Welcome to the weekly sports roundup in the greater Charlotte area presented by The Sports Chief. Every Sunday, let The Chief be the one to catch you up on all the latest sports happenings in and around the Charlotte, NC area. We take a look at professional sports, as well as semi-professional, college, and high school. If you like what we’re doing, make sure you give us a follow on Twitter at @thesportschief where you’ll be notified of all our latest postings, and visit our website at www.thesportschief.com.

Professional

Carolina Panthers

It’s the first Sunday in a while without football and things are starting to slow down heading into the offseason. Or are they? The Jared Goff-Matthew Stafford trade last night shocked the NFL world and is just the first of several imminent big trades, including Deshaun Watson who has requested a trade from Houston. The Panthers are in play for a new quarterback as it definitely seems they are not committing to Teddy Bridgewater. Carolina is viewed as one of the potential suitors to the Texans’ QB, but it is not known if they would be willing to pay the high price tag to get him in a trade. Fans must remember that the Panthers have plenty of pieces to add to the roster, so giving up a plethora of high draft picks is something that is probably not in their best interest.

Going back to the trade that occurred last night, it means that Stafford is off the board for Carolina. It wasn’t nearly as highly speculated that he would end up with the Panthers as Watson might. It will just be a wait-and-see situation as pieces around the league continue to fall. Meanwhile, here is the list of free agents the Panthers will have to decide whether or not to re-sign:

Alex Armah, Pharoh Cooper, Mike Davis, Seth Devalve, Matt Kaskey, Keith Kirkwood, Tyler Larsen, Chris Manhertz, Taylor Moton, Russell Okung, Chris Reed, Curtis Samuel, Michael Schofield, Trenton Scott, Colin Thompson, Brandon Zylstra, Rasul Douglas, Corn Elder, J.J. Jansen, Efe Obada, Kenny Robinson, Joey Slye, Julian Stanford, Adarius Taylor, Tahir Whitehead

Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets are just unpredictable. And we knew they would be heading into the season, but they’re even more so than I expected. Last Sunday as I wrote this article, the Hornets were on a four-game losing streak to teams that aren’t that great. Now they have won three of their last five games in what has been a very busy, busy week. Starting last Sunday with a game against the Magic, the Hornets escaped with a three-point win to break the losing streak. Gordon Hayward went off for 39 points and 9 rebounds in that one. But the Magic would avenge that loss with a 117-108 win in Orlando the very next night.

Gordon HaywardAP/Chris Carlson — Gordon Hayward
AP/Chris Carlson

On Wednesday the Pacers came to town with a two-game series (Wednesday and Friday). Indiana got the best of Charlotte on Wednesday, giving them their sixth loss in seven games. It was Terry Rozier who led Charlotte in scoring that night with 20, while Cody Zeller was big on the boards with 14 rebounds. But still, fans were more than anxious at this point for another win. They would get it Friday night with the rematch against the Pacers, with a 108-105 victory. PJ Washington scored 19, giving the Hornets its third different leading scorer in as many games. Devonta Graham had a nice night as well with 14 points and 10 assists.

With yet another game last night, the Hornets welcomed one of the East’s best, the Milwaukee Bucks. But surprise, surprise…the Hornets pulled out the win, and a double digit one at that. The 126-114 win was their biggest win since beating the Knicks by 21 on January 11th. And the 126 points were a season high for the team. Against the Bucks. Who would have thought? While Giannis Antetokounmpo got his 34 points, the Bucks couldn’t stop Gordon Hayward and Lamelo Ball who each had 27 apiece. It was Ball’s career-high after seeing his fair share of struggles of recent. The Hornets are now tied for the 8th spot in the East with the Knicks and will be back in action tomorrow against the Heat.

College Basketball

Charlotte 49ers

Charlotte has now broke free from their .500 overall record this season by adding a pair of wins this week at home against Florida International, giving them a 9-7 season record. The two wins didn’t come easy, however. Friday night’s game was tied at 49-49 after regulation and needed extra time to determine a winner. The 49ers made the most of the extra five minutes, outscoring the Panthers 14 to 6 to earn the win. Jahmir Young led Charlotte in scoring with 25 points and was the only one to score in double-digits. He also added 10 boards for a double-double.

Squaring off again yesterday, the two teams fought another very close battle. Neither team could quite pull away, but in the end it was Charlotte who came away with a three-point, 68-65 victory. Young once again led all Charlotte scorers with 22, while Brice Williams had 15.

Davidson Wildcats

Davidson only had one game on the schedule this week, which was against St. Bonaventure. But due to unfortunate circumstances surrounding a positive Covid test, Davidson basketball was put on hold four days ago and the game was not played. We don’t know how long basketball activities will be paused right now, but I would imagine at least two weeks. Their next game on the schedule is for next Saturday at Fordham University.

Appalachian State Mountaineers

App State is still enjoying one its more successful seasons in recent history, but this week was not a successful one. Friday and Saturday’s games against the Troy Trojans both resulted in losses for the Mountaineers. And the bad thing was, Troy was in last place in the Sun Belt coming into Friday’s game, with just one conference win up to that point. It’s definitely frustrating for App when they lose two of those games to an opponent like that. Friday’s game was a 71-62 loss where the team was just 2 of 19 from the 3-point line. As ugly as that offensive performance was, yesterday’s game was even worse with the Mountaineers scoring just 59 points in a 65-59 defeat. They hit seven three-pointers in that one, but was just 23 of 57 from the floor. The only thing to do is to shake it off, re-group, and be ready for next weekend’s series in Atlanta against Georgia State. App State is now 12-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play.

High School

Good news was announced this week when Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced it will end its athletic pause (due to Covid) a little earlier than originally planned. Originally February 15th was the date when athletics could resume. Now, Monday, February 8th will see sports such as basketball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and soccer return to action. Swimmers may have been the happiest with the news, though. By having to wait until February 15th, their season would have been over. They are now allowed to return to the pools February 5th, in time to compete in the regionals and state competitions. Those competitors must be elated and I am very happy for them.

Weddington’s AJ Cook is Charlotte Observer’s Player of the WeekCharlotte Observer — Weddington’s AJ Cook is Charlotte Observer’s Player of the Week
Charlotte Observer

Let’s catch up on this week’s high school varsity basketball scores:

Monday, January 25

South Point Red Raiders 60

Stuart Cramer Storm 57

Tuesday, January 26

Marvin Ridge Mavericks 55

Midway Raiders 71

Central Davidson Spartans 59

Salisbury Hornets 67

Carmel Christian Cougars 72

Victory Christian Kings 57

North Iredell Raiders 64

East Rowan Mustangs 53

West Rowan Falcons 86

Statesville Greyhounds 61

Cannon Cougars 78

Charlotte Country Day Buccaneers 45

Patton Panthers 56

Draughn Wildcats 43

West Caldwell Warriors 35

Hibriten Panthers 32

South Iredell Vikings 59

Jesse Carson Cougars 37

Crest Chargers 79

Kings Mountain Mountaineers 67

Wednesday, January 27

Lake Norman Wildcats 53

R.J. Reynolds Demons 59

West Forsyth Titans 48

Davie War Eagles 72

Thursday, January 28

Central Cabarrus Vikings 69

Northwest Cabarrus Trojans 54

East Gaston Warriors 56

Shelby Golden Lions 81

Robinson Bulldogs 72

Hickory Ridge Ragin’ Bulls 69

Statesville Greyhounds 63

North Iredell Raiders 75

Friday, January 29

West Cabarrus Wolverines 73

Ashbrook Green Wave 58

Kings Mountain Mountaineers 80

Stuart Cramer Storm 54

Burns Bulldogs 75

South Point Red Raiders 77

Crest Chargers 54

Forestview Jaguars 49

Statesville Greyhounds 61

South Iredell Vikings 54

R.J. Reynolds Demons 66

Davie War Eagles 62

Victory Christian Kings 57

Lake Norman Christian Ospreys 60

West Rowan Falcons 80

East Rowan Mustangs 48

With the current pause in CMS athletic activities, for the first time they are now NOT INCLUDED in the latest Charlotte Observer Sweet 16 Poll. It was quite the shakeup this week, so let’s take a look at it:

Observer Sweet 16 (As of Tuesday, Jan 26)

16. Lincoln Charter (1A)

15. Charlotte Christian (IND)

14. Charlotte Latin (IND)

13. Charlotte Catholic (3A)

12. Kings Mountain (3A)

11. West Rowan (3A)

10. Northside Christian (IND)

9. Concord Academy (IND)

8. Davidson Day (IND)

7. Shelby (2A)

6. Cox Mill (3A)

5. Weddington (3A)

4. Victory Christian (IND)

3. Westminster Catawba (IND)

2. Cannon (IND)

1. Carmel Christian (IND)

Garett

704 Weekly Sports Report