Area Sports Briefs

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 28, 2012

From staff reports
Livingstone lost 47-29 at Fayetteville State on Saturday.
The Broncos won on homecoming and won their first CIAA game of the season.
Senior Dorian Edwards stood out for the Blue Bears (2-7) with a career-high 17 tackles. He forced a fumble and recovered two fumbles, including a 23-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
Kenneth White forced the fumble on Edwards’ TD.
Livingstone (2-7, 2-4 CIAA) trailed 20-7 at halftime.
Freshman Drew Powell was 20-for-36 passing for 230 yards for the Blue Bears and scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. Williams had 132 all-purpose yards, including 60 rushing.
Javon Williams had a 2-yard scoring run for the Blue Bears in the first quarter, and Levi Prince, who had nine tackles, scored a defensive touchdown late in the game.
The Broncos (2-7, 1-5) piled up 522 yards of offense, while LC had 337.
Colon Bailey enjoyed a huge day for the Broncos, carrying the ball 36 times for 288 yards and three TDs.
There were 10 fumbles in the game. Both teams lost four.
Livingstone is at J.C. Smith to renew their historic rivalry on Nov. 3.
Prep cross country
East Rowan’s boys placed fourth in Saturday’s 3A Midwest Regional held at McAlpine in Charlotte.
The Mustangs posted a score of 116 to beat out A.L. Brown (138) and Carson (149) for the final berth in the state meet.
Cal Meyers (10th, 16:46), Conor Honeycutt (22nd, 17:09), Graham Lyerly (28th, 17:13), Jason Basso (29th, 17:14) and Justin Allen (30th, 17:14) led the Mustangs.
• Carson’s top two runners qualified for the state as individuals. Kyle Gillis was sixth in 16:28, while Zachary Marchinko was 11th in 16:47.
Other leaders for the Cougars were Nick Thornton (37th, 17:32), Chris York (46th, 17:51) and Dylan Snyder (52nd, 18:00).
• Leading A.L. Brown were Kellen Corson (16th, 16:58), Timmy Hall (17th, 16:59) and Max Chandler (23rd, 17:11).
•Cody McNeely (14th, 16:55) and Todd Gabriel (25th, 17:12) led West Rowan to a ninth-place showing.
•South Rowan’s boys were 13th. Angel Ruiz (34th, 17:30) led the Raiders. Kurtis Reed (19:13) was next.
•In the girls 3A Midwest Regional in Charlotte, Kenzy Bauer (52nd, 22:31) and Kylie Cox (66th, 23:41) led Carson. The Cougars finished 13th.
•East Rowan’s girls finished eighth. Leading the Mustangs were Faith Blume (24th, 20:48) and Tori Gaul (29th, 21:07)
• South Rowan’s finished 16th. The top runners for South were Olivia Sides (24:07) and Casey Pruitt (24:58).
• Helping West Rowan place ninth were Rebecca Parker (23rd, 20:53) and Josie Heglar (30th, 21:08).
• A.L. Brown’s girls placed sixth. Kelsie Simpson (21st, 20:41) and Briana Landis (23rd, 20:47) led the Wonders. Simpson qualified for the state meet as individual. Landis, Blume and Parker just missed.
• In the 1A Midwest Regional at Kernersville’s Beeson Park, Brandon Nelson led North Rowan. He was 50th in 19:28.
•Gray Stone’s boys took fourth in the 1A Midwest Regional to qualify for the state meet.
• Gray Stone’s girls, led by Caroline McLeod (eighth), Sarah Goodnight (17th) and Rebecca Brickner (18th), placed second as a team and qualified for the state meet.
• In the 2A Midwest Regional at Beeson Park, Salisbury’s Susannah Dixon (21st, 21:44) and Madeline Labovitz (52nd, 24:32) led the Hornet girls to an 11th-place finish.
•In the 2A Midwest Regional at Beeson, Salisbury’s placed ninth. Matt Washko (38th, 19:13) and Max Patel (39th, 19:13) led the way.
• In the girls 4A Midwest Regional at Beeson, Davie’s Anna McBride (18:31) was second overall and led the War Eagles to a seventh-place showing.
Prep tennis
The Gray Stone doubles team of Libby Fowler-Brooke Herlocker won the 1A state championship on Saturday by defeating Mount Airy’s Davi Barbour-Haley Thomas 6-1, 6-0 in Cary.
Catawba athletics
Catawba’s men’s soccer team clinched a berth in the upcoming SAC tournament with a 2-0 win against visiting Brevard on Saturday.
Catawba (9-6-3, 3-3-3) got three saves from keeper Evan Harvey.
Valentin Nava (Carson) and Carson Smith had goals for the Indians.
Sixth-seeded Catawba plays at No. 3 Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday for a first-round tournament contest.
• Catawba’s women’s soccer team earned a first-round home match in the upcoming SAC tournament by defeating visiting Brevard 3-1 on Saturday.
Catawba (12-6, 5-4) got goals from Mark Kirkman, Allison Baucom (West Rowan) and Amy Iwanicki.
Baucom scored on a penalty kick for a 2-0 lead.
No. 4 Catawba will be at home against No. 5 Anderson on Tuesday at 5 p.m.Late NBA trade
Unable to work out an extension with James Harden, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded the Sixth Man of the Year to the Houston Rockets on Saturday night, breaking up the young core of the Western Conference champions.
The Thunder acquired guards Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-round pick in the surprising deal. Oklahoma City also sent center Cole Aldrich and forwards Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to Houston.
The Oct. 31 deadline to extend Harden or allow him to become a restricted free agent next July had been hanging over the Thunder from the moment they reported to training camp.
“We wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day, these situations have to work for all those involved. Our ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a statement.
“We were unable to reach agreement, and therefore executed a trade that capitalized on the opportunity to bring in a player of Kevin’s caliber.”
, a young talent like Jeremy and draft picks, which will be important to our organizational goal of a sustainable team.”
The small-market Thunder had already signed Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka to long-term deals, and apparently realized Harden was going to want a bigger salary than they would offer.
The Thunder got back a good scorer in Martin, who has averaged 18.4 points in his eight NBA seasons, and a promising young player in Lamb, the No. 12 pick in the draft who helped Connecticut win the 2011 NCAA championship. He led Houston’s summer league team in scoring with 20 points per game.
But Harden was a huge part of Oklahoma City’s success and had said he might even be open to sacrifice dollars in order to stay with the Thunder. But they’ve been unwilling to climb into the luxury tax, which will only become harsher under the new collective bargaining agreement.
Harden averaged 16.8 points and 3.7 assists last season, and joined Durant and Westbrook on the U.S. men’s Olympic team. He struggled badly in Oklahoma City’s loss to Miami in the NBA Finals, but the Thunder felt good about their chances of getting back there with another year of experience for their young stars, all 24 or younger.
However, Yahoo Sports reported that Harden turned down a four-year contract worth about $52 million, and the Thunder moved quickly to trade him after that.
The Rockets rebuilt their roster in the offseason and hoped to land Dwight Howard. Houston traded or released just about every veteran except Martin, who was in the final year of his contract and due about $13 million this season.
Martin averaged 17.1 points and 2.8 assists last season, his eighth in the NBA and third in Houston. He missed the last 26 games last season with a shoulder injury, though he also developed a rift with Houston coach Kevin McHale late in the season.
The Rockets have until Wednesday to sign Harden to the extension that Oklahoma City couldn’t.
“While I never like having to send out quality players like Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, this trade gives us a chance to make an immediate impact on the future of our franchise moving forward,” Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said.
“James Harden was part of Team USA’s gold medal team at the London Olympics and is one of the most skilled shooting guards in the NBA.”
New Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin also chimed in about the trade on Twitter.
“Really sad to see Kmart and JLamb go,” Lin wrote. “…both class acts and great teammates. Welcome Harden, Cook, Aldrich and Hayward to Houston!!”
Houston collected draft picks while it was making a flurry of deals, part of a package to offer Orlando for Howard. The Rockets traded point guard Kyle Lowry to Toronto for a lottery-protected first-round pick, one of Oklahoma City’s acquisitions on Saturday night.
The other first-round pick was acquired by Houston when it traded Jordan Hill to the Los Angeles Lakers last March. The second-round pick came to the Rockets in a deal that sent guard Courtney Lee to Boston.

AP Sports Writer Chris Duncan in Houston contributed to this report.