Jeff Davis photo

Chatham Central Lady Bear Natalie Phillips, center, takes down a rebound in a seas of hands in Friday nights game with Northwood. Charger players Brittany Stone, left and Sierra Baldwin, right tried their best to get to the ball but Phillips hauled in the ball. Northwood went on to win the game 51-45.

Sparked by the driving ability of Bryan England and the inside presence of Brad Dark, ER used a pivotal 17-5 run in what turned out to be a decisive third quarter to take a 58-49 victory over the Jets here on Tuesday night.

Leading 29-22 at the half, Jordan-Matthews seemed in control of the contest.

Garrett Parks had tallied six points in each of the first and second quarters to spark J-M to its cushion while Justin Snipes had chipped in five, including a trey, and Jon Scheetz and Jonathan Price four each.

But in the third quarter the wheels just fell off for the Jets as ER got on a roll that Jordan-Matthews never could stop.

Dark powered in a three-point play and scored again from down low to cut the J-M lead to 29-27 at the 6:20 mark and the momentum shifted squarely into the corner of the Wildcats.

A rebound bucket by Chad McSwain s and a jumper by Tyrece Turner topped the bleeding for the Jets momentarily and gave J-M back a 33-27 lead.

Just when it looked as if the Jets had regained control, however, Eastern Randolph stormed back with a 12-1 spurt in the final two minutes of the quarter. England ignited the ER surge with a long trey from the top of the key before later adding a short jumper and a free throw.

CC took full advantage of the home cooking, winning three matches last week, improving its record to 10-5 on the season.

On Thursday, the Bears flexed their muscles in two contests against Western Harnett and The Oak Ridge Military Academy.

In both matches, CC won decisively, crushing WH, 66-12, and cruising past OR, 66-6.

Aubrey Johnson got the meet started off right for the Bears, pinning Joe Carpenitte in the 135-pound class.

Cody Clark, in the 145-pound class, pinned Barnbas Deay, starting a run of CC domination.

Kyle Scott pinned Aaron Relater in the 152-pound class, followed by Brandon Brown’s pin of Doug Dornbier in the 160-pound division.

Nick Ferguson (171) gutted out a 8-5 win over Stephen Vaas, and Aaron Brown (189) nearly doubled up Joe Arnald, 13-7. Kevin Hamm (215) handled Edmond Haney, 7-2. Wes Little cleaned up in the finale with a 6-1 triumph over Chris Woltz in the 125-pound class.

As I have gotten older and suffered my share of losses over the years, I find I don’t take defeats nearly as hard as I used to.

This past college football season is a testament to that.

I thought that when Miami joined the ACC, if it could beat Florida State, the Hurricanes would win the conference.

That turned out to be a completely false, as three teams kicked my Canes around, designating them to The Peach Bowl.

After Miami lost to Virginia Tech last weekend, instead of getting upset or disappointed, I laughed thinking of The Peach Bowl.

Three years ago, a friend of mine and I went to the North Carolina versus Southern Methodist game in the Tar Heels season finale.

UNC had already wrapped up a bowl spot, but, after starting the season 0-3, rallied with big wins over FSU, UVA, and State, and had a chance for the coveted Peach Bowl.

In a close game, the Heels won, 19-10, punching its ticket to The Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

I have never been one to get too excited over Carolina football, so the accomplishment didn’t exactly have me doing back-flips.

more- See Thursday, December 9 paper: Vol 85, No. 2

NORWOOD – The Yadkin Valley 1A opener was a tough one for the Lady Jets of Jordan-Matthews here on Friday night as South Stanly rallied in the fourth quarter to take a 48-44 victory.

J-M entered the contest with the Rebel Bulls fresh off an impressive outing just three nights earlier at Eastern Randolph and had every opportunity to win the contest on Friday.

The absence of senior starters Rischetta White and Latyoya Thompson proved too much to overcome, however, as the Jets simply ran out of gas down the stretch.

South Stanly, a squad much improved over couple of seasons, was led by talented post player Tabitha Deese who led all scorers with 21 points. Possessing a soft touch from 15-feet and in, Deese was the catalyst in the Lady Rebel Bulls outscoring the Jets 16-9 in a decisive fourth quarter.

After Brittany Hurt had put J-M ahead 37-32 on a 15-foot jumper just :15 seconds into the final period, Deese went to work, tallying six of the next 12 points for South Stanly which tore off a 12-2 run.

more- See Thursday, December 9 paper: Vol 85, No. 2