Three Kings Mountain pitchers combined for a no-hitter and 17 strikeouts but North Gaston’s Wildcats took advantage of 11 walks to force the Mountaineers to go eight innings to win 9-1 in a Big South Conference game last week in Dallas.
The Mountaineers were held scoreless for five innings before taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth. North Gaston got a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the inning to tie the game and force extra innings.
Caleb Broome’s grand slam home run accounted for half of the Mountaineers’ eight runs in the extra frame.
Zane Brockman worked the first five innings for the Mountaineers. He struck out 10 but walked six.
Wyatt Davis pitched the sixth and seventh and got the win when the Mountaineers unloaded on the Wildcats in the top of the eighth. Davis struck out four and walked three. Aidan Taylor came on in the bottom of the eighth and walked two but struck out three to get the save.
Broome went 2-for-4 to lead the Mountaineers at the plate. Brockman, Jacob Hamrick, Cole Irby, Colton Mayes and Jack Toney added a hit apiece.
The no-hitter was the second of the young season for the Mountaineer pitching staff. Brockman earlier pitched a perfect game against Hunter Huss with every out being a strike out.
The Mountaineers committed only one error and Brockman, Irby and Toney pulled a double play.
North Gaston’s only run came on a sacrifice fly by Wayne McSwain. The Wildcats committed four errors.
 

Kings Mountain’s Mountaineers got another outstanding pitching effort from Wyatt Davis and Colton Mayes and took advantage of eight bases on balls to shutout North Gaston’s Wildcats 5-0 in a Big South Conference baseball game Friday night at KM’s Lancaster Field.
The Wildcats, who had taken the first place Mountaineers extra innings earlier
in the week in Dallas, were simply no match this time around.
The game got underway with Davis striking out the side in the top of the first and the Mountaineers coming in to take advantage of a Zane Brockman double sandwiched around two walks followed by a bases-loaded North Gaston error to take an early 1-0 lead. The Wildcats would go on to commit four errors while Davis was sending 12 of their batters back to the dugout via the strikeout route. KM’s senior right hander used up all but one of his allotted 105 pitches and Mayes came on to get the Wildcats three up, three down in the top of the seventh and end the game.
After Brockman’s first inning double, the Mountaineers wouldn’t get another hit until the top of the fifth after North’s southpaw Caleb Cloninger reached his allotted 105 pitches. But the Wildcats committed four errors and that along with Davis’s pitching and good defense was enough to keep the Mountaineers in a battle with Cleveland County rival Crest for first place.
Kings Mountain increased its lead to 2-0 in the second when Caleb Broome reached base on an error and scored when the North right fielder dropped a fly ball off the bat of Jacob Hamrick.
The Mountaineers scored their final three runs in the fourth on three walks, three errors and a wild pitch. After Ashton Pope came in to pitch for the Wildcats in the bottom of the fifth, KM loaded the bases on a single by Taylor, double by Broome and an intentional walk but Pope buckled down to fan Irby to get out of the jam.
North Gaston threatened in the top of the sixth inning following one-out back-to-back singles by Pope and McSwain but Davis got Bates on a fly ball to right field and Walker on a grounder back to the mound. Kings Mountain got a one-out double from Jason Melton in the bottom of the sixth but Pope fanned two batters to get out of the jam.
The Mountaineers were scheduled to go to Forestview last night. They travel to Shelby today for a non-conference game and resume Big South play at home Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest with Forestview. It has been designated as Little League Night. After that the Mountaineers will travel to Shelby to compete in the Lions’ annual Easter Tournament on April 10-13. Big South play resumes April 18 with South Point coming in for what could be an earth-shaking Earth Day Night. That big game will feature free giveaways from the City of Kings Mountain as well as a race against Woodsy the Owl around the bases.
 

Kings Mountain’s Alex Goff, a senior on the University of Kentucky men’s golf team, carded the second lowest tournament with a 16-under-par 200 to finish second at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate tournament last week.
He opened with a 6-under 66 on Sunday, followed by a 7-under 65 on Monday and a final round 3-under 69 on Tuesday.
It was the second lowest 54-hole score in UK program history and earned him Southeastern Conference Golfer of the Week honors.
Goff has three top 10 finishes and seven of his eight tournaments have resulted in a top 20.
Goff will be inducted into the Kings Mountain Sports Hall of Fame on May 6 at Central United Methodist Church. Other inductees are Chris Henson, Miles Boyd, Cedric Thompson, Tim Hines and Suzette Feemster.

Kings Mountain High’s Zane Brockman did something Tuesday night at Lancaster Field that’s never been done before in the 100-plus year history of Mountaineer baseball.
The senior right hander not only pitched a perfect game but every out (15) was a strikeout in the Mountaineers’ 13-0 Big South 3A Conference win over the Hunter Huss Huskies. The game ended in the middle of the fifth inning on the NCHSAA’s 10-run mercy rule.
After Brockman sent the first three Huskies back to the dugout via the strikeout route, he and the Mountaineers came to bat in the bottom of the first inning to go up 3-0 to get the rout underway.
The Huskie hurlers had a tough time all night getting the ball in the strike zone, beginning when KM’s leadoff batter Caleb Broome was hit by a pitch. He stole second and third and scored what would be the winning run when Jacob Hamrick singled to right. An error and wild pitch accounted for the other two runs.
Kings Mountain added four runs in the second to go up 7-0. Lucas Saldo got things going with an infield single and Broome followed with a double to put runners on second and third. After a pitching change a walk and wild pitch ran the score to 4-0. Cole Irby singled to left for a 6-0 lead and another run scored on a wild pitch.
The Mountaineers went up 12-0 in the third. Tucker Cash, Saldo and Broome reached on hits and Hamrick homered to make the score 11-0. Cash’s fly ball to left was dropped and the scoreboard moved to 12-0.
Kings Mountain scored its final run in the fourth. Aiden Taylor led off with a double to left and Turner Brown singled to put runners on first and third. Brockman’s sacrifice fly brought Taylor home with the 13th run. Walks to Wyatt Davis and Colton Mayes re-loaded the sacks but C.J. Whitworth came on to pitch for Huss and got Melton and Toney on fly outs.

​​​​​The Cleveland Community College softball team won both ends of their home doubleheader versus Southeastern Community College. The Yetis won game one 3-0 and game two by a run rule score of 14-6 in the sixth inning.
Brooke Dover would pitch all seven in the game one win. Kaylen Cales was the winning pitcher in game two with Trinity Hatchel hitting a homer for the offense.
“Getting sweeps against conference opponents mean a lot over the course of a season,” said Head Coach Ronald Beaver. “It was cold, rainy and windy all day and the team came through to pick up two big wins.”
The CCC softball team faced another opponent on Saturday, keeping the winning streak going. The Yetis won both games of the home doubleheader versus Brunswick Community College, 11-3 and 7-6. The two wins capped a 4-0 weekend for the Yetis following their doubleheader sweep of Southeastern Community College on Friday.
In game one on Saturday, Brooke Dover pitched a complete game, striking out 10 in a game decided by the run rule in the sixth inning. Andrea Melton and Carmen Pruett had three hits each and Hayle Eubanks drove in three runs. In game two, Kaylen Cales would pitch 6.1 innings as the winning pitcher with Dover collecting the final two outs for the save. Melton, Pruett and Alexis Shope hit doubles and Mallory Haynes had two hits and two RBI’s.
“We had great weather for softball on Saturday and we had a lot of fans on campus to watch the games,” said Coach Beaver. “The team played well and kept their focus to get four Region wins in two days.”
The softball team is back at home on Wednesday as Cleveland has switched home dates with Southwest Virginia due to the rain forecast. The Yetis will host a home doubleheader at Yeti Athletics Park beginning at 1 p.m.
In baseball news, CCC’s baseball team won their weekend series on the road versus Region 10 conference opponent Wake Tech. The Yetis would sweep the doubleheader on Saturday 3-2 and 7-3, with the Eagles bouncing back for a 9-8 win on Sunday.
In game one, Jamisen Eichacker pitched six innings while striking out six for the win. Jeb Shuler and Boone Cartee would both pitch scoreless innings in relief. Ben Hemphill and Luke Banister would double with Banister and Tyler Casciato hitting triples. In game two, Kyle Murphy would pitch four innings and strike out three for the win. Aiden Schenck doubled, and Hemphill would triple for the offense. In game three, Dalton Chapman doubled and Alex Khan tripled and drove in three runs on the day.
The Yetis play at home on Wednesday as they face USC Salkehatchie with a noon start. The team travels to Catawba Valley next weekend for their next Region 10 series.

Kings Mountain High’s women’s softball team opened its Big South Conference season last week with big victories over Gaston County foes Hunter Huss 21-1 and Ashbrook 21-0.
Senior Kali Weaver pitched a no-hitter in the win over Hunter Huss, striking out 12 of the 17 batters she faced. She walked two.
The Lady Mountaineers struck for 13 runs in the first inning and carried a 21-0 lead into the top of the fourth when the Lady Huskies managed to score their only run. The game ended on the 10-run rule after the Lady Huskies batted in the top of the fifth.
Reynolds led the Lady Mountaineers at the plate with 2-for-2 and four runs batted in. Weaver, Desiree Green, Anna Wooten and Paige Fleming also had two hits.
Greene went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in against Ashbrook. Weaver and Reynolds had two hits apiece and Patrick one.
Anna Wooten went 2 2/3 innings on the mound. She gave up two hits and struck out seven.
Kings Mountain is scheduled to go to Forestview Friday for a 6 p.m. game and will return home Tuesday at 6 to host the South Point Lady Red Raiders.

Despite cold weather, nine area track and field teams had a very competitive meet at Kings Mountain’s John Gamble Stadium last Tuesday.
The host Mountaineers took both the girls and boys events.
The Mountaineers piled up 144 points to beat arch rival Shelby with 120. Crest ran third with 64 points followed by Burns 61, Ashbrook 56, Cherryville 41, Stuart Cramer 29, North Gaston 25 and Bessemer City 14.
The Lady Mountaineers dominated with 140 points to second place Shelby’s 65. Ashbrook and Stuart Cramer came in a close third and fourth with 63 and 62 points, respectively. Cherryville was fifth with 51 followed by Burns 50, North Gaston 47, Crest 35 and Bessemer City 10.
Kings Mountain’s women took first in the distance medley relay with a time of 16:34.10. Team members were Sarah Eagle, Emily Phelps, Kallie Hope and Divinity Ervin.
Individual winners for the Lady Mountaineers were Kamari Odems who cleared 4’8” to win the high jump, Divinity Ervin with a time of 12:56 to win the 3200 meter run, and Kinley Putnam who cleared seven feet to win the pole vault.
For the Mountaineers, Barry Moore, Zavion Smith, Curtis Simpson and Robert Kendrick dominated the 4x200 in 1:35.81.
Hunter Cruise, Max Thompson, Marty Lovingood and Isaiah Watts won the distance medley relay in 12:42.81.
Zavion Smith, Robert Kendrick, Barry Moore and Hunter Cruise took the sprint medley relay in 1:43.85.2.
Max Thompson won the 3200 meter run in 10:28.
Hunter Cruise won the pole vault with a leap of 11 feet even.
Kings Mountain was scheduled to host North Gaston, Stuart Cramer, Freedom, Forestview and Hunter Huss yesterday. The Mountaineers will host Shelby, Burns, Crest, Bessemer City and East Rutherford at 4 p.m. March 28. They will host the Cleveland County championship against Burns, Crest and Shelby on April 20 at 4 p.m.

Brayden Patrick’s grand slam home run highlighted a nine-run first inning that led to a 13-0, four and one-half inning rout of Blacksburg High’s Wildcats in Kings Mountain High’s Lickety Lew’s Night baseball home opener Wednesday at Lancaster Field.
The Mountaineers had only three hits during the inning with winning pitcher Zane Brockman getting the other two – a single and a double. But the Mountaineers took advantage of seven walks, three wild pitches, a hit batsman and an error while sending 14 batters to the plate.
Brockman gave up just two harmless hits and struck out 11 batters in his four innings on the mound. Aidan Taylor pitched the top of the fifth, fanning one batter and issuing two walks. The Wildcats had runners on first and second with two outs and Levi Barrett at the plate when his ground ball to shortstop hit teammate Davon Garrison on his way to third to end the game.
After Blacksburg’s Kolby Capps beat out an infield grounder to deep short to open the game and was immediately sacrificed to second by Wesley Bright, Brockman got out of the inning by striking out three and four hitters Levi Barrett and Justin Wylie.
The bottom of the first saw KM leadoff hitter Jacob Hamrick fly out to medium centerfield, but Capps walked Caleb Broome and the Mountaineer assault began. Brockman’s single to center and two wild pitches brought Irby in from third for what would be the winning run. Two more walks loaded the sacks and Patrick’s grand slam over the left-centerfield fence moved the score to 5-0. Broome was hit by a pitched ball with the bases loaded to make it 6-0. With the bases still loaded, Brockman doubled to run the margin to 9-0.
The Mountaineers scored the game’s final four runs in the bottom of the third when they sent nine men to the plate. An error, infield hit by Hamrick and a walk to Broome loaded the bases. Brockman was hit by a pitch to bring Ellis home with the 10th run. Irby’s single to left ran the score to 12-0 and consecutive walks to Mayes and Patrick accounted for the final run.
Kings Mountain was scheduled to host Gastonia Ashbrook in their first Big South 3A Conference game for last night’s Hotdog Night. The Mountaineers will go to Ashbrook March 17 and will return home March 21 against the Hunter Huss Huskies for a T-shirt Night. Several T-shirts will be given away.

Kings Mountain’s Mountaineers edged a strong Cherryville nine 2-1 in a non-conference baseball game last week in Cherryville.
Wyatt Davis pitched five strong innings, sending 13 Ironmen back to the dugout via the strikeout route.
Colton Mayes and Brayden Patrick hurled an inning each.
The game was tied at 1-all after two innings. KM tallied the winning run in the top of the fifth. Cherryville loaded the bases in the fourth and seventh innings but couldn’t score. The Ironmen collected only two hits but KM pitchers issued nine walks.
In another non-conference game Friday, the Mountaineers traveled to the mountains and defeated Enka 10-2. Jack Toney was the winning pitcher.

Kings Mountain High School last week chose one of the winningest football coaches in South Carolina to keep a championship program led for the past 14 years under Coach Greg Lloyd moving forward. Coach Lloyd announced his resignation several weeks ago after rolling up 134 wins, more than double that of any previous Mountaineer mentor.
Strait Herron, who won five state championships at South Pointe High School in Rock Hill and had successful stints at other schools in the Palmetto State, has agreed to be Lloyd’s successor and spent Thursday and Friday at KMHS meeting with players, coaches and others in the community. He said he looks forward to joining the staff and continuing the success built by Lloyd and his staff.
“Coach Lloyd has a great program, so I’m coming into what is already a good coaching situation,” he said. “It’s in great shape. The challenge for me is to keep continuing what he started in the right direction.”
Herron was named head coach last Thursday and met coaches and players.
“I am really excited to be here,” he said. “I will be commuting for the time being but I hope on April 3 to be here teaching full-time.”
He said he will continue to live in Rock Hill, SC, because he has an autistic son. “I’m only about 30 minutes away, and it’s difficult to change his patterns right now. As things improve maybe we can see what we need to do but for right now I want to continue to make things stable for him.”
He may have at least one coaching hire before the ’23 season as defensive coordinator Darrel Wilson has announced his resignation. Wilson will continue to teach at KMHS.
“I plan to come in and talk to every coach and hope they will be staying,” Herron said. “I want to have a highly-qualified offensive and defensive coordinator. I hope to fall right into Coach Lloyd’s position. I took in two classes today (last Thursday). I’m glad to have Coach Lloyd showing me the ropes.”
Herron grew up in Rock Hill where he attended Northwestern High School. He has coached at several schools, most notably Rock Hill’s South Pointe High where his teams won state championships in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The ‘17 team was ranked #7 in the nation. Prior to becoming a head coach he served as South Pointe’s defensive coordinator during its state championship in 2008 and also had assistant coaching stops at Northwestern, Clover, Strom Thurmond and A.C. Flora.
As a head coach, he was the fastest football coach in South Carolina history to reach 100 wins (100-12). He served as head coach in numerous all-star games, including the 2019 U.S. Army All-American Bowl where his East team beat the West 48-14. In 2018 he was the All-American Bowl National Coach of the Year and was the East team’s defensive coordinator. In 2017 he was invited to the Nike Elite High School Football Coaches Seminar and was the South Carolina High School League Regional Coach of the Year in 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017. In 2015 he was the Carolina Panthers High School Coach of the Week.
He has spoken at the USA Football Conference, Nike COY Clinic. Glazier Football Clinic, Clemson Coaches Clinic, USC Football Coaches Clinic, Virginia Tech Coaches Clinic and the National Defensive Football Clinic.
“We’ll make no promises as far as wins and championships,” he said of his time here, “but we’re going to have guys coaching hard every day to be the best we can be. What you do has to be sound but you have to win championships off the field.
“One of the things we’ll be looking for will be leadership and to hold each other accountable,” he said. “I had a meeting with the team (Thursday) and I felt like I had a great response. That night I had 10 texts from seniors saying they will give me their all. That’s what I want. I look forward to leading them.
“I am already excited about the future. Friday morning several of them sent me their Huddle account. As soon as I get home I’m going to start watching every game from last year. Great players make great coaches.
“The Kings Mountain facilities are great,” he noted. “I loved it the first time I walked through the door of the field house. I didn’t know what to expect. I had to take my phone out and send pictures to my wife. We have a perfect weight room. It’s the real deal. I love the stadium and the turf is fabulous.”

Kings Mountain native Darrell Wilson has resigned his position as defensive coordinator of the Kings Mountain High football team but will continue his teaching and basketball duties at the school.
Wilson joined head coach Greg Lloyd’s staff eight years ago after coaching stints at Hunter Huss, Bessemer City and Forestview. During that time he mentored several defensive standouts that went on to play at the collegiate level including such stars as Jake Merchant, Day Day Wilson, Javari Wilson, Jerdon Pressley, Nathan Lease, Derek Wilson, James Ussery, Chance Cannon, Jeremiah Brown, Xavier Brown, Kobe Paysour, Ty Ledbetter, Marquiz Fewell and others. Many of his defensive standouts from the recently completed 2022 season such as All-State defensive lineman AJ Richardson will begin their college football experience in the fall.
Wilson lived on Hilltop and Cansler Street as a youngster. As an eighth grader he lived with KMHS assistant Coach Rick Fortner. Prior to his freshman year of high school he moved to Gastonia to live with his mother and became a football star for the Hunter Huss Huskies under head coach and former KMHS athlete David Bolin. He started four years at Appalachian State under the legendary head coach Jerry Moore and George Edwards, his linebacker coach, who is now coaching with Tampa Bay in the NFL.
“I really liked coaching,” Wilson said. “I loved working with the kids, getting to know them and forming relationships. We set a lot of defensive records during my time here, such as shutouts and having several players named Conference Player of the Year. Several times we got on a roll. It seems like we’d have four to five shutouts a year and had a lot of streaks where we gave up zero points.”
Wilson gave credit to players like the ones listed above, but also to other defensive coaches like Jeff Williams, James Brown, Matt Bridges, Tom Lease, Demise Williams and others.
“Tom Lease played at Ohio State and Demise Williams at Oklahoma State,” he noted. “We always had good defensive staffs.
“We had some good defensive teams,” he added. “We beat some #1 seeds in state playoff games. I remember beating an undefeated number one team at Freedom that had the number one ranked running back (BJ Emmons) in the nation that went on to play at Alabama. We held him to 15 yards. And, another time we beat an undefeated Northwest Cabarrus team.
“We always had good game plans and beat some very good teams over the years. But, the thing I will miss most will be the players.”
Wilson said he also enjoyed serving as an assistant coach in girls basketball, and he will probably continue that. Some of his most enjoyable seasons were when his daughter, Saniya, was playing for the Lady Mountaineers. She is now at Catawba College but missed her entire freshman season because of knee surgery.
“She was red-shirted and still has four years of eligibility, but she will be a junior after this semester so I don’t know if she will get in four years of basketball,” he noted
Wilson said he is probably not finished as a football coach.
“While I was on the staff we always had a good offense and defense,” he said. “I hope the new coach will be successful. I will take a year off but hope to be back in coaching someday. It’s nice to win championships but what’s more important is developing young men and helping them get to the next level and be productive citizens.”

Kings Mountain High placed four players on All-Big South Conference basketball teams.
Freshmen Bradley Floyd was selected to the first team and freshman Tucker Robinette and junior Zavion Smith were on the second team. Senior CoRey Simpson was a first team selection on the women’s team.
Joining Floyd on the first team were Player of the Year Justin Ross of Hunter Huss, Amareion Goodlett of Crest, Stepfon Simmons of North Gaston, Isaac Byers of North Gaston and Greyson Kiner of South Point. Coach of the Year was Kody Kubbs of South Point.
Joining Robinette and Smith on the second team were Nate Aguilar and Brandon Alfonse of Forestview, Dylan Bradley of South Point, Tylik Briscoe of Crest, Jashawn Clark of Ashbrook, Z-Man Gladden of Hunter Huss, Sean Gore of South Point, Kenneth Greene of Ashbrook, Jacob Joyner of Cramer, Justin Rocquemore of Cramer and Jaquis Rumph of South Point.
Player of the Year for the women’s team was Madison Cole of Ashbrook. Coach of the Year as Bobby Lipscomb of Huss.
Joining Simpson on the women’s second team were Nykira Arrington of Ashbrook, Maddie Frank of South Point, Savanni Harris of Huss, Kari Lee of Crest, Anyssiah Love of Huss, Amani Neely of Forestview, Sydnee Walls of North Gaston and Hadley Womack of Cramer.

Kings Mountain High’s women’s softball team will warm up for its 2023 season Saturday with its annual scrimmage at the YMCA.
Eight teams will be involved in the event, beginning at 9 a.m.
Coach Kevin Cruise said the Lady Mountaineers will open their regular season on Wednesday, March 1 against the Burns Lady Bulldogs.
Cruise said the team has already won scrimmage games against Draughn, North Buncombe and Hibriten and did not give up a single run.
With several veterans returning, the Lady Mountaineers could make a strong run in the Big South 3A Conference.
Two of their leading players, Austyn Dixon and Alayna Patrick, have already made commitments to attend and play college ball at USC-Aiken and Gaston College, respectively. Dixon was last year’s Big South Player of the Year. Their ace pitcher Kali Weaver also returns.
The Big South Conference is always one of the toughest around and Coach Cruise feels like the Lady Mountaineers will be right in the thick of the battle for first place. Most of his players have varsity starting experience and he also has some promising freshmen in Madeline Huffman and Ava Tipton.
“We’re very young,” he noted. “There’s a good chance we could start four to five freshmen. All of them are very talented. This freshman class may be one of the most talented since the Morgan Childers group (that won championships). We look for this group to be very good.
“Practice has been going very well,” he added. “We’ve been able to dodge the rain. We were outside every day last week. Every player is working hard. The season is coming on us pretty quickly and we have so much to get in. They’ve all done good and competing every day. We’ve got a really good group. The defense looks solid and our pitching will lead us. We have three quality pitchers and any one of them can be dominant. The defense is leaps and bounds better than last year and we have good depth.”
Coach Cruise has three good assistants in Jeff Cloninger, Cassie King and Shon Macopson.

Kings Mountain High’s baseball team has several returning starters from last year’s Big South Conference championship team and they hope to add another trophy to their collection.
Veteran Coach Brad Melton put the Mountaineers through a couple of scrimmage games Saturday at Lancaster Field and they will begin their regular season February 27 at East Rutherford. Their first three games will be on the road as they go to Enka on March 3 and Cherryville on March 7.
The Mountaineers will host Blacksburg in their first home game on March 8 and will entertain the Ashbrook Green Wave in their first Big South game on March 14.   Melton played all of his players in the two scrimmage games against Chase Saturday at Lancaster Field and saw a lot of promise. All of the returning starters and newcomers played well.
The Mountaineers return seven seniors, including last year’s Big South Conference Player of the Year Zane Brockman who was undefeated (8-0) on the mound and had his usual hot bat hitting well over the .300 clip.
Centerfielder Jacob Hamrick, a two-time All-Conference standout, also returns. Wyatt Davis, who also had a great year on the mound and led the team in innings pitched and strikeouts, also has looked good in early drills.
Catcher Cole Irby, left fielder Lucas Saldo and first baseman-DH Hunter Ellis also were heavy hitters and plan to continue their success this spring. Colton Mayse, Brayden Patrick and Ty Toney also return.
“Pitching should be our strength,” Melton says. “We hope to be better overall. I feel really positive about the offense. We only lost three seniors. We’ll miss them but we have a good senior class.”
The Mountaineers finished 12-2 in the conference and 18-6 overall last year. Their BSC championship was Kings Mountain’s first since 2009.
“We should be competitive in the Big South,” Melton said. “We should have as good a shot as anybody.”
Melton predicted North Gaston, which has two good pitchers, and Crest to be solid contenders. Stuart Cramer will also be dangerous as the Storm has a pitcher that throws the ball 96 mph.
“South Point’s always good but they lost a lot of players,” he said.” I think we’ll see the same teams at the top of the conference. We’re just glad that we’re going to be one of them.”
Melton begins his fifth year as head coach of the Mountaineers and they’ve been first, second or third every year. They went 4-1 in the shortened COVID year when they would have been one of the favorites to win the conference.
Melton will again be assisted by John Gamble and Wil Sellers.
“We need to get a lot of work in,” he said. “This week’s supposed to be nice and we can get outside and get a lot done. We hope the good weather continues.”
Melton said the Mountaineers will have some promotional nights this season that the fans will enjoy. They will honor the 1989 and 1993 state championship teams and have some other promotions for the fans to enjoy.
The first game’s promotional night will be Lickety Lew’s Night which will feature free giveaways. Other special nights include Hotdog Night ($1 hot dogs) on March 14, T-shirt Night (free T-shirt giveaways) on March 21, Retro Night (80’s music) on March 31, Little League Night (teams invited and kids run bases after the game) on April 6, Earth Day Night (free giveaways from the city) on April 18, Senior Night (honoring all senior players)  on April 28, Champion Night featuring a shortened game pitting the 1989 and 1983 state championship teams against each other) on April 28 and Thirsty Night (half price drinks at the concession stand) on May 5.

See more photos in the February 22, 2023 issue of KM Herald

Kings Mountain High School honored one of its best football teams ever Thursday night with a meal and awards night at First Baptist Church.
The 2022 Mountaineers won the Big South 3A Conference and 13 games overall before falling to the state 3A champion East Lincoln Mustangs in the fourth round of the NCHSAA playoffs.
At the close of the meeting, Greg Lloyd’s family announced a new Kenny Lloyd Team Before Self award that will be given annually in memory of Greg’s father Kenny Lloyd. It was presented to Catherine Hicks, wife of former head coach Denny Hicks and one of the Mountaineers’ biggest fans since she moved to Kings Mountain in the early 1980s.
Trophy presentations started with the defense and defensive coordinator Darrel Wilson praised his group which allowed just 14 points per game to claim their fourth conference championship in 16 years.
Wilson said it was considered a rebuilding year but “we just kept pushing each other and the team played for each other.”
Wilson pointed out that the KM defense allowed just 14.6 points per game. “The team made me a better coach,” he said.
Athletic director Matt Bridges presented the best defensive back awards to Jake Lloyd and Bryson Brown.
“We had a special group, top to bottom,” Bridges said.
Brown led the team with six pass interceptions and also had 29 solo tackles. Just a junior, he was a second year starter and All-Conference.
Lloyd was a three-year starter and was All-Conference as well. He registered 69 solo tackles while playing multiple positions and did that shortly after undergoing some medical problems that had him hospitalized in serious condition during the summer.
Head coach Greg Lloyd presented the Jeff Putnam Linebacker Award to Jason Melton. Putnam was an assistant coach for the Mountaineers for several years before his death.
“I never met a more proud Mountaineer than Jeff,” noted Coach Lloyd. “We miss him.”
Melton “was an outstanding linebacker who worked very hard,” Coach Lloyd noted. He had 80 solo tackles and a season average of 6.3 tackles per game. He also recorded five quarterback sacks.
Coach Wilson presented the most improved defensive player award to Antonio Armstrong who registered 64 tackles (4.6 per game) and a very impressive 25 tackles for loss.
“We had a lot of great players on defense,” Coach Wilson noted. “Defense for us starts up front. He transferred in and had to learn the KM way. He’s one of the fastest players coming off the line.”
Wilson presented the Defensive Lineman Award to Jamel Kennedy. “He hustles 100 percent on every play,” Wilson noted. “He plays faster than he runs the forty.”
Wilson presented the Defensive Coach’s Award to versatile junior Zay Smith, who plays many positions on offense, defense and special teams.
“He plays with a lot of passion,” Wilson noted. “He is a flexible player.”
The Defensive MVP Award went to Curtis Simpson, a junior who is being courted by numerous major college teams.
“He will make a name for himself in college,” Wilson said. “He works hard. He got hurt late in the season but led the state in sacks. We’re glad he will be coming back next season.”
Assistant coach Michael Harris presented the special teams award to kicker Jaden Ellis, a third year starter who in ‘22 hit 58 of 62 PAT attempts, three of six field goals and had 23 touchbacks. Over his career he scored 156 points and hit 90 percent of his PATs. He also recorded 50 touchbacks.
Harris also noted that AJ Richardson recorded five blocked kicks and team had 12 overall.
The offensive back awards went to leading rusher Teddy Jeffries, who finished with 1144 yards rushing and 19 TDs and Caleb Holland, a versatile player that also gained close to 1,000 yards.
“We had a very talented group,” noted Coach Bell. “Jeffries can score from anywhere on the field. Holland is small but he’s tough. He ran hard and was a great leader. Give him that ball and he’s going to score.”
Coach Mark Latham presented the wide receiver award to Ja’Qualyn Sanders who caught 45 passes for 762 yards and five TDs.
“We had a great group,” he said. “Sanders plays wide receiver like a linebacker. He breaks tackles. He has an unlimited amount of potential.”
Coach Cruise presented the Fred Plonk Blocking Trophy – the oldest trophy given at KMHS dating back to the early 1950s – to Michael Lubas line comes off the field, we talk and all they wanted to do was run the ball,” noted Coach Cruise. “He’s one of the smartest guys out there and one of the finest young men.”
The most improved player on offense was lineman Alex Jackson, who also drew high compliments from Coach Cruise.
“He is a lot of fun to coach,” Cruise said. “Tenacious is a good word for all of my guys. All of them want to be in the forefront of winning football games.”
Cruise presented the offensive most valuable player award to Isaiah Eskridge, who must love pancakes because Cruise said he had “pancake after pancake” on the football field.
“Our offense wins as the offensive line goes,” Cruise said. “He always plays hard and had more pancakes than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
Coach Lloyd presented the Brent Bagwell Offensive Coaches Award to quarterback Lamont Littlejohn. Bagwell was an all-conference lineman at KMHS and NC State and served the Mountaineers for several years before his death as an assistant coach.
“He was gone too soon,” Coach Lloyd said. “He was very instrumental in the progress of our program. He is missed daily and will never be forgotten.”
Lloyd noted that Littlejohn was an All-Conference quarterback and during his time as a starter led the team to a 23-4 overall record.
“He stays calm all the time,” Lloyd said, “and he was calming influence on our team.”
As a junior and senior, Lloyd pointed out that Littlejohn led the Mountaineers on some late-game winning drives in the state playoffs, moving the team 99 yards in the final minute to defeat Franklin his junior year and completing some big passes in the final minute to set up the winning TD against West Charlotte last season.
Littlejohn finished his senior year hitting 155 of 240 passes for 2,488 yards and 21 touchdowns.
The Donnie Mace Tough Man of the Year trophy went to senior Jake Lloyd, who was in very critical condition with COVID and pneumonia during the summer of 2022. He spent 11 days in the hospital.
“Football was the furthest thing on our minds,” Coach Lloyd noted. “Through good doctors and the prayers of a lot of people he pulled through. Then he fractured his finger on the first day of seven on sevens but was able to come back and play his senior year.”
The awards presentation ended with Coach Lloyd presenting the most valuable player trophy to the very versatile senior AJ Richardson, who was not just a nightmare for opponents on defense but was an unstoppable running back on short yardage plays in the shadow of the end zone.
“We had a lot of special players,” Lloyd said, “but AJ was really special and is going to do great things in college.”
Richardson was the team’s only four-year starter. His senior year he registered 92 tackles and 32 tackles for loss. He also blocked multiple kicks. During Richardson’s time on the field, the Mountaineers went 43-3 in the Big South Conference and 43-8 overall.
Other awards:
Seniors that came up through the KM Optimist program – Caleb Holland, Jake Lloyd and Dalton Smith – received awards from Lavon Clark.
All Big South 3A awards – Bryson Brown, Michael Lubas, Lamont Littlejohn, Zay Smith, Jake Lloyd, Antonio Armstrong, Teddy Jeffries, Curtis Simpson, Isaiah Eskridge, AJ Richardson.
BSC Defensive Player of the Year, All-Conference and All-State – Curtis Simpson.
All-State and BSC Lineman of the Year – Isaiah Eskridge.
All-State and BSC Defensive Player of the Year – AJ Richardson.
Seniors – Caleb Holland, Jake Lloyd, Lamont Littlejohn, AJ Richardson, Jaden Ellis, Dariyon Black, Michael Lubas, Dalton Smith, Isaiah Eskridge.


 

Five members of the Kings Mountain track team participated in the 3A State Indoor Track and Field Meet last week.
Sophomore Max Thompson was the Mountaineers’ highest finisher. He finished ninth in the 1000 meters in 2:42.22.
Hunter Cruise finished 15th in the pole vault with a vault of 11 feet even.
Senior Nicolas Horn was 21st in the pole vault at 9’6”.
The 4x800 relay team finished 12th. Team members were Hunter Cruise, Marty Lovingood, Elliot Habel and Max Thompson.
The outdoor track and field team will begin practice on February 20.

Programs Include
Recognition of 1963
Men’s Conference Winners
and Title IX Celebration

The Gardner-Webb University Office of Alumni Relations has planned a full week for HOOPSCOMING in February. Alumni, former athletes, and friends are invited to return to campus for two special events on Feb. 11 and 18.
“We are eager to have our alumni and friends back in Paul Porter Arena for Hoopscoming 2023,” asserted Director of Alumni Relations Leah Clevenger. “For our athletes, there is nothing better than having a packed house! The school spirit and energy that our alumni and friends bring, particularly our basketball and cheer alumni, make for an exciting atmosphere for our Runnin’ Bulldogs. We want to see everyone in their red, black, and bulldog for Hoopscoming on Feb. 11 as well as Legacy & Legends on Feb. 18.”
The program on Feb. 11 begins with lunch at noon in Bost Gym. A special feature is the recognition of the men’s team of 1963 on the 60th anniversary of their conference win. During lunch, team member and GWU Trustee, Tom Watson, will speak about the excitement of that big win for Gardner-Webb. Guests will also hear from coaches, Women’s Basketball Alumna, Linda Cody Shelton ’78, as well as Cheer Alumna, Molly McKinney Huss ’12. Then, everyone will attend the men’s game vs. Campbell at 2 p.m. that includes recognition of groups at various timeouts. All men’s basketball alumni will be recognized during one timeout, and the team of ’63 will have a distinct recognition at another. The cost for lunch and the game is $20. Register here.
On Feb. 18, the program is “Legacy & Legends: Women’s Basketball Celebrates Title IX.” The event starts at 2 p.m. in Stewart Hall. Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served, and Women’s Head Coach Alex Simmons will speak along with Lauren Bevis, recently named Big South Conference women’s basketball Co-Player of the Week and the program’s all-time leader in career three-pointers made in the Division I era.
Alumni and friends will also have an opportunity to meet all the women’s basketball team members and coaching staff. A behind the scenes tour of the team and facilities will be offered. The game against UNC-Asheville starts at 4 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena. Women’s basketball alumni will have the honor of “building a human tunnel” for the starting five and special seating behind the bench as guests of Simmons. They will be recognized at halftime and receive a Title IX celebration T-shirt. The cost for the program and the game is $20. Register here.
Auxiliary aids will be made available to persons with disabilities upon request 10 working days prior to the event.  Please call 704-406-4270 or email disabilityservices@gardner-webb.edu with your request.

Kings Mountain High senior football player AJ Richardson has signed to continue his education and football career at Norfolk State University. He is pictured, front row center, with his sister Akireona Richardson, left, and his mother Takenya Young. Back row, left to right, are KMHS principal Dustin Morehead, head coach Greg Lloyd, defensive coaches Darrel Wilson and Michael Kennedy, and athletic director Matt Bridges.

 Photos by Gary Smart

Greg Lloyd, the winningest football coach in the 100-year history of Kings Mountain High football, has resigned after 16 years with the Mountaineers.
Lloyd’s accomplishments were many during that time. He compiled a record of 133-71 which included conference championships in 2008, 2017, spring 2021 and 2022. His Mountaineers played for the Western Regional championship in 2008, 2015, 2018 and 2019. Prior to coming here he coached two years at East Gaston and led the Warriors to their conference championship.
His teams here posted a 21-13 record in playoff games and his 2019 team set the all-time school record of 653 points in a season. He was Southwestern Foothills Conference Coach of the Year in 2008 and Big South Conference Coach of the Year in 2017, 2021 and 2022. He served as head coach of the West team in the 2017 NCHSAA East-West game. His 2021-22 team had the second highest GPA in the state. Over 60 of his players went on to play college football. Many of the seniors on his last team (fall of 2022) will be playing college football in the fall.
Lloyd was inducted into the Kings Mountain Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
“I’ll never forget how excited I was to be in Kings Mountain,” he said. “It was such a great opportunity and the support was great. The talent was always very good.”
One of the first things Lloyd did was to bring Kevin Cruise, Dustin Morehead and Craig Short to join his coaching staff.
“We got off to a good start,” Lloyd said. “That second year everything started coming together. We had Michael Roberts (at quarterback) and a lot of other good players and we shutout Shelby 21-0. We went to the playoffs and in the third round we beat Mooresville, who had a 200-yard per game rusher and we held him to just a few yards. That was a phenomenal season.
“We lost out to Kannapolis and Coach (Ron) Massey. Michael Roberts had hurt his ankle the week before but we still made it a close game.”
Lloyd and the Mountaineers had some good teams in the seasons that followed, but beginning in 2015 the team got on a roll that continues to this day.
“We really started to win in 2014,” he noted. “And then 2015 was a really good year. Adding Daryl Wilson and Michael Kennedy to the staff really helped us. We went to Freedom (in the playoffs) and they had B.J. Emmons who was one of the most highly recruited running backs in the nation. They were coming into the game with a 13-0 record and we beat them.
“In the 2018 playoffs undefeated Northwest Cabarrus came in and we had people like Kaylon Wade, Kobe Paysour and Ricaylen Mack and we beat them.
“Another big game I remember was in 2019 at Charlotte Catholic and it was 7-7 after regulation. We went seven overtimes and lost 56-49. We beat Shelby 42-17 that year and that was a really big win for us.
“In 2020 we probably had our most talented players,” he noted. “Kobe Paysour left early to go to Chapel Hill but we swept the county. We broke a long losing streak against Shelby. We hadn’t beaten them since ’86.
“In the ’21 playoffs we drove 98 yards at the end of the game to beat a good Franklin team. Last season we swept the county and beat South Point but we lost in the playoffs to East Lincoln.
“During my time here we had good players and good fans,” he noted. “We always had big crowds. I appreciate the band and cheerleaders and the support of the parents and fans. Everybody did their part.
“I appreciate our principals. Ronny Funderburke gave me the opportunity to come to Kings Mountain. I appreciated Julie Rikard and Dr. (Dustin) Morehead.
“Our athletic directors during my time were really good – Suzanne Grayson, Mark Latham, Dustin Morehead and Matt Bridges. All of them supported me. It’s just been exciting coaching in Kings Mountain. I know I’m going to miss it a lot. I may coach again someday but right now I just need to take the fall off so I can watch Maggie play (at Western) and then Jake wherever he goes.
“I’m very thankful for my time as the football coach at Kings Mountain. It was really special. I think I will get back into coaching someday. I’ve been coaching for 28 falls. You’ll definitely see me coaching again. I hope I’ve got some good years left.
“Football shaped me,” he added. “I hope the players have learned some life lessons from us. I’m grateful for the support of the fans and for all the friends we’ve made in Kings Mountain. Kings Mountain is a great community.
“I can still see (the late) Major Loftin at every practice, and I’ll never forget (the late KMHS equipment manager) Donnie Mace. They were special Mountaineers.
“I had two coaches that are no longer with us – Brent Bagwell and Jeff Putnam. They were excellent men and excellent coaches. And, I want to thank superintendents Bruce Boyles and Stephen Fisher who were great supporters of our program and really good to me. It was an honor to know them and all the other good people in Kings Mountain. I have memories that will last me forever.”
Although he won’t be on the sidelines, Coach Lloyd said he won’t be a stranger.
“I will still be around and will be supporting the program from now on,” he said. “We have a lot of talented players coming back and I expect them to do very well this year. It will be a fun year for the Mountaineers.
“I want to thank Beth. She’s the perfect coach’s wife. She let me live out my dream. And, I want to thank Maggie and Jake. I watched them in sports from the time they were little until they grew up. I’m just thankful for everybody that supported me. I had tons of help. It’s been a great 16 years.”
Mountaineer athletic director Matt Bridges, who was also one of Lloyd’s assistant coaches, said the school planned to begin accepting applications for the head football job this week.
“I would like to thank and congratulate Coach Greg Lloyd for his 16 years of service to our football program, school and community,” Bridges said. “Coach Lloyd and the Lloyd family have dedicated their lives to building a successful program on and off the field, and they will be greatly missed. Coach Lloyd is a great coach and an even better person. The life lessons he taught his student-athletes and coaches will continue to leave a lasting impact for years to come. I wish the best for Coach Lloyd as he steps into the next chapter of his life.”

See more photos on Page 1B of the February 1, 2023 issue of KM Herald