From staff reports

Appalachian State advanced to the final of San Juan Shootout with a 75-64 victory against Central Florida on Wednesday afternoon.

The Mountaineers (9-3) will face Vanderbilt for the title today at 4 p.m.

Nathan Cranford (Central Cabarrus) scored 18 points, all on 3-pointers, to lead ASU against UCF. Donte Minter (West Rowan) scored 13 points in a season-high 21 minutes. He shot 5-for-11 from the field and also had four rebounds, one block and one steal. He tied for the second highest minute total of his career — he played 24 minutes against Florida State as a Virginia freshman.

Minter was still fired up over Tuesday’s 80-69 victory over Virginia, the Mountaineers’ first win over an ACC school since they beat Clemson 72-60 in 2000. Minter, who played two seasons at Virginia before transferring to Appalachian, had nine points in nine minutes.

The victory held special meaning for Minter, who led West to the 3A title as a senior.

“I’m not going to say this is as good as winning the state championship in high school, but this is up there,” Minter told the Charlottesville (Va.) Daily Progress.

The Mountaineers are 6-66 all-time against ACC squads.

* Wesley Turner (West) had four points and three rebounds for Georgia State in Wednesday’s 101-59 loss to Iowa.

* South Carolina State’s Sophilia Hipps (North Rowan) had a tough shooting night on Wednesday but hit a shot at the buzzer to lift her team to a 54-53 double-overtime win over Alabama A&M.

Hipps had 10 points and nine rebounds.

* Shayla Fields (Salisbury) had eight points for N.C. State (9-2) in Wednesday’s 78-57 win over St. Joseph’s.

Catawba women fall

Catawba’s eight-game winning streak in women’s basketball ended on Tuesday with a 76-60 loss to Concordia (Minn.) in Honolulu.

Catawba trailed 35-12 at halftime

Ne’Keithia Howard led Catawba (8-2) with 13 points. Corin Muldrow had 11 points. Hillary Hampton (West Rowan) and Sicilia LoSauro scored eight each.

Pfeiffer athletics

Pfeiffer’s Tavares Cooper has been named CVAC Player of the Week for men’s basketball.

Cooper had 22 points and 15 rebounds in Pfeiffer’s miraculous comeback to beat Davis & Elkins 112-102 in overtime. Cooper is averaging 17.4 points a game for the unbeaten and 11th-ranked Falcons.

* Pfeiffer coach Julian Domenech has been elected to the inaugural board of the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association.

East wrestlers get victory

East Rowan got wins from Donovan Smoot, C.J. Gordy, Alex Lawson, Aaron Plyler, Thomas Lowe, Joe Knox, Josiah Hurst, Wayne Parker, Chase Burris and Seth Stephenson and overpowered Charlotte Olympic 63-16 in a non-conference wrestling match.

East opens CPC mat action tonight against R.J. Reynolds.

Shields girls win medals

Katherine and Emily Shields competed in the Cyclocross National Championships held in Providence, R.I. over the weekend.

Emily won the silver medal in the Junior 13-14 girls race, while Katherine won the bronze medal.

The Shields girls are the 2006 North Carolina Junior state champions. Their parents are Kerry Shields and Lynn Pitson of Salisbury.

North Stanly boys fall to Spartans

Central Davidson’s boys basketball team (6-2) got 12 points each from Nick Parsons and Matt Tysinger and beat North Stanly 57-47 Wednesday. Jeremy Harris led the Comets (3-6) with 16 points.

North Hills basketball

The North Hills varsity girls basketball team lost to N.C. School of the Deaf 37-32. Christina Gobble led the Eagles with 15 points. Johanna Tansey added six points, and Skarlett Ross had four.

The North Hills varsity boys defeated School of the Deaf 68-63. Wade Butner paced the Eagles with 19 points. Garry Miller and Robert Powell had 14 points each. Ethan Marsh added 13.

Rockwell Christian basketball

The Rockwell Christian varsity boys basketball team (5-4) defeated Matthews Bible Baptist 56-25.

Rockwell’s Lyle Branch had 22 points, nine steals, eight rebounds and six assists. Taylor Honeycutt had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Rockwell jayvee boys stayed unbeaten (8-0) with a 61-15 win over Bible Baptist. Matt Hochman and Nathan Funderburk had 10 points each.

Rockwell’s jayvee girls team (4-5) beat Bible Baptist 25-21. Ashlee Miller had 13 points and 12 rebounds to spark Rockwell.

Salisbury Academy basketball

The Salisbury Academy varsity girls basketball team beat St. John’s 23-18. Joy Loeblein and Taylor Capito paced the Jaguars (7-3).

Jon Hall’s 18 points and 13 rebounds sparked Salisbury Academy’s varsity boys (7-3) to a 42-28 win over St. John’s. Tyler Petty was a beast on the boards.

Sacred Heart basketball

The Sacred Heart boys basketball team beat Statesville Montessori 55-31 behind James Kyger’s 23 points and Roy Dixon’s 13.

The Dolphins (13-4) also got good games from Connor Miller (10 rebounds, five blocks), Mike Strobel (eight rebounds), Tyler Blackwell (eight rebounds), Brian Bauk (five steals), Jack Young (six points, five assists), Phil Tonseth (five points) and Spencer Dixon (four points).

Sacred Heart has a 10-game winning streak.