HS Notes: Providence golfer near top at 4A golf; West Charlotte to honor Kennedy Meeks
Providence High School’s Colin Salema shot a 3-under-par 69 to take second place in the N.C. 4A golf championships after the first round. The final round is Tuesday at Pinehurst No. 8.
Salema birdied three of his final four holes.
Holly Springs’ Daniel McBrien shot a 6-under-66 and leads the field.
Marvin Ridge’s Jack Wieler (72) and Myers Park’s Eli Schmidly are tied for fifth.
Cary’s Green Hope has a two-shot lead in the team race over Pinecrest and Raleigh Broughton and Marvin Ridge. Charlotte Catholic is tied for fifth.
▪ In the 1A finals at Pinehurst No. 6, Mitchell’s Connor Warren, a junior, shot a blistering 7-under 65 to take a 10-shot lead into Tuesday’s final round.
Warren shot the third-best single-round score in championship history.
Mitchell has a 10-shot lead in the team race, 10 strokes clear of South Stanly. Among Observer-area teams, Cherryville was third, 19 shots back, and Christ The King was sixth.
Individually, Mountain Island Charter’s Kola Abudu shot an even-par 72 and was the highest-ranking Observer-area performer. He’s in third, just ahead of Langtree Charter’s Sam Skoog (2-over-par 74) and Cherryville’s Jackson Tedder (75).
▪ In the 2A finals at Longleaf Golf & Family Club in Southern Pines, East Surry’s Connor Key shot a bogey-free 66 to take the 3-shot lead over his teammate Pennson Badgett.
East Surry has a 24 shot lead over Pine Lake Prep. No other Observer-area team was in the top 10. Individually, Pine Lake Preps’s Aiden Penhall was tied for seventh after shooting even par. He’s six stroeks off the lead. Lincolnton’s D’Yanni Rhyne shot a 1-over 73 and was tied for ninth.
▪ In the 3A finals, Hickory’s David Gee shot a 6-under 66 to take a 3-shot lead over Jacksonville’s Tyler Jones. The top area golfer was Stuart Cramer’s Rich Wills, who is among a group of golfers tied for third at 1-under. Fayetteville Sanford leads the team race by nine shots over Oak Grove. Stuart Cramer is third.
West Charlotte to honor Meeks
Tuesday at 11 a.m., West Charlotte High will celebrate former N.C. state and college basketball national champion Kennedy Meeks.
On the 10-year anniversary of his McDonald’s All-American selection, the company will have his game jersey framed to be displayed at the school.
The ceremony is open to the public.
Meeks led the Lions to the 2011 state championship and later helped North Carolina win a national title. West Charlotte retired his jersey earlier this year, along with that of first round NBA draft pick Patrick Williams.
Basketball rule changes for 2023-24 season
The National Federation of High Schools made some changes to basketball rules for the upcoming season.
Among them:
▪ Teams will shoot two free throws for common fouls when in the “bonus.”
▪ Teams will reach the bonus when their opponent commits five fouls in each quarter. Team fouls will reset at the end of each quarter. Old rule: 1-and-1 bonus when the opponents committed 7 fouls in a half and two shots after 10 fouls were committed each half.
Here is the full list of changes.
Aston Lee, Charlotte Latin win NCISAA golf titles
Charlotte Latin freshman Aston Lee won the NCISAA Division I boys golf finals Monday at Bryan Park in Greensboro. He also led the Hawks to the team title.
Lee shot a 3-under-par 69 to tie with Christ School’s Taylor Kuehn for first place. The two golfers went back to the 10th tee in a sudden death playoff. Lee hit the green in two and then made two putts for par, for the win.
Latin shot 292 as a team to beat Durham Academy by six shots to earn the program’s first state title since 1994.
Durham Academy (298) finished second, followed by Christ School (299), Metrolina Christian (313) and Raleigh Ravenscroft (328).
Latin’s individual scorers were Lee (69), senior Davis Sayman (73), freshman Henry Holland (74), senior Jackson Adams (76), freshman Til Wagner (77) and freshman Griffin Cheatwood (80).
That group of two seniors and four freshman shot 301 to win a state championship qualifying event at Grandover Resort last week.
