(January 21, 2021 Issue)

 Kings Mountain’s boys came on strong in the fourth quarter to edge a winless Gastonia Ashbrook five 52-43 Friday night at Parker Gym and remain in a tie for first place in the Big South 3A and the young Lady Mountaineers gave pre-season conference favorite Ashbrook a tough battle before falling 69-62.
Playing their third game of the week probably played a part in the Mountaineers’ slow beginning, but their pressing defense in the fourth quarter that forced numerous Ashbrook turnovers played a much bigger part in the final outcome.
Neither team could find the bucket early as Ashbrook held leads of 7-5 after the first quarter and 19-15 at the half.
Behind the scoring of Marcus Odums, who would finish with his best game with 20 points, KM managed to overtake take the Green Wave 33-32 after three periods.
The Mountaineers opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to go up 40-32 and they never trailed again. Their biggest leads (50-39) came with 1:56 on an old-fashioned three point play by Orlando Odums, and (52-41) with 22 seconds left on a free throw by Zeke Cannedy.
Cannedy joined Odums in double figures with 10 points. The Ashbrook defense held KM’s and the Big South’s leading scorer, Isaiah Tate, to eight points.
In addition to his best scoring effort of the year, Odums also led the Mountaineers in rebounds with 10.
Kings Mountain’s girls got another outstanding scoring effort from their 1-2 punch of Saniya Wilson and Khalia King, who combined for 55 of their 62 points.
Wilson led the way with 32 and also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals while being knocked to the floor numerous times during the highly-contested first place battle.
King supplied 23 points and two assists.
Junior Aaliyah Byers, playing her first game after finishing her junior volleyball season three nights earlier, added four points and four boards. Kennedy Barnes had three points and four rebounds and Aystyn Dixon, also an addition from the volleyball squad, pulled down four rebounds.
Kennette Bess led the Lady Green Wave with 32 points and Aaliyah El scored 15.
Ashbrook led most of the way but KM was always within striking distance. The Ashbrook ladies led 19-15 after one quarter, 35-31 at the half and 51-48 going into the fourth period.
King’s three-pointer off an assist from Wilson gave KM the lead at 59-58 with 3:31 left, but Ashbrook responded from the foul line to regain the lead at 60-59 and they never trailed again.
Kings Mountain will host neighboring Burns in non-conference action Thursday before resuming BSC play Friday at Forestview. A big battle looms Tues., Jan. 26 when the undefeated Crest Chargers come to town.
GIRLS GAME
KM (62) – Wilson 32, King 23, Byers 4, Barnes 3.
AB (69) – Bess 32, El 15, Mason 6, Cole 6, Portee 5, Smith 3, Jones 2.
AB (69) – Bess 32, El 15, Mason 6, Cole 6, Portee 5, Smith 3, Jones 2.
BOYS GAME
KM (52) – M. Odums 20, Tate 8, Toms 7, Cannedy 10, O. Odums 7.

 

(January 21, 2021 Issue)

Kings Mountain High’s volleyball team was rewarded big time for its undefeated season with all six starters being named All-Big South Conference and two players as well as Coach Heather Pasour sweeping the top individual awards.
Pasour was selected Coach of the Year. The conference’s top individual player awards went to junior Aaliyah Byers, who was named Offensive Player of the Year, and senior Kyann Crocker who was selected Defensive Player of the Year.
 Joining Byers and Crocker on the All-Conference team were Paige Bagwell, Emma Goff, Lily Gold and freshman Meile Songaila. Goff and Crocker are the only seniors in that group.
Byers was by far the conference leader in kills with 210. Songaila added 105.
Crocker was second in the league in digs with 138. Bagwell was third in assists with 244.
Others making All-Big South were Addie Beaver, Emma Langley, Catherine Pate, Kamryn Spangler and Sara Rose Warlick of second place Crest; Camryn Faggart, Madeline Hope and Brenna Hux of Stuart Cramer, and Lilly Harmon, Emma Thornburg and Anna Townsend of Forestview.
Kings Mountain went 12-0 in the Big South, winning all of their matches 3-0. Their only losses were to 4A power Audrey Kell in a non-conference game and a powerful Marvin Ridge team in the NCHSAA playoffs. 

(January 21, 2021 Issue)

When the Kings Mountain and Hunter Huss men meet on the basketball floor you can always count on a fast, furious and down-to-the wire battle.
On Wednesday night at Parker Gym, it was the same in the girls game as the Lady Mountaineers had a tough fight as well before pulling away for a 63-49 victory before the Mountaineers survived a late Huss rally to win 55-54.
The visiting Lady Huskies started both halves on a tear, but couldn’t contend with the KM ladies in the second and fourth quarters.
Huss, behind the hot hand of Jamya Daniel who led all scorers with 29 points, led 18-13 at the first quarter break but was outscored by the KM five 23-4 in the second period and the Lady Mountaineers went into halftime up 36-22.
Saniya Wilson, who would finish with 28 points, six boards, four assists and three steals, led the comeback with plenty of help from Khalia King and all-around good play from all other KM ladies. King finished with 17 points and three rebounds.
KM also got good efforts inside from Tyasya Bell with six points and six boards, and Kennedy Barnes with five points and four boards. Austyn Dixon had two points and five boards, Jacie Jarvis scored two and Alayna Patrick provided three steals.
KM overtook the Huss ladies 19-18 early in the second quarter on King’s two free throws and didn’t trail again. But Huss got hot again in the third period and narrowed the gap to 47-42 heading into the final eight minutes.
The Lady Huskies pulled to within 47-44 early in the fourth quarter and was still within striking distance at 51-48 with just under four minutes remaining.
After that, neither team could find the bucket until the 2:42 mark when King stole the ball and put the Lady Mountaineers up 53-48. KM ended the game on a 10-1 run to nail down their second straight win to open the season.
In the nightcap, the Mountaineers opened with a 12-0 run as the Huskies misfired every trip down court and KM swept the boards.
But, you just don’t hold the Huskies down forever. With 1:01 left on the first quarter clock, JJ Moore hit a free throw for the first Huss point and they quickly got field goals from Kendall Corry and Noah Caulder to end the first quarter down 12-5.
The Mountaineers were able to rebound and go up 20-7 and were up 28-17 following a pair of free throws by Isaiah Tate with 4:30 on the clock. Then, Huss got busy and got a 3-point field goal from Glue Phillips at the buzzer to go into the break down just 33-30.
The Huskies got a three from Corry just 45 seconds into the third quarter to tie the game at 33-all. KM was able to get the lead back to 10 (45-35) at the 2:30 mark but Huss rallied again to end the third period down 47-41 after Phillips’ goal with 21 seconds on the clock.
Early in the fourth quarter a KM player was hit with a technical foul, and Moore went to the line and hit three free throws to pull Huss within 49-47.
KM’s Zeke Cannedy hit a pair of freebies 18 seconds later to put KM up 51-47.
After a timeout, Phillips canned a jumper to bring Huss back to within two, 51-49, at the four-minute mark. KM was still up by two (53-51) when time was called with 2:48 remaining.
With the Mountaineers up 55-52 with 2:25 remaining, they double-dribbled and then lost the ball out of bounds on two straight possessions and the clock was down to 1:34.
The visitors seemed to be in the driver’s seat when Smith’s basket cut the margin to 55-54 and KM was whistled for a five-second violation at the 1:11 mark.
With 16.6 seconds left, Huss got the ball after a KM walking violation and was holding the ball for a final shot, which missed. KM rebounded and got the ball out to Tate who was streaking toward the KM goal as the game ended.
The ending was great for the Mountaineers, but not for the Huskies’ Phillips as he crashed into the metal goal support and suffered what appeared to be a severe wrist injury. He was transported by ambulance to the hospital.
Tate had his third super season-opening game, leading the Mountaineers with 26 points on 8-for-14 shooting and 10-of-11 from the foul line. Toms added 16 points, including a pair of threes. Fourteen other KM 3-point attempts missed.
Huss was led by Moore with 24 points and they hit 5 of 22 threes but only 7 of 16 free throws.
For KM, Orlando Odums pulled down 12 rebounds, Marcus Odoms eight and freshman Curtis Simpson six.


GIRLS GAME
KM (63) – Wilson 28, King 17, Bell 6, Barnes 5, Jarvis 2, Dixon 2.
HH (49) – Daniels 29, Love 7, Harris 4, Adams 4, Swann 3, Armstrong 2.
BOYS GAME
KM (55) – Smith 4, Cannedy 4, M. Odums 5, Tate 26, Toms 16.
HH (54) – Moore 24, Adams 4, Corry 10, Scott 2, Caulder 4, Love 4, Phillips 6.

 

(January 21, 2021 Issue)

Kings Mountain High’s women’s volleyball team ran into a powerful Marvin Ridge team in the opening round of the state 3A playoffs last Tuesday at the KMHS gym and ended their season with a 3-0 defeat.
The Lady Mountaineers had swept all of their Big South Conference opponents 3-0 during the regular season but had an uphill battle from the get-go against Marvin Ridge.
The visitors jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first set and ended up winning 25-23, 25-20 and 25-21.
Kings Mountain never got the lead in the first set, but rebounded from the early deficit to keep it close throughout.  The Lady Mountaineers battled back to tie it on several occasions, the last time at 16-all following a powerful kill by junior standout Aaliyah Byers.
Marvin Ridge jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second game and was up by 16-5 before KM rallied to make a game of it. KM trimmed the margin to 23-20 late before the visitors closed it out.
The Lady Mountaineers got off to a quick 2-0 start in game three. The lead changed hands several times and was tied at 12 all before the visitors built a 17-12 advantage. The closest KM could get after that was 18-16.
The Lady Mountaineers got a great effort from all of their players. Byers led the way with 17 kills, 17 digs and 11 serve receptions. Freshman Meile Songaila added 10 kills, 13 digs and 14 serve receptions. Kyann Crocker had 18 digs and 37 serve receptions, Paige Bagwell 17 assists and Ashlyn Wood 10 assists.
Despite the loss, the Lady Mountaineers finished with an overall 12-2 record which included a perfect 12-0 record in the Big South.  They will return most of their players next season.

(January 13, 2021 Issue)

Kings Mountain’s boys defeated Forestview and Crest and the girls finished second to Forestview in their opening swim meet last week at Neisler Natatorium. The Crest girls were third.
The Lady Mountaineers were led by Madison Ayscue, who won both the 50 and 500 free.
Trinity Price won the 200 free and was second in the 100 backstroke.
Freshman Callie Simpson finished second in the 100 fly and 100 breaststroke.
All other Lady Mountaineers set new personal records, including Mallory Camp in the 50 free and 100 free.
Vanyah Roberts finished fourth in the 200 free and set her new personal record, and Hallie Towery competed in the 100 breaststroke and 50 free where she set a new personal record.
The boys were led by Alex Barr who won both of his events, the 50 free and 100 backstroke.
Dalton Messenger won both of his events, the 200 free and 100 breaststroke.
Carson Buchanan was second in the 500 free and 100 backstroke.
Alex Hayes finished second in the 100 free and freshman Turner Brown was third in the 500 free.
Nash Bachman set a new personal record in the 200 free and 100 backstroke.
Andrew Dangelo set a new personal record in the 100 free.
The KM guys team – Alex Barr, Turner Brown, Carson Buchanan and Dalton Messenger -  won the 400 free relay.

(January 13, 2021 Issue)

Kings Mountain High’s women’s volleyball team finished off the Big South 3A Conference championship run last week with victories over Forestview and Crest, and were scheduled to open the state 3A championship playoffs last night at home against Marvin Ridge.
The KM ladies not only went undefeated through the conference season, but won all of their matches in straight sets. Their only loss this was to 4A power Ardrey Kell in a non-conference game.
But, those accomplishments didn’t help their seeding for the state playoffs as they went into the post-season as the sixth seed among 16 Western 3A qualifiers. Marvin Ridge is seeded 11th. A KM victory would move the Lady Mountaineers into a Thursday meeting against the winner of #3 North Iredell and #14 Weddington.
Crest, which finished second in the BSC to the Lady Mountaineers, drew the 10th seed and was to face #7 TC Roberson last night.
The Lady Mountaineers closed out the regular season with a 25-14, 25-11, 25-14 win over Forestview on Tuesday and a 25-19, 25-12, 25-17 sweep of the defending BSC champion Crest ladies on the road Friday.
 In the win over Forestview, freshman Meile Songaila continued to make her mark on KMHS sports with nine kills, 16 service points, two blocks and eight serve receptions.
Junior Aaliyah Byers, who leads the Big South in kills with 193, continued her outstanding play with 15 kills, nine service points and two blocks.
Emma Goff supplied 11 service points, three kills and three digs.
Kyann Crocker had seven service points, 11 digs and 14 serve receptions and Paige Bagwell provided 19 assists.
At Crest, Byers continued her excellent play which should lead to a host of post-season honors. She had an incredible 25 kills to go with 12 digs, 10 serve receptions, two blocks and seven service points.
Songaila contributed 10 kills, 15 digs, 11 serve receptions and 13 service points.
Goff had eight kills and nine service points.
Bagwell had an excellent game with 44 assists, eight digs and four blocks.
Crocker contributed two assists, 12 digs, 17 serve receptions and six service points.
Coach Heather Paysour said she was extremely pleased with her team’s effort at Crest.
“That’s the best I’ve seen us play,” she said. “I would say it’s been a while since we went an entire conference season without having a match go more than three sets. This is my 18th year in coaching and I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. We’re really excited.”
Kings Mountain’s JVs also ran the table in the BSC. In their final two matches they defeated Forestview 25-18, 25-14 and Crest 25-9, 25-16.
Against Forestview, Mary Grace Hogue had five kills and Mary Quay Moss three. Jessie Ozmore dished out 11 assists and Alayna Patrick did a great job serving and on defense.
At Crest, Moss had six kills and two blocks and Ozmore had 18 service points and eight assists.

(December 30, 2020 Issue)

Kings Mountain High’s men’s basketball team is used to fighting for conference championships and going deep in the state playoffs but slipped to a 12-15 record last year and fourth place in the Big South Conference.
With some young players and a few transfers things just didn’t jell right, but veteran coach Grayson Pierce feels he has the athletes with the talent and desire to turn things around in 2021.
Kings Mountain opens its regular season Tues., Jan. 5 at Stuart Cramer. The Mountaineers go to North Gaston on January 8 and play their first home game against always-powerful Hunter Huss on January 12.
Pierce predicts that Hunter Huss and Crest will again be the powerful foes they always are, but he feels like the Mountaineers have the kind of talent that could put them in a good position to greatly improve their standing in the Big South.
The veteran mentor says he will likely have a nine-man rotation with everyone getting a lot of playing time.
“We are bigger, stronger, faster and more experienced than we were last year,” he says of a current squad that should be strong on offense and defense. “We have a chance to be very good.”
Pierce has a veteran team that he thinks can make a run in the BSC and state playoffs.
“We haven’t been practicing in about two weeks,” he noted. “We had some Covid contact tracing and they shut us down. We had four total practices before stopping.
“But we have faith that those guys can catch on quickly and we’ll have a good year. We have faith that we can make a run. Last year we relied heavily on sophomores and juniors to get the job done, plus we had two transfers come in. That’s tough when you don’t have leaders.
“But our chemistry looks good this year. The players are in a different mindset and I think we will make a run in the conference and playoffs.”
Heading the list of returning starters is Isaiah Tate, who is one of the best shooting guards around. But, he’s not the only one that can put points on the board.
“Zeke Cannedy also returns and he scores in bunches,” Pierce noted. He’s a very good shooter.”
Another returner is 6-4 Orlando Odums. “He can hold down the paint and rebound for us,” Pierce said.
Matt Toms, who played a lot last year, will probably crack the starting five. “When he’s on he can shoot with the best of them,” Pierce said. “And he’s a good defensive player.”
Weston Hughes is another returner that could crack the starting five. Pierce said. “He can get down the court very well and get into the paint.”
Senior Titus Phillips, who is also a good football  player, will be joining the team soon after having surgery.
“We hope to get him back in about a week,” Pierce said. “He will help us on the boards. He’s a tremendous athlete.”
Some younger players should also make their mark on KM basketball.
Maddox James, who is 6-4, is a good rebounder and is very strong, Pierce said. “He can do a little bit of everything.”
Pierce said Curtis Simpson, a 6-5 freshman, will be a welcomed addition to the varsity. “He has a chance to be as good as anybody we’ve had here,” Pierce said. “He’s a shot blocker and gets rebounds. He could be 6-8 before he’s finished.”
Although KM should be the team to challenge Huss and Crest at the top of the standings, Pierce says the Mountaineers have to play at their highest level every night.
“The thing about this conference is that if you have a bad night, anyone can beat you,” he noted.
Pierce will again be assisted by Randy Drennan, Matt Bradley and Matt Carpenter. New to the staff is former KM player DJ Byrd, who is working with the post players.
“DJ will really help us,” said Pierce. “He was as good a rebounder as we’ve had and he will get them where they need to be.”

(December 30, 2020 Issue)

Kings Mountain High’s men’s basketball team is used to fighting for conference championships and going deep in the state playoffs but slipped to a 12-15 record last year and fourth place in the Big South Conference.
With some young players and a few transfers things just didn’t jell right, but veteran coach Grayson Pierce feels he has the athletes with the talent and desire to turn things around in 2021.
Kings Mountain opens its regular season Tues., Jan. 5 at Stuart Cramer. The Mountaineers go to North Gaston on January 8 and play their first home game against always-powerful Hunter Huss on January 12.
Pierce predicts that Hunter Huss and Crest will again be the powerful foes they always are, but he feels like the Mountaineers have the kind of talent that could put them in a good position to greatly improve their standing in the Big South.
The veteran mentor says he will likely have a nine-man rotation with everyone getting a lot of playing time.
“We are bigger, stronger, faster and more experienced than we were last year,” he says of a current squad that should be strong on offense and defense. “We have a chance to be very good.”
Pierce has a veteran team that he thinks can make a run in the BSC and state playoffs.
“We haven’t been practicing in about two weeks,” he noted. “We had some Covid contact tracing and they shut us down. We had four total practices before stopping.
“But we have faith that those guys can catch on quickly and we’ll have a good year. We have faith that we can make a run. Last year we relied heavily on sophomores and juniors to get the job done, plus we had two transfers come in. That’s tough when you don’t have leaders.
“But our chemistry looks good this year. The players are in a different mindset and I think we will make a run in the conference and playoffs.”
Heading the list of returning starters is Isaiah Tate, who is one of the best shooting guards around. But, he’s not the only one that can put points on the board.
“Zeke Cannedy also returns and he scores in bunches,” Pierce noted. He’s a very good shooter.”
Another returner is 6-4 Orlando Odums. “He can hold down the paint and rebound for us,” Pierce said.
Matt Toms, who played a lot last year, will probably crack the starting five. “When he’s on he can shoot with the best of them,” Pierce said. “And he’s a good defensive player.”
Weston Hughes is another returner that could crack the starting five. Pierce said. “He can get down the court very well and get into the paint.”
Senior Titus Phillips, who is also a good football player, will be joining the team soon after having surgery.
“We hope to get him back in about a week,” Pierce said. “He will help us on the boards. He’s a tremendous athlete.”
Some younger players should also make their mark on KM basketball.
Maddox James, who is 6-4, is a good rebounder and is very strong, Pierce said. “He can do a little bit of everything.”
Pierce said Curtis Simpson, a 6-5 freshman, will be a welcomed addition to the varsity. “He has a chance to be as good as anybody we’ve had here,” Pierce said. “He’s a shot blocker and gets rebounds. He could be 6-8 before he’s finished.”
Although KM should be the team to challenge Huss and Crest at the top of the standings, Pierce says the Mountaineers have to play at their highest level every night.
“The thing about this conference is that if you have a bad night, anyone can beat you,” he noted.
Pierce will again be assisted by Randy Drennan, Matt Bradley and Matt Carpenter. New to the staff is former KM player DJ Byrd, who is working with the post players.
“DJ will really help us,” said Pierce. “He was as good a rebounder as we’ve had and he will get them where they need to be.”

No Big South teams have been able to take Kings Mountain’s volleyball team past the required three sets this season, but the Lady Mountaineers’ chief rival and defending conference champion Crest came close in Wednesday’s match at Donald L. Parker Gymnasium that closed out the first round of conference play.
The Lady Mountaineers prevailed 28-26, 25-10, 28-26, leaving them as the only undefeated team in the Big South Conference and the favorite to end the season as conference champions.
The Lady Mountaineers got a good all-around game from all of their players.
Senior star Aaliyah Byers, the leading candidate for Big South Player of the Year, had her typical great game with 16 kills, 15 service points, 10 serve receptions and 11 digs.
Freshman Meile Songaila continued her outstanding play with 15 kills, 12 service points, 19 serve receptions and 12 digs.
Paige Bagwell did her usual good job of setting up her teammates and recorded 16 assists and six digs.
Ashlyn Wood provided 18 assists and 11 digs.
Emma Goff showed great leadership on the court to go with her three kills and seven assists.
Kyann Crocker provided  five service points, 13 digs and 13 serve receptions.
Kings Mountain’s JVs continued their unbeaten ways as well with a 25-12, 25-17 victory over a good Charger squad.
Austyn Dixon’s offense was one of the key factors in the KM win.
Jessie Ozmore had eight service points and did a good job running the offense, and Addi Peeler had 10 service points.
The Lady Mountaineers began second round BSC play Friday with a 25-13, 25-11, 25-12 victory over Stuart Cramer in Belmont.
Byers had 17 kills, 13 service aces and 11 digs. Songaila had 16 aces and five kills, Gold and Goff four kills each, Crocker seven digs, and Bagwell and Wood 13 and 10 aces, respectively.
Kings Mountain will host North Gaston Thursday and travel to Hunter Huss Friday. The Lady Mountaineers will host Ashbrook Monday, Dec. 21 for their final pre-Christmas game.
Their final two regular season games will be against BSC teams Forestview at KM on January 5 and Crest away on January 7. NCHSAA playoffs begin on January 12. 

(December 16, 2020 Issue)

Kings Mountain High’s young men’s and women’s cross country teams fared very well in last week’s Big South Conference championship meet at Gastonia Ashbrook.
The heavily-favored Forestview women’s team got a big scare from the Lady Mountaineers as the Lady Jaguars won by just one point, 34-35.
And, the perennial champion Forestview men surprisingly came in second to the Stuart Cramer Purple Storm. It was Cramer’s first cross country championship in its history. Kings Mountain came in third.
Kings Mountain placed five women and four men on the All-Big South Conference team.
KM women gaining the honor were Thalia Kushman, Divinity Ervin, Nicole Poston, Ashley Gural and Parker Wilson.
KM men selected were Parker Key, Marty Lovingood, Hunter Cruise and Kohen Johnson.
Kushman, a freshman, put up an amazing 2.5 mile fight going stride for stride with Forestview senior Emma Hughlett. The Forestview runner finally put some distance on Kushman to pull off the victory. 
Kushman’s time was 23:05.
Ervin finished fifth, Wilson seventh, Gural 10th and Poston 11th.
Rounding out the KM lineup were Emma Herndon and Emily Phelps, who finished 21st and 22nd respectively.
Parker Key led the Kings Mountain men with a seventh place finish at 18:42. Stuart Cramer’s Nick Willer finished first in 16:16.94.
KM’s Hunter Cruise came in 11th, Marty Lovingood 13th and Kohen Johnson 14th.
Other KM finishers were Nicholas Horn 21st, Nathan Inthavong 23rd and Wyatt Wilson 26th.
Both Kings Mountain teams qualified for the Western Regional meet on January 16. The site has yet to be determined.
Kings Mountain will host Burns, Crest and Shelby in its final home meet on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 3:45. The Mountaineers will then break for the holidays and will resume action against the same four teams in the annual Cleveland County championship meet at Shelby High at 3:45 on Wed., Jan. 6. If that meet should be cancelled because of bad weather, today’s meet at KMHS will decide the Cleveland County champions.

(December 2, 2020 Issue)

Perfect weather led to another perfect run for the Kings Mountain High School cross country teams in a sweep of Crest and Hunter Huss last week.
Both teams had five of the top seven runners.
The men were led by Parker Key in 17:52.20, followed closely by Hunter Cruise in 18:50.05. It was their second straight 1-2 finish of the season.
Kohen Johnson and Nicholas Horn finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in 19:42.50 and 20:30.12. Wyatt Wilson came in seventh in 21:09.51 and Elliott Habel was ninth in 21:19.03. Nathan Inthavong of the Mountaineers rounded out the top 10 in 21:25.33.
Marty Lovingood finished 12th in 21:56.70 and Marcus Williams 13th in 24:30.16.
Ben Kimmell of Huss, who ran third, and Rex Hoard and Colt Goodrum of Crest, who finished sixth and eighth respectively, were the only other top ten finishers.
Kings Mountain’s women claimed the top three spots, led by Thalia Kushman in 21:47.87. Like Key, it was her second straight #1 finish of the young season.
Lady Mountaineers Divinity Ervin and Ashley Gural were second and third, respectively, in 22:48.92 and 24:25.18.
Jillian Hux and Emma Harrill, both of Crest, crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth, respectively. The final five top ten finishes belonged to the Lady Mountaineers with Nicole Poston sixth, Parker Wilson seventh, Emily Phelps eighth, Emma Herndon ninth and Hannah Crawford 10th.
Both KM teams will face their toughest test of the season December 1 when they travel to Forestview. The Forestview men are the defending Big South 3A Conference champions. They will follow that up in the conference championship meet on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Gastonia Ashbrook.
Kings Mountain will not have another home run until Wednesday, Dec. 16 when they host county rivals Burns, Crest and Shelby at 3:45 p.m.

(December 2, 2020 Issue)

Kings Mountain High’s women’s volleyball team entered the Thanksgiving break last week with a pair of victories that ran their Big South Conference record to 4-0.
The Lady Mountaineers and Crest are tied for first place at the break. Those two teams will meet on December 8 at KMHS.
Before then, though, the Lady Mountaineers will travel to Forestview for a BSC game on December 3 and Ardrey Kell for a non-conference contest on December 4.
The Lady Mountaineers haven’t lost a game yet, sweeping all of their opponents 3-0. Against Ashbrook they rolled to a 25-8 win in the first set before Ashbrook made it interestingw and fell by 25-15 and 25-22 in the final two.
Aaliyah Byers had another spectacular outing with 19 kills, five service points and eight digs.
Lily Gold provided seven kills and five service points.
Paige Bagwell dished out 19 assists and had eight service points.
Ashlyn Wood added 13 assists and 11 service points.
Kyann Crocker had nine digs, 16 serve receptions and nine service points.
 The Lady Mountaineers rolled over Hunter Huss Monday at Parker Gym 25-11, 25-5, 25-7.
Byers had her usual strong outing with eight kills and 16 service points.
Wood provided 17 assists and five service points.
Emma Goff had four kills and 16 service points.
Bagwell contributed nine assists and 13 service points.
Freshman Meile Songaila was again strong on the nets with seven kills.

The 1973 Kings Mountain Babe Ruth all-star team won the North Carolina state championship over Greenville at St. Stephens High School in Hickory and competed in the Southeast Regionals in Clearwater, Florida. Front row, left to right, are Steve Southwell, Kenny Baliles, Frank Hovis, Mark Thornburg and Jeff Reynolds. Second row Mike Sisk, Monte Falls, Jimmy Parker, Gary Proctor and Chris Johnson. Back row coach Tommy Pruett, Kevin Ford, Joel Burgess, Andy Bridges, Jeff Carroll and coach Tony Leigh.
 

(Third in a series on some of the best athletes and teams in Kings Mountain sports history). 

When Kings Mountain schools integrated – partly in the 1965-66 school year and fully in 1966-67 – the Mountaineers hadn’t won a handful of basketball championships dating back to their beginning in the early 1900s.
But the young people of that day – now ‘old-timers’ - will never forget the 1966-67 and 1967-68 teams that featured some of the best players to ever come through Kings Mountain.
The best then, and probably now as most old-timers will tell you, were young men like George Adams and Otis Cole who excelled not just on the high school level but in college. And, it Adams’ case, the pros.
Total desegregation of schools began in the fall of 1966. But the year before, local Black students were given the option to stay at Compact for one more year or come on to KMHS.
A lot did come on to KMHS, among them Ken Mitchem who was a Mountaineer basketball star and went on to play four years at Pan American University in Texas before becoming a slow-pitch softball superstar with the Pharr Yarns Reds and helping them win a number of national championships.
After full integration, the Mountaineers under veteran coach Don Parker in 1966-67 and Bob Hussey the next three seasons, had their best four-year run in school history. They won back-to-back titles the first two years. In Parker’s last year they went 20-0 in the regular season before being upset by Marion (now McDowell County) in the bi-conference tournament in Hickory.
The 25-0 run came in Hussey’s first year and Adams’ senior year of 1967-68 when they fell to Kannapolis in the WNCHSAA championship game.
With Adams graduated, the Mountaineers had a much smaller lineup but a very good one in 1968-69, led by Cole and guard Charlie Barnes, the latter a very good guard for the Appalachian State Mountaineers, but they finished second in the SWC to a very good Cherryville team. Most of those players were seniors the following year when the Mountaineers won the SWC and built a 23-0 record before falling to Avery County and its 7-4 giant Tommy Burleson in the association playoffs.
Adams enjoyed his days at Compact and Kings Mountain. He literally lived just a stone’s throw from Compact High School and stayed there the first year of integration. He played as a freshman and sophomore at Compact under the late Coach John Blalock, who produced numerous championship teams at Compact in the 1960s and at KMHS in the 1980s.
While Adams’ success at KMHS was what caught the eye of college recruiters, he had a good reason for staying at Compact. His mother had died when he was four years old and his father later moved up north and Adams was living with his elderly grandmother.
“I talked to people like Ken Mitchem and he was telling me what an opportunity I missed out on by not going to Kings Mountain,” Adams recalled recently. “But in those days I had been accustomed to Compact for so long I was hesitant about stepping out. The next year it would be mandatory.
“I lived directly across the road from the little church near the school. I could just walk a few steps and be there. That affected my decision. I also wanted to play at Compact because my older sister and my four brothers had played there.
“My grandmother (Mary Thompson) raised me. My father moved to New York sometime after my mother died. He always remained in contact with me and supplied my needs. He was always in my life and very understanding, but I was the youngest one in the family and I didn’t want to leave her.”
Adams played JV basketball as a freshman at Compact, but started as a sophomore on a very good and exciting Compact team. He went on to become one of the top players in the state his junior and senior years at Kings Mountain.
“My JV year at Compact we had an amazing varsity team with guys like Jimmy Curry, Miles Boyd, Billy McCathen, James Hood and my brother Thomas Adams,” he noted. “They won a championship. I remember when we had a pep rally and they came out of the dressing room wearing blue Compact Cobras jackets. That inspired me to try to be like them.”
If not for integration, Adams most likely would have remained at Compact but he also enjoyed his two years at KMHS. He became the Mountaineers’ first-ever All-American basketball player his senior year and was the school’s second-ever All-American, joining quarterback George Harris from the championship 1955 football team.
In Adams’ two years at KMHS the team posted an overall record of 45-2. In addition to  All-American,  he was also All-State and played in the East-West All-Star game in Greensboro.
He received college offers from all over the United States, including national champion Houston. He chose Gardner-Webb where he was a three-time All-American and held the school records for scoring and rebounding for many years. For Adams, that was his only choice because his family always came first and he would be close enough to get home when needed.
His freshman year at GWU, he averaged 18 points per game on a team that included All-Americans Artis Gilmore and Ernie Fleming. They were sophomores. GW was beginning a senior college program the next season and they decided to complete their career at Jacksonville University. Jacksonville offered Adams, also, but he wanted to stay at GWU. He left there after his senior year with 15 school records including most points (2,404) and most rebounds (1,113). The Bulldogs played in the National JUCO tournament his freshman year and the national tournament his sophomore, junior and senior years.
Although he never sought special attention, Adams said “I really began getting exposure at Gardner-Webb. It was a great opportunity. I hadn’t had a chance to gain exposure before that and a new page opened up in my life. I go back to Gardner-Webb a lot. I still see and talk to a lot of my teammates. One of my teammates, Billy Ellis, is now the mayor of Boiling Springs.”
Throughout his career at KMHS and GWU, Adams was the leading scorer and rebounder, but he never wanted attention. “I have always been the kind of person that ‘we won’ and ‘the team won.’ It never really was about me and how many rebounds and points I had. I try to apply basketball to my life – work hard and achieve.”
 Adams went on to play four years in the American Basketball Association. He was the first inductee in the GWU Sports Hall of Fame and joined Cleveland Browns football star Kevin Mack, the late Western Carolina League president and KM mayor John Moss, and the late Washington Senators baseball great Jake Early in the first induction class of the Kings Mountain Sports Hall of Fame.
“My father (Coleman Adams) only saw me play one time,” Adams recalled. “That was when I was with the Virginia Squires and we played in the Nassau Coliseum in New Jersey. He was at the game and it was one of the proudest moments of my life.”
Adams has always been grateful for the opportunities he had on all levels of basketball – he even served as an assistant coach at Hunter Huss High School for several years. But, he always wished that other great players from Compact had had the same opportunities.
“Believe me,” he said in a 1988 interview in The Herald, “there were a lot of outstanding players at Compact who never got a chance to prove themselves because of the timing. I was lucky.”
Adams averaged over 23 points and 20 rebounds per game during his two-year career at KMHS, and it could have been much more had he been a selfish player or if the Mountaineers hadn’t been as good as they were. In many games, the Mountaineers would build a big halftime lead and reserves would play most of the second half. In one memorable game at Lincolnton, the Mountaineers built a 42-0 lead and in one game at Shelby he pulled down a school record 29 rebounds.
The only time he was held under double figures was in a non-conference game when York, SC went into a deep freeze and Coach Parker ordered his Mountaineers not to try to steal the ball because York’s game plan was to try to get them in foul trouble. The halftime score was 4-2. KM ended up winning 22-13 and Adams scored nine points.
At GWU, Adams once scored 57 points in a single game and had a 26-rebound game. He averaged hitting 64.2 percent of his shots over a four-year period. Although he’s proud of his accomplishments there, he said the greatest thing was playing for a man like Eddie Holbrook.
Adams was drafted in the second round by the world champion Milwaukee Bucks (the 43rd draft choice overall) and played played four seasons with San Diego under NBA legends K.C. Jones (three years) and Wilt Chamberlain (one year). Just like the timing for integration had been off when he was in high school, his time in the pros was off because the multi-million dollar salaries players draw now were not the case then.
Now retired and living in Gastonia, he returns home from time to time to catch a game at Donald L. Parker Gymnasium and cheer on the Mountaineers and perhaps even recall some of those great moments from the sixties.
“I am thankful for all of the wonderful memories from Compact, Kings Mountain and Gardner-Webb,” he said. “I will take in a game now and then. I’ll go to local high school games and Gardner-Webb when I can stay up long enough to see it from start to finish.”
He maintains contact with most of his former teammates, especially KMHS teammate Rick Finger who is a neurologist in Charlotte and helped George get the help he needed for a health problem a while back. He sees teammate Otis Cole from time to time and has a great appreciation for him.
“Otis Cole was one of the best athletes I’ve ever been around,” he said. “He was not only a great basketball player but also a great softball, baseball and football player. And, now I think he’s gotten into golf and I’d say he’s great at that too.”
Looking at his beginning at Compact, Adams recalled three people that really inspired him to be a good player.
“I was around some very good players who were older than me,” he said. “I tried to pattern myself after them. There was a player named Billy Smith who was a great player and inspired me. And there was an athlete named Alex Smith – I don’t think the two Smiths were related – but he was 6-5 and one of the players that really inspired me.
“I started out as John Blalock’s ball boy and trainer. Just sitting on the bench with him inspired me. John Blalock was a good coach and a good human being.  He knew how to place people in the places where they would be more effective. He was a father figure for the kids, including myself, who needed motivation and guidance.”
And, he said, he is grateful for the two years he spent at KMHS. In the beginning of integration, a lot of schools had problems.
“But I do not recall a single problem the two years I was at Kings Mountain,” he said. “The people were always supportive of the students and athletes. In the transition of integration I don’t remember any problems whatsoever. That made it great for me.”

The 10th annual Kings Mountain Family YMCA Golf Tournament was held Friday at Kings Mountain Country Club. The tournament raised over $18,000.
Erin Jolly, Jean Walker, Kenny Walker and Spud Wells took first place with a score of 19-under-par 53.
Second place at 17-under were Thomas Spicer, Will Spicer, Ty Withers and Tyler Withers.
Third place at 17 under were Derrick Braun, KG Etters, William Mabry and Eric Moore.
Closest to the pin winners were Steve Hoyle on #5, Steve Bostwick on 8, Brian Brentzel on 12, David Pless on 16 and Tyler Withers on 17.
Longest drive winners on hole 11 were  William Mabry (seniors), Brian Bretzel (men) and Abby Brooks (women).
Winners on hole 2 were Jimmy Jolly (seniors), Chris Jolly (men) and Jean Walker (women).
“We thank our sponsors, participants and volunteers for a very successful tournament,” said Kevin Osborne, VP/Senior Executive Director of the YMCA.

(October 7, 2020 Issue)

Had the pandemic not come along, Kings Mountain High School would be playing its 98th season of football right now.
Hopefully, the season will be played in early 2021 with an abbreviated seven-game regular season and a four-round state playoff. It is assumed, if that happens, the players would hit the field again in the fall of ’21 but that, too, could depend on the pandemic and/or decision from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
The first Mountaineer football team in 1922 did not even have a coach. Uniforms were hand-me-downs from Trinity College (now Duke) and their shoes were Boy Scout shoes to which a local cobbler attached rubber cleats for 50 cents a pair.
Of course, none of the original Mountaineers are still with us but in earlier years players recalled the beginning in stories in The Herald.
It all began when a few players from Davidson College came to Central School to talk to the high school boys about organizing a football team.
Eighteen youngsters agreed to play. They didn’t have a coach. Two local doctors, Dr. Hood and Dr. Norman, agreed to coach and others around town helped out.
Later in the year, Fred Ormand took over as coach.
Although none of the original Mountaineers, when interviewed by The Herald later in life, remembered the team’s record it is believed to have been 3-2-1. Of the information recalled by players and reported in The Herald, the Mountaineers lost to Lincolnton 12-0 in their first-ever contest, tied Gastonia 0-0, beat Cowpens on a forfeit, shutout Mt. Holly 19-0, lost to Charlotte 25-0 and defeated the KM All-Stars 35-0.
Some of the game results were reported to The Herald, and others were not with a small blurb saying “The Kings Mountain boys played football Friday.”
In a Herald story in 1949, it was reported that Charlie Saunders ran a 60-yard touchdown against Mount Holly, Forrest Houser caught a touchdown pass from Hoyt Mathews, and Lawrence Lovell scored on a “double pass” from J.M. McGinnis.
The forfeit win over Cowpens came as a result of the Cowpens team getting upset with an official’s call and walking off the field. The Mountaineers - you never heard or read about them referred to as Mounties during that time - were leading 7-0.
The late Joe Lee Woodward, in a 1974 feature story in the Kings Mountain Mirror-Herald, told editor Gary Stewart that the first football game he ever saw, he played in against Lincolnton.
“They beat us on two end-around runs,” he noted.
Woodward said the Mountaineers ran a “box formation” and the center snapped the ball directly to the player that was going to run it.
Passing was almost non-existent at the time because footballs were almost round, Woodward noted. “The ball was big and bulky and we always played with one ball until it wore out.”
Teams traveled to games in cars.
One of the original Mountaineers, Plato Goforth, was in the eighth grade. In his final year, 1926, the Mountaineers finished undefeated but did have four ties.
The teams played their home games near Deal Street on a field at the current site of Bridges Auto Parts. He remembered that some fans would give a player that scored a quarter, and he caught five touchdown passes in a game against Mt. Holly.
Members of the original team included Joe Lee Woodward, Herman Hayes, Hoyt Matthews, Tom Fulton, Jake Hord, Forrest Houser, Howard Pursley, Lloyd Ormand, Tom Saunders, Hoyle McDaniel, Charlie Saunders, Clemonsee Boone, J.M. McGinnis, Plato Goforth, Odell McGinnis, Fred Plonk, Royce Green and Lawrence Lovell.
Pursley, who played baseball at KMHS beginning in 1918, said he thought the Mountaineers were playing baseball as early as 1912 when he moved to town from South Carolina.
Pursley was playing baseball in KM when the rivalry with Shelby began around 1921. He said it came about during a baseball series between Neisler Mills and a mill from Shelby.
He recalled that just about every textile mill and many communities in all the area towns had baseball teams and they’d play about three games a week. It was a highly competitive league that drew a lot of fans.
Pursley was a highly-recruited pitcher but chose not to go to college or the pros. Some other outstanding players here during those years included Coman Falls, Red Layton, Arthur Hord, Ormand and catcher Jake Early. Early spent 10 seasons in the major leagues and caught the entire 1943 All-Star game for the American League.
Grover also produced some great baseball players during that time including John Gold, Jim Blalock, Bub Keeter, Al Crisp, Buck Shuford, George Royster and Wayne Conner.
Kings Mountain chose an all-star team which fell to Grover in the post-season. Players included Red Layton, Humphries and Carl Moss of the Margrace, Cornwell, Coman Falls and Skimp Stowe of the Stags, Morrison of the Bonnie, Cole of Pauline and Hunter and Hayes of Mauney.
Pursley recalled that the Mountaineers played basketball on an old dirt court near St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church. In the thirties basketball was played on the stage at Central School.
Woodward was a 6-3 eighth grader in 1922 and was the tallest player on the team. Of course, he was a forward. He played tackle and quarterback in football and first base in baseball.
All games, especially basketball, has changed tremendously since then both in style of play and rules.
“Back then,” Woodward recalled in a 1974 article in The Herald, “after a basket the ball was taken back to center court for a jump. No players except the centers were allowed at center court. The other players went to the four corners of the court and the center would give a signal to let us know who he was going to tip the ball to.
“The guards were called chewing gum guards,” he said. “They stayed with their forwards all the time. Because of that Ed Lovell coached his forwards to run in circles so we’d have a step on the guard when the ball was tipped.”
As for fouls, he said, one could put his hands up in front of their man to keep him from getting a shot at the basket but you couldn’t hack him.
“Play was rough,” he noted, “but I don’t remember ever fouling out.
“Uniforms were usually cut off pants. Goals were home made and didn’t have baskets on them. Goals were made at a machine shop.”

   The 10th Annual Kings Mountain Family YMCA Golf Tournament is Friday, October 9 at Kings Mountain Country Club.
   Registration is at 11:30 am with a shotgun start at 12:30 pm. Registration is $70.00 per person / $280.00 a team.
   Sponsorships opportunities remain for Title, Corporate, and Hole Sponsors. For more information contact the YMCA at 704-669-3686 or emailkosborne@clevecoymca.org
   Corporate support and participation helps assist YMCA childcare, Community Enrichment Academy, summer camp, swimming lessons, Senior programs, YMCA LiveStrong programs, youth sports – basketball, soccer, baseball, volleyball, and flag football.

After its first meet of the 2020 season, the Cleveland County men’s cross country team was ranked 24th in the nation. The poll was released on September 23.
This is CCC’s first-ever national ranking.
The ranking follows the Yetis’ first meet of the season at Montreat College. According to Coach Steve McCachren, meet results are submitted to the USTFCCCA for review by a panel of coaches who monitor results and create the poll. The panel considers the final results, distance, weather, type of course and course conditions.

Kings Mountain’s Alex Goff shot a 12-under-par 204 to win the 106th Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Kentucky Amateur championship Friday in Lexington, KY.

Goff, a scholarship golfer at the University of Kentucky, shot a two-under 70 in the final round to win the title by four strokes over former champion Andy Roberts. They were the only players to shoot under par.

Goff was a four-year standout at Kings Mountain High School, finishing among the top players in the state 3A championship each spring.

After a 67 on Thursday, Goff took a three-stroke lead into Friday’s final 18-hole round.

He basically wrapped up the championship on the front nine, making four birdies that put him seven shots up at the turn.

Roberts, who was Kentucky’s Amateur champion four years ago, finished with an 8-under 208.

Due to NCAA regulations, Goff could not accept the first place prize of $750.

Goff and his teammates will begin Southeastern Conference play in the coming weeks. 

With COVID 19 delaying the start of North Carolina high school football until February, three Kings Mountain High senior standouts who had already committed to major colleges with intentions of leaving KMHS at the Christmas break had some tough decisions to make.

Kobe Paysour, the Mountaineers’ all-time leading pass receiver who will be enrolling at the University of North Carolina for the spring semester, announced last week that he would play his final prep season  with the Gaffney Indians.

Defensive end Javari Wilson and linebacker Day Day Wilson, who have committed to Fordham and Missouri, respectively, have decided to stay at KMHS and help the Mountaineers in their quest for a conference and state championship.

Paysour enrolled at Gaffney last week. The Indians are preparing for a slightly-delayed South Carolina football season that begins at home on Friday, Sept. 25 against Boiling Springs.

Paysour will make the defending state champions and longtime South Carolina power even more powerful as he will help form one of the top 1-2 pass receiver duos in the state, just as he did with Quintin Davidson last season in KM. Gaffney also returns its top pass catcher from last year’s championship team, Natron Johnson, who caught 69 passes for 802 yards.

Over his three-year career at KM, Paysour hauled in 171 passes for 3,696 yards, both career records. His 79 receptions for 26 touchdowns his junior year are also school records along with his 103-yard pass interception return for a TD in a state playoff game at Statesville in 2018.

Of course, head coach Greg Lloyd and every KM fan hates to see Paysour go. But, with the ruling by the NCHSAA not to play fall football and with him due to enroll early at Carolina, Paysour wanted to play his senior year and Lloyd supports his decision.

The Mountaineers have some talented pass receivers returning and Lloyd plans to move defensive back Titus Phillips, who was the leading receiver on the JV team as a freshman and sophomore, to Paysour’s spot. DeAndre Hoyle, who is up from the JVs, transfer Jaylen Mims and others, will also be receiving threats.

“We support Kobe’s decision,” Coach Lloyd said. “He wanted to play his senior year and if he’d stayed here he would not have been able to since he’s going to Carolina early.

“I think we’ll still be able to score a lot of points,” he said. “The offensive and defensive lines may be the best ones we’ve had since I’ve been here. I think we’ll be fine.”

Kings Mountain fans interested in attending Gaffney games should make themselves aware of South Carolina High School League’s COVID-19 restrictions. Last week the SCHSL was granted exceptions to the governor’s current restrictions to no more than 250 people or 50  percent (whichever is less) of a sports venue’s capacity. That means the Cherokee County School System will have control of its schools’ capacities. Whatever school systems decide, the SCHSL is recommending precautions such as electronic ticketing, cashless transactions, social distancing and for all spectators to wear masks at all times.

Kings Mountain’s Carl Champion, who died last week, had the perfect last name. He was a real champion to his family and friends, to Kings Mountain High and many other high schools and colleges, the City of Kings Mountain, countless charities, and to many other people and organizations he was involved with.

Growing up in the Bethware area, Champion had an early love for sports that would continue for the rest of his life. In sports and other endeavors, he gave his full support.

He made his mark on Kings Mountain sports not just on game days, but also by his generosity of money and providing free grading for most of the athletic fields at the high school and other places.

His generosity reached far and wide, as did his friends.

Shortly after he met Champion in the late 1960s at a softball game, Belmont’s Art Shoemaker became one of his closest friends.

“He always made me feel like I was part of his family,” Shoemaker said. “We immediately hit it off.”

In the late sixties Shoemaker was coaching a slowpitch softball team in Gaston County, and needed a sponsor.

“I knew of Carl,” Shoemaker recalled. “We had played him when I was coaching Groves Thread. I went to him and introduced myself. Groves was no longer going to sponsor a team. He told me he was starting a team and wanted me to help him get it off the ground. Looking back, he’s done so much for people in Kings Mountain and all over. He was generous to a fault. It’s been a great honor to know him.”

Shoemaker recalled that Champion’s team won three straight NC state championships, and one year finished third in the national tournament in York, PA.

“There won’t be another Carl Champion,” Shoemaker said. “When we started the team he wanted to play. I had gotten some top notch players in the area and I told him his name was on the jerseys as owner, but he couldn’t play. He said, ‘Well, if that’s the way you feel that’s the way it’s going to be.’ ”

In 1973, Shoemaker recalled, Champion’s team finished third in the nation behind two teams that had all paid players.

“We both decided we couldn’t compete at that level,” he said. “The best thing about coaching Carl’s team is that we became great friends. He was like a brother to me.

“It just broke my heart to see him struggling to breathe near the end,” he said. “We’d had a surprise 80th birthday for him recently and I could tell then he wasn’t feeling well.”

Champion loved his friends and loved Kings Mountain, Shoemaker said.

“If there was anything he could do for you he’d do it,” he said. “I loved him and he loved me, and I know I will see him again.”

Shoemaker agrees that Champion had the perfect last name.

“He was a champion in every sense of the word,” he said. “When he said something he meant it. He was one of the most generous men I’ve ever known.”

Champion was serious about his businesses doing things the right way. But he could have less-serious moments.

“He was the best prankster I’ve ever known,” Shoemaker said. “I will never forget one time I was officiating a middle school football game in Kings Mountain and Carl was in the stands. At halftime he called me down the sideline and pulled out a bunch of money like he was paying me off. I said ‘You put that money back.’ I knew there were a lot of people watching.”

Shoemaker said coming to KM and coaching Carl’s softball teams was one of the best things he ever did.

“He always tried to do it the right way,” he said. “We had the best amateurs in Cleveland and Gaston County. But the two teams that finished ahead of us in the national tournament were pro teams.

“Carl was a great friend of Kings Mountain athletics. I never will forget when Kings Mountain went to Chapel Hill for the state football championship in ’98. He called me and said ‘Get me four or five charter buses.’ He filled them with fans and they didn’t have to pay one penny. He was so generous. If he knew somebody needed something he would take care of it. There will never be another Carl Champion.”

Bruce Clark, who coached at KMHS in the 1980s and 1990s, echoed Shoemaker’s remarks.

“I have never had a better experience in coaching,” he said. “I coached his daughter Ashley in softball and his son Kevin in football. He’s just one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He cared so much about Kings Mountain and wanted everyone to do well.

“It was not just what he did for sports, but the things he did for me personally. I was at a coach’s clinic when we were building a house. He came out and looked at the yard and said there was going to be a drainage problem. My wife called me and said he had some equipment out there. When I got home he had landscaped the yard and sowed it, and it was perfectly manicured.”

After Clark’s 1989 baseball team won the state 3A championship, Champion took the players, coaches and their wives, and others to the beach and paid the entire bill.

“He was such a great supporter of all athletes,” Clark said. “When we kept winning during the playoffs he would shoot fireworks. He came to me one day and said he wanted to take the team to the beach. He gave us a big RV so we could all ride together. We stayed for a week – the players, coaches and their wives and their parents and family.

“Carl and Dub Blalock were two of our biggest supporters,” he added. “They would take everybody to the Riverview Fish Camp in Belmont. Carl was just a fine man. He just wanted to see you have a good time and enjoy the moment.

“What he did for the Kings Mountain Hall of Fame was just amazing. He will always be a special person in my heart.

“When I was coaching in Greensboro, North Gaston and Boiling Springs Carl would just all of a sudden show up. He’d just sit with me and talk and see how things were going.

“He was an amazing man. We have lost a good one.”

As great of a supporter as he was in sports, that’s only a drop in the bucket of the good he did while on Earth. Whenever there was a need – someone was hurt in an accident, a child born with numerous health problems, supporting the Shriners Hospitals and numerous other causes, Carl Champion was there for them.

He was a true Champion!

This is the 100th year since the formation of the Negro Major League baseball league.

A man who lived the latter years of his life in Kings Mountain, Henry Frazier “Slow” Robinson, spent several seasons in the league before it merged with the Major League.

Robinson moved to Kings Mountain from California in 1989. He and his wife lived across from Ebenezer Baptist Church on Cherryville Road.

Robinson began his professional career in 1939 with the Satchel Paige All-Stars. He was Paige’s catcher. His career was interrupted in 1944-45 by World War II when he joined the U.S. Navy.

He played for the Kansas City Monarchs, New York Black Yankees, Baltimore Elite Giants and the Baltimore Greys and retired from the game in 1950.

Robinson was born in Alabama, and moved to Oklahoma at a young age. His brother Norman Robinson also played major league ball and they played together with the Elites in 1946.

Prior to moving to Kings Mountain, Robinson ran his own business, Sweep It Right Parking Lot Maintenance, in Los Angeles.
 

Fifty years ago Kings Mountain High School put one of its best teams ever on the basketball floor.

The first full five-year period after school integration proved to be one of, if not the best, in Mountaineer basketball history.

The 1966-67 and 1967-68 teams that featured All-American George Adams posted back-to-back seasons of 20-1 and 25-1, the first being upset by Marion in the first round of the WNCHSAA playoffs and the latter losing only to A.L. Brown of Kannapolis in the Western North Carolina High School Activities Association championship game.

Coached by the late Bob Hussey, the 1968-69 team featured a mostly young group of players but still managed to finish 18-5 overall and second place in the Southwestern 3A Conference behind Cherryville.

But players like Otis Cole, Charles Barnes and Phillip Francis polished their skills during that season, and in 1969-70 they and their teammates reeled off 23 straight victories before facing a giant in the WNCHSAA semi-finals.

That giant was 7-foot-4 Tommy Burleson and Avery County, who came into the KMHS gym and scored the last seven points of the game to stun the Mountaineers 63-61.

Kings Mountain led 61-56 with 1:59 remaining in the game before Burleson, who finished with 38 points, scored the last seven on an old-fashioned three-point play (a field goal and free throw, there were no three-point goals back then), a tipped-in missed shot and a 23-foot jumper at the buzzer for the game winner.

Otis Cole, who finished his senior season with 550 points and a 23.4 points per game average, went on to a great career with the Florida State Seminoles. Cole was on the FSU team that lost the NCAA national championship to John Wooden’s UCLA powerhouse in 1973.

Cole still lives in Kings Mountain and is seen regularly at Donald L. Parker Gymnasium, cheering on the Mountaineers. Barnes, who went on to become a starting guard at Appalachian State and later coached basketball in Georgia and North Carolina, averaged 18.2 points per game and had a season’s total of 436 points.

Francis, who was the #3 scorer with 238 points, joined Cole and Barnes on the All-Southwestern Conference team. Cole played in the East-West All-Star game and also made the All-American team.

The 1970 team’s toughest games in the SWC were against the Crest Chargers and their superstar, David Thompson, who would later join Burleson to lead NC State to the national championship. Both of those games went down to the wire.

Other members of the ’70 team were Steve Gladden, Roger Smith, Jewel Watson, Geeper Howard, Ben Brown, Bobby Ethridge, M. White, Chuck Carpenter, Randolph Ross, Wilson Ledford, Chuck Easley and Andy Neisler.
— KM Herald

A third Kings Mountain High School football player has announced his college choice as well as the probability of leaving school at the semester break.

Javari Wilson, the Mountaineers’ all-star defensive end, will be attending Fordham University in New York City.

Last year’s Big South 3A Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year received numerous other offers from schools like Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Campbell, Western Carolina, The Citadel, College of Charleston, Akron and Gardner-Webb.

“I really like the atmosphere up there and being in the Big Apple, and the relationship with my position coach, Kenny Anunkie,” Wilson gave as the reason for choosing the Rams. “He was previously at Ohio State and was one of the better players in the NFL.”

Anunkie was a two-time All-ACC defensive lineman at Duke and the Blue Devils’ all-time sack leader. He is also the associate head coach at Fordham.

Wilson said he is undecided on his major. “But I feel like I am good enough to compete as a true freshman and I trust my defensive line coach to help me do well.”

The Rams run a 4-3 defense and a spread offense, both very familiar to the Kings Mountain product.

“They had a 4-8 record last year but I plan to help them improve that,” he said. “With electrifying talent we hope to change the mentality of their game in the Patriot League.”

Wilson was a three-year starter in high school, playing running back and fullback at Gastonia Forestview his freshman year and defensive end the last two seasons at Kings Mountain.

“I am expecting Kings Mountain to have a good year,” he said. “We have good coaches and good players. I don’t want that to end. Since my freshman year we’ve had great teams. I think the transition to college will be smooth with everything good.

“I feel like Kings Mountain will be a great team even if a couple of us leave,” he added. “I think they can still make it to the state championship.”

Other KM standouts who have already made college commitments are UNC-bound wide receiver Kobe Paysour, and Wilson’s cousin linebacker Dameon “Day  Day” Wilson, who is going to the University of Missouri.

“Day-Day and I are cousins, but we’re more like brothers,” Javari said. “We’ve been together since we were little.”

Javari is the son of Nataya and Brenton Wilson. They live between Kings Mountain and Grover.

“I am really looking forward to Fordham,” he said. “I have to mainly get stronger and faster. The next level is fast. I want to adapt as quickly as I can and be knowledgeable of the game and film study.”

Wilson had 62 solo tackles and a team-high 11 sacks for the Mountaineers last year. He led the Big South in sacks.

He begins his in-school classes at KMHS on Thursday.

“I want to truly thank the coaches and the whole community for their support while I was in Kings Mountain,” Wilson said. “I will always carry that throughout my career.”

Sports fans anxious to get out and support their favorite high school teams will have a wait a little longer.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association last week announced that no sports will begin until November; and football will not be played until early next year.

Que Tucker, executive director of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, announced the following schedule for sports: