Photo by En MMe The Concord Mountain Lions face off with the WSSU Rams. WSSU Rams baseball splits pair of games with Concord SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE The Winston-Salem State Baseball team split a double header against the Concord Mountain Lions on Wednesday evening, March 11, dropping Game One before rebounding for a thrilling walk-off win in the night cap, off the bat of Alex Grubb at BB&T Ballpark in down town Winston-Salem. In Game One, Concord broke open a scoreless game in the fifth inning, when the team was able to reach the WSSU pitching for two runs on three hits to take a 2-0 lead. WSSU answered back with a run in the bottom half of the fifth, when Jacob Barber led off with a single followed by another single from Alex Grubb. After a walk from Taylor Idol, Gavin Culler would bring home Jacob Barber with a sacrifice fly to right field, cutting the Mountain Lion lead to one, at 2-1. Concord University added another run in the sixth inning, on two hits, and helped by two WSSU errors, to push out in front 3-1. And would add two more runs in the top of the seventh to increase their lead to 5-1. Winston-Salem State to add one more run in the bot tom of the seventh inning when Des Roberts would bring home Gavin Culler, to close out the scoring. With the loss. WSSU falls to 14-5 overall, while Concord University improves to 3-4 overall on the 2015 season. Jordan Carlton took the loss for WSSU, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing two runs and four hits while walking three and striking out three. Hayden O'Neal pitched 2.0 innings of relief, allowing three runs on three hits while walking three. Gavin Culler and Barber led the WSSU Rams, with each going one for three with a run scored, while Culler also added a run batted in. Connor Andrus, Nathan Steger and Alex Grubb also each went one for three. Roberts fin ished one for four with a run batted in. In Game Two, Winston-Salem State manufactured a run in the bottom half of the seventh inning, and Alex Grubb would single to right field, scoring Connor Andrus to give Winston-Salem State a 1-0 walk-off win. The Rams used five pitchers to combine for the shutout, getting some weekend starters some mid-week work in preparation for CIAA play last weekend. Sam Burton, the starter, along with Aaron Hatch pitched the first two innings, of hitless baseball. Eric Corlett would pitch two innings allowing two hits with a strikeout, and Jordan Cummings also pitched two innings, allowing one hit while striking out two. Devin McLemore picked up the win, pitching a hitless sixth and struck out two Mountain Lion batters. Gavin Culler, Des Roberts, Dylan Dombrowskas, Connor Andrus and Alex Grubb each went one for three, while Andrus scored the winning run, and Grubb picked up the RBI on the hit. Winston-Salem State will travel to Murfreesboro, N.C. this weekend to open CIAA play, when they face the Chowan Hawks in a four game weekend series. Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena becomes smoke-free SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE Time Warner Cable Arena will became one of Charlotte's smoke-free government grounds, on Wednesday, March 18. As a result, smoking will not be allowed any where on the Time Warner Cable Arena property (building, grounds, sidewalks, etc.). Also, the designated outdoor smoking areas currently available during Charlotte Hornets games and other arena events will also be eliminated. Per this policy, no light ed smoking products will be allowed in the building or on the grounds. Since Time Warner Cable Arena is a city-owned building, it falls under the new smoke-free government grounds regulation. In October, an ordinance was adopted by the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners that bans smoking in county-, city- or town-owned buildings, vehicles and grounds in Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte and the six townships. A FAQ regarding the new smoke-free policy is avail able at hornets.com. For more information, please visit homets.com or time wamercablearena .com. * Prep Girls from page HT tried to stay active and keep in front of her," Claytor said. "Coach talked to me during the week and he explained all the different things she likes to do when she has the ball in her hands." The Phoenix pushed the pace to a faster tempo in the second quarter. Mychala Wolfe, Chrisalyn Boston, Kay la Robinson and Claytor led the charge on a 13-2 run and Prep led 32-15 at the half. The long-awaited moment for a cham pionship-game victory was not lost on Claytor. After Prep won West Regional two weeks ago to advance to the state, Claytor ended a press conference by saying "Hey, we're going to the 'ship' y'all " A week later, she was nearly speechless. "Right now, I'm just too excited," she said in a post-game interview. "Words can't describe how I feel. When that buzzer went off, I knew it (winning tne snip ) was a done deal At the start of the season. Prep's girls were on a mission to make amends for the previous season that ended in a nightmare. The Phoenix lost by 3 points in regionals to Bishop McGuinness, which went on to win its ninth straight state championship. The Phoenix players were haunted by that memory and Love used it as motivation to keep his team focused and hungry. "We felt like we beat ourselves in that game because we missed so many free throws." said Love. "So, we went back to work and found ways to improve in every game. I give a lot of credit to these ladies for keep ing their passion to work and win games. We're going to enjoy this for a while." Aside from Claytor, the Phoenix had three other players to score in double fig ures, which included two with double-dou bles. Boston contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds and Robinson added 13 points and 10 boards. Wolfe finished with 13 points on 5-of-10 field shooting from the field. "I just came out and did my job," Boston said, who was voted Most Outstanding Player for the Phoenix. "I take the shots when I'm open. When a shot goes up, I grab the rebound and kick the ball out so we can get our running game going." Hwcfcy PniiT.efteJec1 Mychala Wolfe scored in double figures in the title game. Lor* Prep Boys from page BI Prep pulled to within a basket at 63-61 on Daivien Williamson's drive. But Johnson hit a pair of free throws and Simmons got free for an uncontested lay up to put East Carteret up by 6 (67-61) with 12 sec onds to go. Josh Gould hit a 3-pointer to account for Prep's final points of the contest. Hollingsworth led all scorers 25 points in his final game wearing a Prep uniform. Zaire Williams came close to posting a double-double with 9 points and nine rebounds. For East Carteret (28 2), Brown delivered a vir tuoso performance (17 points, seven rebounds and six assists) as the champi onship game MVP. Simmons contributed a team-high 23 points. East Carteret issued some payback on Prep, who beat the Mariners in last year's state final on Hollingsworth's put-back with less than two seconds left to play. "After going through what they went through last year, we knew they'd be ready," said Gould. "They're a scrappy bunch that likes to com pete. We didn't give it (title) to them. They took from us what we wanted to keep." This season's crew at Prep could be viewed as ovcrachievers. Gould lost eight seniors from last sea son. It was a core group which won three straight state championships. Five of the eight are now play ing college basketball. In contrast, this year's group had three seniors who got a lot of playing time. The rest of the squad was comprised of freshmen and sopho mores who got a lot of sea soning as varsity newbies. "We'll be back (to the state championship), I can promise you that," Gould said. "If we don't, it won't be because we didn't give it our best shot. We've estab lished a culture here and we're not going any where." Reynolds/ from page 61 omore, draws as much attention as a polished ball handler who has the total package. Wilson is crafty with the ball in her hands, and she has the speed to get to the rim. If the lane gets crowded, she's developed a dependable pull-up jumper and she's lethal from 3-point L range. "When I scouted Reynolds during the state playoffs, she was the one player who really had me worried," said Coach Barbara Nelson of >? Charlotte Myers Park. "She's such a good shooter that you can't afford to give her a step. That's why we put our most athletic player (Aliyah Mazyck) on her. Aliyah s length forced her to take shots from further out than usual." Reynolds, who finished the season at 27-1, was over matched against J Myers Park in the playoffs, especially on the front line. The Lady Demons made a game of it early and the first quarter ended in a 10-10 tie. After that, RJR went into an offensive tailspin and the end result was a 64-36 blow-out defeat. "One game didn't define our season," said Gainey. "This team accom plished a lot and wrote a new chapter in the history of the school. The key now is to establish consistency because the bar has been set very high. "We're going back to work. It's important that everybody continues to buy in to what we're doing, to have that willingness to fill their roles. This is about establishing a legacy and establishing the right habits. When you outwork your opponents, you will be successful." Gainey WyKevin Bazemore earns second Team All-Atlantic Region honor SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. - Winston-Salem State University senior forward WyKevin Bazemore has been selected to the Daktronics/Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-Atlantic Region second basketball team. WyKevin Bazemore is a rarity, as he was selected to the All-CIAA Team for the fourth consecutive year. He is only the fourth player in the history of the C1AA to earn that honor four times. Bazemore started all 28 games this season and averaged 13.3 points and a team and CIA A high 9.8 rebounds per game. He scored a sea son high 25 points versus Johnson C. Smith and also pulled down 17 rebounds versus Fairmont State. He finished his career with 1337 points and 984 rebounds. His rebounding total ranks him 3rd All-Time in WSSU history behind Carlos Terry's (1975-78) 1,467 and Mike Robinson's (1976-80) 1,242. West Liberty's Seger Bonifant has been named the Adantic Region Player of the Year and headlines the 2014-15 Daktronics/Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-Adantic Region Men's Basketball Team. < Bonifant, a junior from Berlin, Ohio, was the Mountain East Conference Player of the Year after aver aging 24 points per game for the Hilltoppers. WLU fin ished the season ranked fifth in the country and is the host for the NCAA Adantic Regional Tournament. Joining Bonifant on the All-Adandc Region first team are Adam Blazek of Gannon, Devante Chance of Indiana (Pa.), Nick Harney of Fairmont State and Matt Tobin of East Stroudsburg. The second team consists of WyKevin Bazemore (Winston-Salem State), Tyree Gaiter (Notre Dame College), Wali Hepburn (Lock Haven), C J. Hester (West Liberty) and Cameron Knox (Bowie State). Sports information directors from NCAA Division II Adandc Region schools and conferences selected the two Daktronics All-Region teams and voted on the Player of the Year. The process concludes with Ail American selections announced later in the month. The team is sponsored by Daktronics Inc., an acknowl edged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. Bazemort Winston-Salem to host national track and field championships SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE Winston-Salem will be host to the 2015 USATF National Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships from Friday, March 20 to Sunday, March 22. The compe tition will be on March 21 at 7 p.m. at the Village Inn Event Center, the official meet Headquarters Hotel, 2505 Empire Drive. USATF and JDL Fast Traoc are set to bring over 2,100 athletes, coaches and spectators from across the country and internationally. The three-day event will feature for mer All-Americans, Olympians and World Champions ranging in age from 30 to 95+. Competition at each age group will display their speed, strength and endurance in the world's first sport - Track and Field. Track events will range from 60 meters to the 3,000 nfeter race-walk, while field events will include the full range of jumps and throws. For more information on the competition contact event organizer and facility director, Craig Longhurst, at 336-722-2033 and craig@jdlcastlecorp.com. Website is w ww.visitwinstonsalem .com/Masters