour (KM)
10. JaQuail Brown (Ash)
3rd Team
11. Darian Anderson (Forestview)
12. Jahleer Black (Huss)
13. John Griffin (SC)
14. Logan Botts (Forestview)
15. LT Thomas (NG)
Coach of the Year: Wes Helper (North Gaston)
Basketball
Victory Christian won the USA National Prep Tournament Thursday, beating Canada’s Kings Christian 46-44. The Kings beat Southern Wake 67-46 in the first round and Elevation Prep 44-33 in the semifinals.
▪ The South Fork 2A all-conference boys basketball team
Coach of the Year: Jon Hancock, East Lincoln
Player of the Year: Sidney Dollar, East Lincoln
All-Conference
East Lincoln: Sidney Dollar, Kabian McClendon, Coleson Leach
Bandys: Ja'Tay Culliver
Lake Norman Charter: Connor Reed
North Lincoln: Luke Johnson
Maiden: Caleb McDaniel, Mason High
Newton-Conover: Noah Smith
Lincolnton: Robbie Cowie, Kris Robinson
Jay Edwards’ Boys Athletes of the week
Cole Jessey, Providence Day Lacrosse: Providence Day lacrosse coach Bobby Thompson says he expected freshman Cole Jessey "to come in and contribute right away."
But no could have imagined what Jessey would accomplish in first high school game.
Jessey poured in a school-record nine goals to lead the Chargers to a 15-8 win over Fort Mill, March 1.
Jessey’s performance included a run of seven straight goals for his team in the first half to turn a 2-1 Providence Day lead into a 9-5 Charger advantage.
Jessey broke the school-record for goals in a game, set by McKenzie Mann in 2005. Mann had eight goals.
"Obviously, Cole (Jessey) exceeded our expectations for his first high school game," said Thompson, in his 13th year. "All the goals were assisted, but Cole (Jessey) did a great job of finding open space and finishing. He made nine of his 12 shots, but two shots were at the end of quarters, desperation shots. So really he was nine of 10 for the game."
Providence Day all-conference senior Ryan Heffe, assisted on six of Jessey’s nine scores, and had two goals of his own.
Fellow Providence Day freshman Tyler Campbell also had a game to remember, dominating at the faceoff-X position, winning 20 of 25 draw controls.
But Jessey stole the show, and while his first high school game will be something he never forgets, it also sets an almost impossibly high standard for the rest of his Providence Day lacrosse career.
"We were laughing about that after the game," said Coach Thompson, referring to Jessey’s school-record performance. "I told him ‘you set the bar pretty high, buddy (said with a laugh),’
…It’s going to be hard to top that game."
Jackson Price, Ardrey Kell Lacrosse: The Ardrey Kell freshman also started his high school lacrosse career with a bang: four goals and one assist in the Knights’ season-opening 11-6 victory over Winston-Salem’s Ronald Reagan High March 1.
Price’s first goal sparked a four-goal Ardrey Kell run, while his second score gave the Knights’ a 6-2 halftime lead.
The very next day, Price was even better with six goals and two assists in a 22-7 win over Butler at the Matthews’ Sportsplex. Fellow Ardrey Kell freshman Cade Caggiano also had five goals and three assists in the same game.
Price is the son of Ardrey Kell lacrosse coach Tim Price.
Matt Elder, Lake Norman Lacrosse: The Lake Norman senior attacker scored four goals, including the game-winner with 1.4 seconds remaining to help the Wildcats (1-0) to a 10-9 victory over Cardinal Gibbons, March 3.
Lake Norman senior goalkeeper Ricky Bokavich also had a standout game defensively with 13 saves.
Elder, a Hofstra University signee, had 50 goals and 45 assists for Lake Norman last year, when the Wildcats were the 4A state runner-up.
Justin Jarvis, Lake Norman Baseball: The Lake Norman senior pitcher tossed a perfect game, going all seven innings with 18 strikeouts in the Wildcats 5-0 season opening victory over East Rowan, March 2.
Jarvis, a UNC Wilmington signee, accomplished the perfect game -- complete game and shutout -- in his Lake Norman debut, after transferring from Mooresville.
Ty Good, South Pointe Baseball: The Rock Hill South Pointe junior right-handed pitcher threw four scoreless innings, striking out eight batters while allowing only one hit to lead the Stallions to a 2-0 victory over Central Pageland, February 26.
Good has 15 strikeouts in nine innings of work with a 0.00 earned-run average (ERA) this season.
Good also contributes with his bat and on the base paths, going 2-for-4 with an RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases, to help South Pointe win at Buford March 2.
Good is a Division I baseball recruit, according to South Pointe baseball coach Bradley Rudisill.
Wendell Moore, Jr., Cox Mill Basketball: The Cox Mill junior forward had another monster game, scoring 32 points, grabbing five rebounds, three assists, three steals and blocking two shots to lead the Chargers to their 17th straight victory (61-49 win over Ben L. Smith, March 3) at Joel Coliseum.
Moore and his Cox Mill team (28-3) will play in the 3A state championship game against Northside Jacksonville at N.C. State’s Reynolds’ Coliseum at 7:30, March 10.
Moore also had 22 points and six boards in the Chargers’ 87-57 3A state quarterfinal win over China Grove Carson Feb. 27.
Jamarius Burton, Independence Basketball: The Independence senior guard led the Patriots to their 21st straight victory and the 4A state championship game, scoring 25 points and grabbing eight rebounds to lead his team past Rocky River 72-45 March 3 at Joel Coliseum.
Burton, who averages 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game, and the Patriots (30-1) will take on Wake Forest Heritage in the 4A state championship game at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel, March 10 at 7:30.
Burton’s stock has been rising in recent weeks as he has received offers from Alabama-Birmingham, George Mason, Temple and Western Carolina and gotten more interest from Georgia Tech, Michigan and Virginia, according to Independence coach, Preston Davis.
Girls’ Athletes of the Week
Sarah Latour, Cuthbertson Track: The N.C. State signee and all-state senior picked up right where she left off this indoor season, leading the Cavaliers girls to victory at the outdoor season-opening, Weddington Invitational March 3.
Latour -- the 3A indoor state championship’s most valuable player (1600-meter state champion) -- won the 1600-meter run at Weddington, where she was nine seconds better than her closest competition, running a 5:10.33, the state’s second best time this outdoor season.
She also helped the Cavaliers 4 X 800-meter relay, with Samantha Hirsch, Charlotte Sperry and Morgan Allison, to a first-place finish, beating the field by nearly 20 seconds.
Mary Elliott McCabe, Charlotte Latin Girls’ Soccer: The University of North Carolina signee and all-state forward started her season with a bang: three goals and two assists to lead the Hawks to an 8-0 season opening victory over Greensboro Day Feb. 27.
McCabe, who had 33 goals and 10 assists last year, is part of Latin senior class (54-3-8 in the last three years) looking to win their fourth straight, NCISAA 3A state championship
Eveleen Hahn, Charlotte Catholic Girls’ Soccer: The Charlotte Catholic all-state junior forward kicked off her season with a hat trick (three goals) and an assist to lead the Cougars to 5-0 over Heritage in the Battle of the Beach at Swansboro High, March 2.
Hahn came back the next day and scored two goals and dished out two assists in Charlotte Catholic 7-2 victory over Greenville Conley in the same event at the Onslow Classic Soccer Association (OCSA) Soccer Complex. Hahn had 30 goals and 10 assists for Catholic last season.
Charlotte Catholic senior captain Lindsey Poff also had six goals in the same two victories last weekend, including four scores in the D.H. Conley win.
Helen Summerell, West Iredell Girls’ Soccer: The West Iredell junior forward had seven goals in two games for the Warriors last week.
Summerell had her best game of the week, scoring with all five goals in West Iredell 5-0 over Statesville.
She also had both goals for the Warriors (1-1) in their 3-2 season opening loss at South Iredell.
Hannah Lindsey, Lake Norman Charter Girls’ Lacrosse: The Lake Norman Charter senior midfielder had eight goals, two assists, 16 ground balls and 26 draw controls to help the Knights start 2-0 on the season.
Lindsey had her best game of the week in Lake Norman Charter’s 18-10 home opening victory over Independence with seven goals, one assist, nine ground balls and 14 draw controls in the March 2nd win.
Jazzy Freeman, Butler Softball: The Butler junior led the Bulldogs (1-0) to a 16-3 season opening victory over Central Academy going three-for-three at the plate with a single, a triple and a grand slam home run.
Freeman, who was hit by a pitch in her only other at bat, had also scored four runs and had four RBI in the same game.
Want to nominate an athlete?: Athletes of the week highlights high school athletes with outstanding performances. Information published today includes statistics through March 4. The goal is to recognize all athletes in all sports, both the most accomplished and the underrated or underappreciated players. If you want to suggest someone to be included in the Athletes of the week column, send email to Jay Edwards at edwardswork23@gmail.com. Please include the athletes’ name, school, class and applicable game performance statistics. Coaches must be willing to verify information.