Daily Roundup: February 10, 2022

February 11, 2022, 2:13 am | by Tim Hower

GIRLS SWIMMING

NCHSAA 4A State Championship

at Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary

Hoggard senior Callie Parkes ended her remarkable high school career with a state title in the 50 freestyle.

Parkes won the morning prelims with a time of 23.28. She bested that in the finals by touching the wall in 23.19. Green Level junior Samantha Armand was second in 23.33.

Callie Parkes became Hoggard’s third state champion swimmer. [Contributed photo]

Parkes became just the third Hoggard swimmer to earn a state title and the first since Ashley Brem won the 100 breaststroke in 2012. Erin Gottschalk claimed the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly in 2001.

She’s also the first swimmer from a New Hanover County public school to win a freestyle event.

Here are the other state champions from the area:

2001: Erin Gottschalk, Hoggard (100 backstroke and 100 butterfly)

2008: Cari Blalock, New Hanover (100 butterfly)

2010: Cari Blalock, New Hanover (100 butterfly)

2012: Ashley Brem, Hoggard (100 breaststroke)

2012: Travis Johns, Laney (200 IM)

2013: Christian Caveness, Laney (100 butterfly)

Parkes later placed seventh in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.96.

She anchored the 200 freestyle relay that finished 14th and the 200 medley relay that was 17th.

Joining her on the 200 freestyle relay were Sarah Pierson, Kelsey Stuck and Emily Cox.

Stuck (backstroke), Hailey Weigand (breaststroke) and Tabitha Lac (butterfly) swam the other legs on the 200 medley relay.

Weigand placed 22nd in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:08.42.

The Vikings scored 38 points to finish in a tie for 15th

Laney was 31st with 12 points. The Buccaneers got a ninth-place finish from Jenna Grill in the 50 freestyle (23.69) and a 14th-place finish from Madi Joy in the 100 backstroke (57.42).

BOYS SWIMMING

NCHSAA 4A State Championship

at Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary

In his final high school meet, Hoggard senior Will Sterrett had four top-15 finishes.

He reached the final of the 100 backstroke and placed seventh with a time of 52.29. Sterrett’s other individual event was the 100 butterfly, where he was 11th in 51.54.

The 200 medley relay team of Cole Witmer (backstroke), Jacob Gillespie (breaststroke), Sterrett (butterfly) and Bradley Bush (freestyle) finished 12th in 1:37.65.

Bush and Sterrett were joined by Ryan Langtry and Matthew Caravaglio on the 200 freestyle relay, which earned a 15th-place finish in 1:29.87.

Witmer was the only other Viking to compete in an individual event. He was 18th in the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.18.

Caravaglio, Langtry, Evan Stuck and Jackson Hughes completed the 400 freestyle relay in 3:20.77 to place 23rd.

Hoggard was 24th as a team with 31.5 points.

Topsail senior Forrest Hoover finished 13th in the 100 freestyle (47.68).

Cian Post of Ashley was 14th in the 50 freestyle (21.71) and 22nd in the 100 freestyle (48.58). Teammate Sean Setzer finished 21st in the 100 freestyle (48.39).

BOYS BASKETBALL

No. 1 New Hanover 58, No. 2 Hoggard 56

***Click here to view a gallery of 27 photos from the action***

The Wildcats finished off an unbeaten regular season by building a 17-point lead and then hanging on down the stretch in their first real test in 20 games.

Three New Hanover (20-0, 14-0 Mideastern) players reached double figures, led by 12 from Lenier Pocknett. James Jones had 11 and Mikhail Pocknett finished with 10.

The last time the Wildcats went unbeaten in conference play was 2018. That team went on to reach the fourth round of the playoffs.

Prior to Thursday night, New Hanover’s closest game of the season was a 69-56 win over Laney.

“Hoggard is a very good team and we knew they would come in here swinging,” Wildcats coach Kirk Angel said. “They were 20-3 for a reason, so I’m proud of my guys for battling.”

Hoggard (20-4, 12-2) scored on its first two possessions to build a slim 4-2 lead, but the visitors turned the ball over eight times on their next 10 trips down the floor and New Hanover capitalized by going on a 14-0 run.

Nazey Myers put the home team on top 25-8 with 6:45 left in the opening half. The advantage was 14 points with less than three minutes on the clock before the Vikings closed on an 8-3 run to cut the deficit to single digits.

A layup from Sam Jones early in the third quarter got Hoggard to within four points at 36-32, but the Wildcats stretched it back to 10 entering the final eight minutes.

New Hanover started to struggle with turnovers in the fourth quarter and that allowed their rival to make one final push. Shane Hawkins connected on two free throws with 1:33 left to cut the deficit to 54-52.

Both teams failed to score on their next possession. Khalil Genwright’s layup increased the lead back to four, but Hoku Fisher matched him with a basket of his own on the other end.

The Vikings were forced to foul Genwright with 11.1 seconds on the clock, and the junior stepped to the line and made both attempts.

“I made sure to take two deep breaths to calm my nerves,” Genwright said. “You need to have the right mindset and block out all the distractions. I was confident I was going to make them both.”

Hoggard’s Korbin Pettigrew made a jump shot as the buzzer sounded for the final points.

Senior Brice Eichelberger, who entered the game averaging 3.9 points, finished with a career-high 19 to lead the Vikings. It was the first time in his career he reached double figures.

No. 8 West Brunswick 65, No. 11 South Brunswick 62 (OT)

The Trojans scored five unanswered points over the final 1:20 of overtime to escape with a hard-fought road win over their rival.

West Brunswick (11-12, 7-7 Mideastern) led 46-35 midway through the fourth quarter, but South Brunswick (8-13, 4-10) went on a 15-3 run to grab a one-point lead following a steal and layup from Ford Disbrow with 58 seconds to play.

Disbrow hit an off-balanced jumper from the left baseline to put the Cougars on top 53-52 with 11 seconds remaining.

Following a timeout, West Brunswick’s JJ Cobb drove down the middle of the lane and made a terrific pass to Darrean Benbow, who was fouled with 0.8 seconds left.

After missing on his first free throw attempt, Benbrow hit the back of the iron with his second attempt. The ball bounced straight up in the air, hit the rim twice and then the backboard before falling through the hoop. It was his only point of the game.

Cobb led the the Trojans with 16 points. Carson Pope added 13, while Kevon Daniels and Savion Metters both finished with 12.

Disbrow continued his hot shooting in overtime by draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:20 remaining to put South Brunswick up 62-60.

West Brunswick responded immediately with a layup from Quincy Hankins.

Hankins then converted a three-point play on the next possession to put the visitors up for good.

No. 7 Laney 69, No. 14 Topsail 40

Mike Milholland and Joe Bachman combined for 28 points in the lopsided home victory that helped the Buccaneers earn the No. 3 seed at next week’s Mideastern Conference Tournament.

Laney (18-7, 7-7) held a nine-point halftime lead before pulling away for good with a 21-point third quarter.

Milholland led all scorers with 15 points, while Bachman added 13. Chris Rodriguez finished with nine points.

Topsail (3-19, 1-12) got a team-high eight points from freshman guard Spencer Henry.

No. 10 Ashley 52, No. 9 North Brunswick 38

In his final home game, senior guard Blake Lewis exploded for 22 points to help the Screaming Eagles sweep the season series.

Ashley (9-13, 6-8 Mideastern) ended the regular season by winning five of its final seven games.

Blake Widenhouse added nine points, while Coen Locklear finished with eight in the win.

North Brunswick (10-11, 5-9) scored less than 10 points in each of the first three quarters.

No. 3 Cape Fear Academy 64, Harrells Christian Academy 4

Coastal Rivers Conference Tournament semifinals at Fayetteville Academy

Nine Hurricanes scored and eight of those players outscored the Crusaders by themselves.

CFA (17-3) led 25-2 after eight minutes and 41-4 at halftime. They allowed one field and two free throws.

Harrells Christian Academy failed to score in a second half that featured a running clock for the majority of the 16 minutes.

Saransh Padhy finished with a game-high 12 points. Chatham Lambiotte also reached double figures with 10. Jack McErlean added nine points, while Markus Pastorcic-Straun and Imran Armstrong both scored seven.

The top-seeded Hurricanes face off against host Fayetteville Academy in the championship game Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

Southeastern Christian Academy 64, No. 13 Wilmington Christian Academy 51

CJ Gall went 10 of 12 from the free throw line en route to a team-best 22 points, but the Patriots fell at home on Senior Night.

A terrific show of sportsmanship from Southeastern Christian Academy came in the opening seconds of the game. The visitors allowed WCA (8-15) senior Hayden Naylor to score a layup. Naylor has a broken arm and is out for the remainder of the season.

Trey Pierce and Elijah Harmon both chipped in seven points for the Patriots, who play at Gramercy Christian on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Other scores

Fayetteville Academy 41, No. 5 Coastal Christian 27 (Coastal Rivers Conference Tournament semifinals)

GIRLS BASKETBALL

No. 1 Hoggard 62, No. 3 New Hanover 21

***Click here to view a gallery of 27 photos from the action***

For the first time since 2011, the Viking finished unbeaten in Mideastern Conference play.

Madeline Elgart and Lexi Steed both registered double-doubles and Hoggard (21-3, 14-0) shot 50 percent (24 of 48) from the field in their second lopsided win over their rival.

The Vikings won by a score of 62-15 at home on Jan. 14.

“This is the best group of girls I’ve ever played basketball with,” said Elgart, who led all scorers with 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds. “Winning conference and going undefeated my senior year makes it even more special.”

Steed had her best performance of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Junior point guard Anya Massey continued her outstanding play by adding 10 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Hoggard jumped out to a 14-3 lead following a layup from Elgart late in the first quarter. The advantage grew to 29-12 at halftime and 44-19 after three quarters.

Nine of the 10 players who saw action for the Vikings reached the scoring column.

New Hanover (14-6, 10-4) was led by Andrehya Shuford’s 10 points.

No. 4 Topsail 57, No. 2 Laney 44

The Pirates capped an amazing regular season with a road win to finish alone in second place in the Mideastern Conference standings.

Lexie Dawson scored eight of her team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to help Topsail (18-4, 11-3) rally from a 36-35 deficit.

It was a remarkable turnaround for the Pirates, who went 4-8 overall and 1-4 in the MEC a season ago.

Brianna Jones finished with 13 points and Rhianna Garmendiz also reached double figures with 11. Topsail also got seven points a piece from Lilah Johnson and Bre Hebron.

Laney (15-7, 9-5) was outscored 22-8 over the final eight minutes. Taylor Chism led all scorers with 19 points.

No. 8 Ashley 45, No. 7 North Brunswick 35

Senior Savannah Cook made the most of her final home game by going 7 of 13 from the field and finishing with a career-high 16 points.

The North Florida volleyball signee also grabbed five rebounds and came away with three steals.

Ashley (9-13, 3-11) shot 43 percent (20 of 47) from the field. MacKenzie Morton added 11 points, while fellow sophomore Anna Benfield finished with six.

North Brunswick (10-13, 3-11) led 10-7 after the first quarter before getting outscored 17-5 over the next eight minutes.

No. 6 Cape Fear Academy 61, Harrells Christian Academy 34

Coastal Rivers Conference Tournament semifinals at Fayetteville Academy

The top-seeded Hurricanes had no trouble moving into Friday’s championship game, where they will take on rival Coastal Christian at 5 p.m.

Katie Rudow drained five 3-pointers and led all scorers with 28 points. CFA (9-11) also got 16 points from Bella Erichsen as well as six from Milly Kelley.