Prep basketball: Asheboro boys take tourney title; Blue Comets girls are runners-up

Asheboro’s Jewell Barrett-Riggins goes up for a shot between Southwestern Randolph players during a holiday tournament game. (PJ Ward-Brown / Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO — Asheboro’s boys’ basketball team became champion of the SportsTone.net Christmas Invitational for the second time in three years.

The host Blue Comets took down Randleman 43-38 in this week’s championship game, avenging a defeat from less than two weeks earlier.

Jewell Barrett-Riggins was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after scoring 13 points in the final. Teammates Nirey White and Darrion Johnson were on the all-tournament team.

Asheboro opened the tournament by handling Southwestern Randolph 56-46. The Blue Comets defeated Chatham Charter 53-44 in the semifinals.

Randleman advanced by topping Wheatmore 61-51 and then fending off Jordan-Matthews by 50-42.

Trey Burnett of Randleman scored 15 points in the title game. Teammates Damari Garner and Connor Cassidy were all-tournament choices

Others on the all-tournament team were Jordan-Matthews’ Zaeon Auguste, Chatham Charter’s Breylan Harris, Southwestern Randolph’s Kenan Sugg, Wheatmore’s Avery Ivey, Eastern Guilford’s Noah Jordan and Trinity’s Mason Ingram.

Third place went to Jordan-Matthews, a 63-44 winner against Chatham Carter. Southwestern Randolph defeated Wheatmore 62-46 for fifth place, and Trinity fell to Eastern Guilford by 80-48 in the seventh-place game.

In the first consolation round, Southwestern Randolph beat Trinity 53-18 after Wheatmore edged Eastern Guilford 48-45.

Trinity lost 50-17 to Chatham Charter on the tournament’s first day.

Ledford Holiday Tournament (Boys)

Providence Grove played a pair of games in the tournament, beating East Davidson 83-68.

West Davidson defeated Providence Grove 74-72 in the fifth-place game, then the teams were set to meet this week in a Central Carolina 3-A Conference game.

Oak Grove was the tournament champion, topping Ledford 56-50 in the final.

Lee County Christmas Tournament (Boys)

Eastern Randolph fell 99-58 in the first round and then dropped an 86-45 decision to Lee County. The Wildcats drubbed Ascend Leadership Academy 79-25 in the seventh-place game. Tyler Gee had 32 points in the game that Eastern Randolph won.

Asheboro girls finish as tournament runners-up

Asheboro advanced to the final of the girls’ basketball portion of the SportsTone.net Christmas Invitational.

The host Blue Comets fell to Eastern Guilford by 51-40 in the title game last week.

Mauri Jerman of Eastern Guilford was named the Most Valuable Player, while teammates Madison Calvin and Klara Zizkova were all-tournament picks. Jerman scored 17 points in the title game.

Asheboro’s Maliya Brady and Adalyn Scherer were on the all-tournament team. Other all-tournament selections were Southwestern Randolph’s Jordin George and Maddie Strider, Randleman’s Jacquline McDaniel, Wheatmore’s Kaelyn Whitehart, Jordan-Matthews’ Jada Scott, Trinity’s Madison Hill and Chatham Charter’s Petyon York.

Asheboro’s 58-51 overtime victory against defending champion Southwestern Randolph came in the semifinals. That ended an eight-game losing streak in the series for the Blue Comets, who last topped Southwestern Randolph during the pandemic-adjusted 2021 season.

The Blue Comets opened the tournament by cruising past Jordan-Matthews 54-15.

Southwestern Randolph finished third by defeating Randleman 53-51. The Cougars had a 71-29 first-round victory against Chatham Charter.

Randleman started by defeating Trinity 57-48 before falling to Eastern Guilford by 55-48.

Wheatmore finished in fifth place. After falling 40-32 to Eastern Guilford, the Warriors beat Trinity 59-25 and topped Jordan-Matthews 47-35.

Lee County Christmas Tournament (Girls)

Eastern Randolph lost to Southern Lee by 53-40, to Lee County by 60-49 and to Union Pines by 60-40.