Newton-Conover girls roll into Classic semifinals

Kadesha Gibbs and Laneica Williams combined for 36 points on Tuesday night, leading Newton-Conover High’s girls past Fred T. Foard 66-34 in the first round of the Catawba Valley Classic.

Gibbs finished with 20 points and Williams added 16 at Catawba Valley Community College as the third-seeded  Red Devils served notice they have their sights set on a second straight tournament title.

Newton-Conover (8-2) meets No. 2 seed Alexander Central (8-2) in a semifinal on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. at CVCC.

Sixth-seeded Foard (5-6) plays No. 7 seed St. Stephens (3-9) in a consolation game on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at CVCC.

Against the Tigers, Newton-Conover got off to somewhat of a slow start. The Red Devils led 30-19 at the half before putting the Tigers away in the third quarter.

 “The first half we were still in our Christmas mood,” said Newton-Conover head coach Ike Williams. “We talked about it at halftime and stepped it up in the second half. I am pretty happy with the effort overall.”

The run started in the final two minutes of the first half, when the Red Devils hit their last four field goal attempts.

The second half started out much the same, with Newton-Conover scoring on five of its first six possessions for a 40-24 lead on a basket by Gibbs with five minutes, one second left in the third quarter.

In the third quarter, the Red Devils outscored the Tigers 21-9, hitting 10-of-11 from the floor, and Newton-Conover converted 11 turnovers into 15 points.

“We didn’t execute as well as we should,” said Fred T. Foard head coach Brad Mangum. “When you play as good of a team as Newton-Conover, things like that happen if you don’t take care of the ball.”

In the second half, Newton-Conover shot 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the floor, while the Tigers got just 15 shots and made six.

The Red Devils used defense to create offense, scoring 40 points in the paint with many off fast break opportunities.

Overall, Newton-Conover turned 21 second-half Foard turnovers into 23 points.

Eight of nine Red Devils who played scored, with Shynese Whitener the third player in double figures with 11 points.

Brooke Robinson led Foard with 11 points.

SOUTH CALDWELL 61, MAIDEN 28

Fifth-seeded Maiden looked like the higher-seeded team during the first quarter, making its first four shots and leading fourth-seeded South Caldwell by five early.

But the Spartans (6-3) were within a point by the end of the quarter and eventually pulled away.

The victory moves South Caldwell to a Wednesday semifinal (7 p.m.) at CVCC against top-seeded Hickory (10-1).

Maiden (4-4) plays No. 8 seed Bunker Hill (0-10) in a consolation game at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at CVCC.

Against the Blue Devils, South Caldwell came to life in the second quarter with 10 unanswered points for an 18-9 lead with 3:07 left in the first half when Toni Younce hit one of two free throws.

From that point, it was all Spartans as they built the margin to double 2-10 with 2 ½ minutes left in the half on a 3-pointer by Taylor Cannon.

South Caldwell led 23-12 at the half.

The Spartans made 9-of-15 shots in the second half and hit 11-of-17 free throws after missing all six of their free throws in the first half.

Anna Lee Bollinger led the Spartans with 14 points and Cannon added 13.

Sabrien Gaither’s 13 points led Maiden.

HICKORY 80, BUNKER HILL 20

Top-seeded Hickory bolted to a 21-2 lead in the first quarter and rolled past No. 8 Bunker Hill (0-10) for head coach Barbara Helms’ 260^th career victory. Helms, in her ninth season at Hickory, has 222 of her wins there.

The Red Tornadoes (10-1) were up 44-9 by the half and won by more than 60 points for the fourth time this season.

Aja Hoyle led Hickory with 16 points. The Red Tornadoes had 12 players score and six of them had at least eight points.

Hickory meets South Caldwell in a semifinal at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at CVCC.

Bunker Hill has a consolation game Wednesday at 4 p.m. at CVCC against Maiden.

ALEXANDER CENTRAL 50, ST. STEPHENS 32

Madi Suddreth and Keslie Rhyne combined for half of the Cougars’ points in a first-round victory over the Indians.

Alexander Central, seeded No. 2, stretched a four-point lead after one quarter to 30-19 by halftime.

Virginia McMahan was the only double-figure scorer for St. Stephens and Victoria Lavelle added eight points.

The Cougars (8-2) will meet defending tournament champion Newton-Conover in a semifinal Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. at CVCC.

The Indians (3-9) will play at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at CVCC, facing Fred T. Foard in a consolation game.