Pierce Leonard

UCA Eagles sweep Eastern Randolph in regional finals

UCA Eagles sweep Eastern Randolph in regional finals

UCA team members gather after winning the Class 1-A West Region title. Clutch late-inning work boosts UCA’s baseball team RAMSEUR – It was pretty much a matter of Uwharrie Charter Academy’s baseball team making the best of tough situations Thursday night. By doing so, the Eagles are heading to where they want to go. UCA completed a Class 1-A West Regional finals sweep of Eastern Randolph by winning 8-1 in Game 2, scoring all their runs in the last two innings. “It still hasn’t sunk in,” UCA senior Ben Medinger said of the chance to play for a state title.…
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Prep Baseball: Randleman rolls up wins in South Carolina; County teams split in Classic

Prep Baseball: Randleman rolls up wins in South Carolina; County teams split in Classic

Eastern Randolph’s Kahlin Graham reaches to make a tag on North Moore’s Austin Patterson during a game in the ZooKeepers Classic last week at Southwestern Randolph. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record) Randleman’s baseball team went to the Mingo Bay Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and came away with a 4-0 mark in the event during spring break. It began with a 4-3 victory against Woodson, Va., as Caleb Dunn drove in two runs in a four-run first inning. The Tigers rode Seth Way’s bat and arm in a 9-3 victory against Robinson, Va. Way worked six innings on the mound, while he…
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Huge comeback propels Eastern Randolph boys to state final

Huge comeback propels Eastern Randolph boys to state final

Eastern Randolph team members and coach Johnny Thomas – with arms raised – celebrate the Class 1-A West Region title. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record) MORGANTON – Eastern Randolph rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit to keep its season alive and advance to a state championship in boys’ basketball for the first time. The Wildcats pulled out a 62-59 victory against Bishop McGuinness in the Class 1-A West Region final Saturday afternoon at Freedom High School. “As the coach, even I’m at awe at what they just did,” first-year Eastern Randolph coach Johnny Thomas said of his players. Eastern Randolph (29-2) will…
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Prep basketball: Eastern Randolph boys keep season going, win regional semi on road

Prep basketball: Eastern Randolph boys keep season going, win regional semi on road

Coach Johnny Thomas makes a postgame video with his Eastern Randolph boys’ basketball team after winning the Class 1-A West Region semifinal at South Stokes. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record) WALNUT COVE – Pierce Leonard scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and Eastern Randolph rallied past South Stokes to continue its best postseason in program history. The Wildcats put together a strong second half to pull out the Class 1-A West Region semifinal, winning 74-71 on Tuesday night. “I told them, ‘I am proud of you. We’ve had a long season, but this is not it,’ ” first-year…
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Prep boys: Special season ends on downer for Blue Comets; Eastern Randolph advances

Prep boys: Special season ends on downer for Blue Comets; Eastern Randolph advances

Hakeeme Butler tries to get Asheboro on the board in the first quarter of Thursday night’s loss to Greensboro Smith in the Class 3-A state playoffs. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record) ASHEBORO – Asheboro’s special season in boys’ basketball didn’t come to a fitting conclusion. That’s what made losing so hard to grasp for the Blue Comets. Ambushed from the start by Greensboro Smith, Asheboro couldn’t sustain any of its rallies long enough in a 73-46 loss in the second round of the Class 3-A state playoffs Thursday night at raucous Asheboro Recreation Center. “That’s the thing about this team, we all…
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Wildcats capture another prize, top Trinity boys in PAC final

Wildcats capture another prize, top Trinity boys in PAC final

Eastern Randolph’s Timothy Brower goes up for a basket as Trinity’s Jacob Hodges, right, defends. Other Trinity players, left to right, Brandon Campbell, Grayson Earls, Dylan Hodges and Dominic Payne look on. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record) RAMSEUR – Timothy Brower was down on the court in pain in the first quarter of the Piedmont Athletic Conference Tournament’s boys’ basketball championship. The Eastern Randolph guard delivered much of the punishment for the rest of Friday night’s game. Brower’s 28 points helped propel the regular-season champion Wildcats in a 74-64 victory against visiting Trinity that marked their first conference tournament title in seven…
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Eastern Randolph boys find way to outright PAC title

Eastern Randolph boys find way to outright PAC title

Eastern Randolph’s Davonte Brooks ties the game with a dunk late in the third quarter at Providence Grove. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record) Wildcats withstand Providence Grove for rare basketball prize CLIMAX – Eastern Randolph had to make changes to figure out how to topple Providence Grove in Thursday night’s unexpected down-to-the-end tussle in boys’ basketball. Just mark it up as another accomplishment for this group of Wildcats. They’re outright Piedmont Athletic Conference regular-season champions, collecting the school’s first league title of any sort in boys’ basketball in seven years and only second regular-season title in 29 years. “We wanted to bring…
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Prep Basketball: PAC boys’ race extends to final games

Prep Basketball: PAC boys’ race extends to final games

Southwestern Randolph’s Nathan Ellis goes up for a shot as Eastern Randolph players, left to right, Timothy Brower, Nicah Taylor, Davonte Brooks and Pierce Leonard look on. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)   ASHEBORO – The big upset from last week came with Southwestern Randolph ending the Eastern Randolph boys’ basketball team’s winning streak at 19 games. The Cougars won 75-66 at home, so that likely will keep the suspense in the Piedmont Athletic Conference going until the final night of the regular season. Nathan Ellis led the way with 21 points, while teammates Thomas Leal (14 points), Sean Adkins (12), Kearns…
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A new way of doing it works fast for Eastern Randolph boys’ team

A new way of doing it works fast for Eastern Randolph boys’ team

Members of the Eastern Randolph boys' basketball team have come together for a special season. MEBANE – No longer in a rut, the Eastern Randolph boys’ basketball program is doing it on its own terms. That’s fast – and to the point. “We practice fast,” senior Davonte Brooks said. “We come to the games just like practice. All fast, all fast. We all knew from the get-go what we were getting into, from Day 1.” Turns out this means getting all sorts of victories under first-year coach Johnny Thomas. The Wildcats are a rapid-paced, action-filled group all the way to…
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