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

The Panthers made a couple of line-moves this week, the first one being promoting Frank Okam to defensive line coach. Okam served as an assistant defensive line coach this past season under Mike Phair, but was given the keys to the d-line this week since Phair was not brought back by the team. The other move made this week was signing tackle Trent Scott to a one-year deal. Scott is not expected to be a full-time starter, but rather an option that adds depth to the offensive line. I know what you’re thinking…yawn. The only thing that seems to be on Panthers’ fans minds these days is who the starting quarterback will be next season. All anybody can do right now is speculate, but it sure is easy to do so.

Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets up and down season continues with a loss on Monday, followed by a win Wednesday and another loss on Friday. The trend lately has been just that…win a game, lose a game, win a game, etc. The last time the outcome was the same for two consecutive games was February 7th and 8th, when the Hornets won back to back games against the Wizards and Rockets. The loss to the Jazz this Monday was another poor defensive effort from the Hornets, who gave up 132 points on the night. That has often been the downfall of this young team so far this season. But just when Hornets fans’ spirits are down, they were once again lifted on Wednesday with an impressive win against the Suns.

On the road in Phoenix, the Hornets rallied from 17 points down to come back and steal the win from the Suns, 124-121. Malik Monk led the team in scoring with 29, while Gordon Hayward and Lamelo Ball added 20 apiece. It was a big win coming from behind on the road against a very good team, one that is in 4th place in the tougher Western Conference. However, on Friday night the Hornets were back on the losing side of things when the Golden State Warriors got their revenge with a 130-121 win in San Francisco. With Stephen Curry in the lineup this time, the Charlotte-native led his team with 29 points in route to the Warriors win.

Looking to bounce back yet again with a win tonight, the Hornets will square off against the Sacramento Kings on their continued West-coast road trip. It is a very winnable game, as the Kings are just 13-20 on the year. The Hornets currently stand at 15-17 on the season and have slipped to being tied with two other teams (Bulls and Pacers) for the 8th spot in the East.

College Basketball

Charlotte 49ers

With each weekend series this season usually played on Friday and Saturday, things are slightly different this weekend as Charlotte plays UTEP Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday’s game wasn’t a good start, however. After traveling to El Paso, the 49ers dropped the first game 70-47, marking their 5th straight loss. With the two games last weekend against UTSA canceled, Charlotte hasn’t won a game since January 30th, when they beat Florida International. It’s been a rough end to the season for the 49ers, who are just looking to re-group and make some noise in the Conference USA Tournament at this point. That will take place beginning on Tuesday, March 9th in Frisco, Texas.

Davidson Wildcats

After dropping both games to St. Bonaventure, Davidson bounced back with a win yesterday against VCU, 65-57. Luka Brajkovic led the team with 15 points, while Kellan Grady scored 13 and Hyunjung Lee scored 10. Believe it or not, the regular season has now come to an end for the Wildcats and they now look forward to the A-10 Conference Tournament beginning this coming Wednesday. Davidson finished the regular season 3rd in the conference behind St. Bonaventure and VCU. The Wildcats’ overall record is 12-7 and their conference record is 7-4.

Appalachian State Mountaineers

What started out as a strong season for the Mountaineers has really taken a downward turn over the last month. App State took one of two games against rival Georgia Southern this weekend, with an 84-78 double-overtime win Friday night, before losing by eight yesterday. The downward turn all started by losing both weekend games to Troy, who isn’t good, on January 29th and 30th. Then Covid unfortunately came into play, canceling the next four games. When the team finally returned to play February 19th, they have recorded a 1-4 record since. Yesterday’s game was the final regular season game for App, who now awaits a hopeful better fortune in next week’s conference tournament that starts on Friday in Pensacola, Florida.

College Baseball

This week’s final scores:

Charlotte 49ers (6-0)

Saturday (Gm 1): William & Mary 1, Charlotte 7

Saturday (Gm 2): William & Mary 0, Charlotte 4

Sunday: William & Mary 4, Charlotte 20

Davidson Wildcats (3-2)

Saturday (Gm 1): Toledo 1, Davidson 8

Saturday (Gm 2): Toledo 2, Davidson 12

Sunday: In Progress

Appalachian State Mountaineers (5-1)

Tuesday: App State 5, ETSU 4

Saturday (Gm 1): NC A&T 2, App State 6

Saturday (Gm 2): NC A&T 6, App State 7

Sunday: In Progress

High School

Basketball

After three rounds of playoff basketball, only four teams remain in each classification (4A, 3A, 2A, 1A) to fight for the state championships. The Final Four will begin on Tuesday and the State Championships will be played next Saturday. Here’s how things look:

4A

#8 Lumberton (13-2) vs. #2 Millbrook (17-0)

#1 Ardrey Kell (9-0) vs. #3 North Mecklenburg (11-0)

3A

#13 Northwood (13-2) vs. #6 West Carteret (11-2)

#4 Crest (16-1) vs. #2 Weddington (16-0)

2A

#9 Farmville Central (13-0) vs. #15 Northeastern (10-3)

#1 Hendersonville (16-0) vs. #3 North Lincoln (15-2)

1A

#5 Riverside (14-0) vs. #3 Wilson Preparatory Academy (5-2)

#5 Lincoln Charter (15-2) vs. #6 Mount Airy (14-3)

Congrats to Cannon School for their second straight NC Independent Schools 4A state championship! They held off #1 Carmel Christian for a 94-85 win.

Football

Vance vs. Mallard CreekJeff Siner/Charlotte Observer — Vance vs. Mallard Creek
Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer

High school football season has started! Check out the area’s final scores from Week 1:

Independence Patriots 6

Hickory Ridge Ragin’ Bulls 7

Butler Bulldogs 42

Rocky River Ravens 0

Porter Ridge Pirates 41

East Mecklenburg Eagles 7

Garinger Wildcats 0

Myers Park Mustangs 49

Lake Norman Wildcats 40

West Charlotte Lions 8

Vance Cougars 27

Mallard Creek Mavericks 7

Hough Huskies 7

Hopewell Titans 0

Weddington Warriors 43

Sun Valley Spartans 2

Charlotte Catholic Cougars 43

Monroe Redhawks 0

Cuthbertson Cavaliers 42

Parkwood Wolf Pack 8

Ardrey Kell Knights 30

South Mecklenburg Sabres 14

Harding Rams 0

Olympic Trojans 49

Providence Panthers 33

West Mecklenburg Hawks 0

Statesville Greyhounds 7

Mitchell Mountaineers 14

Alexander Central Cougars 2

South Iredell Vikings 7

West Rowan Falcons 0

Salisbury Hornets 36

West Iredell Warriors 3

Draughn Wildcats 14

Bunker Hill Bears 13

Hibriten Panthers 50

Patton Panthers 6

Fred T. Foard Tigers 28

McDowell Titans 21

Hickory Red Tornados 7

Davie War Eagles 42

Ragsdale Tigers 14

Garett

Queen City Sports Report