704 Weekly Sports Report
Welcome to the weekly sports roundup in the greater Charlotte area presented by The Sports Chief. Every Sunday, let The Chief be the one to catch you up on all the latest sports happenings in and around the Charlotte, NC area. We take a look at professional sports, as well as semi-professional, college, and high school. If you like what we’re doing, make sure you give us a follow on Twitter at @thesportschief where you’ll be notified of all our latest postings, and visit our website at www.thesportschief.com.
Professional
Carolina Panthers
With new GM Scott Fitterer in place, Panthers fans are curious to know what changes will be taking place. And the one that everyone is talking about right now is the quarterback position. Fitterer won’t commit to Teddy Bridgewater for next season, just as he shouldn’t. Bridgewater is not a franchise quarterback, I don’t care what anyone tries to say. And if you want to speculate even further that Bridgewater won’t be back next season, look no further than the quote from Fitterer saying he is determined to find a quarterback who can win the game when the game is on the line in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater was 0-8 this season when given a chance to lead his team down the field on the final drive to either win or tie the game.
Bob Levey/Getty Images
More speculation that has circled recently is the possibility of the Panthers trading to get Deshaun Watson from the Texans. Watson clearly wants out or Houston and some see Carolina being a good fit for the quarterback who is from Georgia and played his college ball at the nearby Clemson. Even more reason to believe the Panthers would make this move is the fact they just hired Sean Ryan as their quarterbacks coach this week and Ryan worked with Watson as Houston’s quarterback coach in 2017 and ’18. Should the Panthers do it? There’s no doubt that Watson is talented, but the immature display he’s shown over the past few weeks in Houston is something you have to think about when looking for a franchise quarterback. You can say what you want about that situation, but Watson was clearly overstepping his bounds and trying to play GM from a quarterback position. And after he didn’t get his way, he wants to quit his team. That’s immaturity. We will see how the situation plays out very soon.
Charlotte Hornets
Mark Lo Moglio/Getty Images
Things aren’t good right now for the Hornets. They’ve shown signs of exciting promise this year, but are now in the midst of a four-game losing streak. The feeling, unfortunately, is all too familiar with Hornets fans. “Here we go again,” is the mindset of many. After dropping games to the Mavericks and two to the Raptors, the Hornets were scheduled for two games this week. Only one of them was played however. Wednesday’s game against the Wizards was postponed, leaving only Friday night’s game in the Spectrum Center against the Bulls as the one with an outcome. And the outcome was another loss, this one with a final of 123-110. Hayward had another spectacular game with 34 points and Biyombo added 10 rebounds, but in the end the Bulls, who are just 7-9 on the season, came out on top. The loss makes Charlotte 6-9 and tied with several other teams being a game out of the 8th spot in the East.
It was also about time we’ve heard from the infamous loudmouth Ball-father. 3rd overall pick Lamelo Ball’s father was critical this week of Hornets’ coach James Borrego and I’m surprised we’ve made it this long without him opening his mouth. We all knew it was coming at some point or another on draft night when Lamelo’s name was announced to Charlotte. Lavar Ball is complaining about his son not starting, staying, “My boys aren’t freaking role players…they’re superstars.” I knew as soon as the team hit a rough patch, and they have with four losses in a row, we would hear from him. Hopefully it won’t be a continuous thing.
College Basketball
Charlotte 49ers
fausports.com
The 49ers split another weekend series this Friday and Saturday, this time on the road against Florida Atlantic. Friday’s game was an offensive struggle for Charlotte, who only put up 53 points in a 66-53 loss. It was tied 50-50 after regulation, however, but it was Owls who then turned it on. With an overtime score of 16-3, Florida Atlantic strolled into Saturday with the edge.
Saturday’s game would see its revenge though, and more shots go through the bucket for both teams. In a tight game all forty minutes long, the 49ers edged the Owls this time with a final of 74-71. Jahmir Young led all scorers with 25 points and Jordan Shepherd added 19. Charlotte carries a .500 overall and conference record into next weekend’s series against Florida International back in the Queen City.
Davidson Wildcats
The Wildcats had a successful week, adding two more wins to their resume. On Wednesday the Fordham Rams traveled from the Bronx to Davidson, only to get handed a 15-point loss. Chris Austin led the Rams in scoring with 19, while Kellan Grady did the same for the Wildcats, scoring 24 of their 73 points. Like usual when Davidson cruises to victory, the 3-point line played a big part, where the team was 10 of 28 from beyond the line.
Back at it this afternoon, the Wildcats traveled to Amherst, Massachusetts where they took on UMass. Tied for 3rd in the A-10, UMass presented a tougher challenge to Davidson than Fordham, especially at home. But the outcome was another W for Davidson, this time with a score of 69-60. Once again, Kellan Grady led the way in scoring with 22 points and assists with 5. Davidson is now 10-5 overall and 6-2 in conference play. They won’t play again until next Saturday when St. Bonaventure comes to town.
Appalachian State Mountaineers
App State continues its impressive basketball season this week with two more wins. With games Friday and Saturday against conference opponent Georgia State, who was 8-2 overall coming into the game, the Mountaineers won both fairly easily. Friday’s game was the closer of the two, where App won by nine points, 80-71. Four players scored in double-figures for App State with Eliel Nsoseme leading the team in points (15) and rebounds (8).
App State Athletics
With Georgia State looking to even things out yesterday in Boone, they were denied. With James Lewis Jr. scoring 22 and Donovan Gregory adding 14, the Mountaineers took the victory 74-61. In addition to his 22 points, Lewis Jr. was a monster on the boards, hauling in a total of 14 rebounds. App has now won three in a row and will take its 12-5 record to Alabama this week to face off against Troy. App is 2nd in the conference, while Troy is dead last.
High School
Remember that Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools have put a pause on athletic activities until at least February 15, which means that there’s not nearly as much going on around our area that I would normally include in the 704 Sports Report. But there are still teams in other surrounding counties playing, as well as most private schools in the area. Let’s take a look at some recent high school basketball scores:
Providence Day basketball
Credit: Jonathan Aguallo/Charlotte Observer
Tuesday, January 19
Weddington Warriors 89
Marvin Ridge Mavericks 28
West Davidson Dragons 30
Salisbury Hornets 58
South Point Red Raiders 63
R-S Central Hilltoppers 68
Freedom Patriots 48
Alexander Central Cougars 78
Jesse Carson Cougars 53
Statesville Greyhounds 67
South Iredell Vikings 53
East Rowan Mustangs 62
Thursday, January 21
Northside Christian Knights 58
Carmel Christian Cougars 74
Kings Mountain Mountaineers 89
Burns Bulldogs 65
Lake Norman Wildcats 61
Concord Academy 79
Parkwood Wolf Pack 58
Cuthbertson Cavaliers 69
Draughn Wildcats 57
West Iredell Warriors 68
Friday, January 22
Piedmont Panthers 25
Weddington Warriors 76
Shelby Golden Lions 77
South Point Red Raiders 59
Hibriten Panthers 54
West Iredell Warriors 45
East Forsyth Eagles 72
Davie War Eagles 74
Statesville Greyhounds 56
East Rowan Mustangs 69
North Iredell Raiders 71
South Iredell Vikings 60
Draughn Wildcats 52
Bunker Hill Bears 70
Saturday, January 23
Salisbury Hornets 48
Lexington Yellow Jackets 32
Lake Norman Christian Ospreys 72
Word of God Christian Holy Rams 66
A new Charlotte Observer Sweet 16 Poll has been released and for the last time until after February 15th, CMS schools will be included. And according to the newspaper, when CMS athletics return, the teams won’t jump right back into the Sweet 16 spots they are currently in. So big changes are coming after this poll. Here’s the latest:
High School Boys Varsity Sweet 16
16. Crest (3A): 4-0
15. Davidson Day (IND): 10-2
14. Independence (4A): 3-0
13. Myers Park (4A): 0-1
12. Shelby (2A): 4-0
11. Charlotte Christian (IND): 7-3
10. Victory Christian (IND): 16-5
9. Cox Mill (3A): 4-0
8. West Charlotte (4A): 2-1
7. Weddington (3A): 4-0
6. Westminster Catawba (IND): 9-1
5. Cannon School (IND): 16-4
4. Vance (4A): 3-0
3. Ardrey Kell (4A): 3-0
2. North Mecklenburg (4A): 3-0
1. Carmel Christian (IND): 15-1
Garett