Asheboro’s Jerquarius Stanback heads to the basket in a Class 3-A opening-round game against East Henderson in the state playoffs. (Scott Pelkey/Randolph Record)
Four of the six girls’ basketball teams and half of the six boys’ teams from Randolph County entered in the state playoffs won in the West Region’s first round Tuesday night.
Winning teams advance to second-round games Thursday night. Higher-seeded teams will play at home.
Girls
Top-seeded Randleman took care of business with a 52-34 victory against No. 32 seed Bandys in Class 2-A.
The Tigers (25-1), who received 15 points from Elizabeth York and 14 points from Gracyn Hall, led 25-8 after the first quarter. Randleman will meet Hendersonville (18-9) in the second round.
No. 15 seed Southwestern Randolph, the only team to defeat Randleman this season, topped 18th-seeded West Lincoln 60-40 with Caressa King and Jordin George both posting 14 points. The Cougars (19-8) visit second-seeded Shelby next.
Also in Class 2-A, No. 11 seed North Wilkes trounced No. 22 seed Trinity 67-37. No. 8 seed East Rutherford dominated No. 25 seed Wheatmore 70-32.
** In Class 1-A, Brecken Snotherly poured in 36 points as fifth-seeded Eastern Randolph defeated No. 28 seed South Davidson 55-36.
Snotherly was 15-for-19 on free throws.
Next for the Wildcats (18-7) is a home game against 12th-seeded Rosman.
** Uwharrie Charter Academy was the only Randolph County team to win a road game in the opening round. The 23rd-seeded Eagles defeated No. 10 seed Christ the King 39-38 in overtime.
UCA (12-15) heads to seventh-seeded Bessemer City for the second round.
Boys
At Ramseur, Julian Brooks scored 20 points and Eastern Randolph ran past No. 30 seed Cherryville for a 97-60 victory in Class 1-A.
The third-seeded Wildcats (25-2) also received 16 points from Davonte Brooks, 13 points from Nicah Taylor and 11 points from Timothy Brower.
Eastern Randolph, which next meets 14th-seeded Avery County, led 52-20 at halftime. Julian Brooks had 14 of his points in the second half.
Also in Class 1-A, No. 31 seed UCA dropped a 91-53 decision at No. 2 seed South Stokes.
** In Class 3-A at Asheboro, No. 7 seed Asheboro handled No. 26 seed East Henderson 75-54.
Hakeeme Butler’s 23 points and Jerquarius Stanback’s 22 points led the way.
Now the Blue Comets (20-5) have a home game vs. No. 10 seed Greensboro Smith (25-2), which has a 15-game winning streak, at Asheboro Recreation Center.
** In Class 2-A, ninth-seeded Southwestern Randolph suffered a 56-50 home loss to No. 24 seed Burns.
Cougars (15-11), who trailed 39-38 going to the fourth quarter, lost their second game in a row following a 10-game winning streak. Sean Adkins supplied 16 points for Southwestern Randolph.
Dylan Hodges racked up 31 points and Dominic Payne had 27 points as No. 15 seed Trinity rolled past No. 18 seed Newton-Conover 81-55. That means the Bulldogs (21-7) now head to second-seeded Reidsville (22-0).
No. 13 seed High Point Andrews dispatched No. 20 seed Randleman 62-53. The Tigers finished the season with a 15-12 record.
