iamcs Cathbcrl
Last week, we named Antonio Howard as our Mr.
Basketball 1985.
This week, it is time to name his mate, a unanimous
selection.
Five foot nine inch sophomore Andrea Stinson of
North Mecklenburg is the 1985 Charlotte Post’s “Miss
Basketball.”
Stinson is a forward averaging 21.0 points per game
and 9.0 rebounds per game.
She led her team to the regular season championship of
the Southwestern 4A and the tournament finals.
She is the leading scorer in the county helping the
Lady Vikings to a 21-3 regular season record.
She plays with the Junior Olympics and is an all-state
candidate.
The rest of the first team includes Mia Nance of South
Mecklenburg, 14.9 ppg., 5.1 rpg.; Lori Helton, West
Mecklenburg, 20.0 ppg., 8.0 rpg.; Veronica Harris,
Olympic, 14.0 ppg., 10.0 rpg.; and Lisa Clontz, Pro
vidence Day, 19.8 ppg., 13.7 rpg.
The second team aU county girls team includes I.ym
Austin, Harding; Kelly Bailey, Charlotte Latin; Renee
Davis, East Mecklenburg; Lavetta Dawkins, East
Mecklenburg; and April Whitten, East Mecklenburg.
The third team includes Judy Graham, Olympic;
Tanya Williams, Harding; Karen Revert, In
dependence; Eugenia Sturgies, Myers Park; and Johnet
ta Peterson, East Mecklenburg.
Honorable mention includes Emily Baker, North;
Sherry Mobley, North; Tuwanda Smith, West
Charlotte; and Maria Parker, West Charlotte.
Team of the Year
The most exciting team <to watch'in the Southwestern
4A Conference this year was West Charlotte.
They were involved in more thrilling games than '
anybody. Honorable mention goes to Olympic, North
and Myers Park.
The Notorious Nineteen Scorers
Byron Dinkins, East, 25.0; Dee Pritchett, Myers Park,
19.4; Antonio Howard, Olympic, 18.9; Roman Phifer,
South, 18.8; Milton Moore, West, 17.7; Letura Stitt,
North, 16.7; Julio Morrison, Independence, 16.6;
Donald Simmons, Olympic, 16.1; James Elmore, Gar
tnger, 15.2; Todd Holden, North, 14.9; Willie Walker,
Garinger 14.4; Carol Raley, West, 14.2; Paul Grier,
Myers Park, 13.9; Lee Rozier, Independence, 13.8;
Ronald Downer, Independence, 13.3; Lonnie Tucker,
Harding, 13,2; Pervis Thomas, Garinger, 13.6; Terry
Massey, Myers Park, 13.4; Kevin Reid, West Charlotte,
12.7
Boy’s Rankings (Southwestern 4A)
1. West Charlotte, 2. Myers Park, 3. North, 4. In
dependence, 5. Olympic, 6. Harding, 7. Garinger 8.
South, 9. East, 10. West
Girl’s Rankings (Southwestern 4A)
1. North, 2. East, 3. Harding, 4. South, 5. Olympic, 6.
Independence, 7. West, 8. Myers Park, 9. West
Charlotte, 10. Garinger
Mike Wallace and Ben Cooper of West Mecklenburg
made it to the finals of the State Wrestling Tournament
before losing and Fred Alexander went to the consolation
round final to £ive the Indians a fifth place showing in
the state wrestling tournament, their best showing in the
school’s 33 year history.
North Mecklenburg’s Tony Mercer was the only
Mecklenburg County wrestler to take a state title.
This was nis second straight in the heavyweight class
and he won by beating Mike Wallace 4-0 in the
championship.
The Vikings were eighth in team competition. The
Lions of West Charlotte were tied for 19th.
After topping, the 6-4, 260 pound Mercer during
regular season, Wallace has now lost to the Man Moun
tain four straight times in the conference, the sectional,
regional and state.
( . I 1* A '•> • I
Congratulations to Charlotte Catholic basketball
player Dondi Edwards.
Edwards, who recently accepted a four-year appoint
ment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis,
was named to the All Rocky River Con/erence Basket
ball Team.
'Pn®1of ten picked, he averaged 10 points per game and
9.0 rebounds per game during the season.
His best game was when he scored 21 points and pull
ed down 11 rebounds against the highly touted
Park wood team headed by 6-6 Mike Washington.
, He pulled down 18 rebounds against West Stanley.
Edwards hopes to play at the Naval Academy after sit
ting out his freshman year to concentrate on tne books.
t ^Oore.on Mercer . . . Tony Mercer garnered a record
of 82 wins and 2 losses during his three years at North
Mecklenburg.
The wrestler was conference champ three times, sec
tional champ three times, and state champion two times.
He was a member of the Shrine Bowl squad and is on
the roster for the East-West All-Star Game.
He was honorable mention for first team All-America
and was first team All-Cohference for three years.
He will attend Appalachian State University on a foot
ball scholarship. Chris Russ was his coach.
Congratulations to Providence Day’s Reggie Clark.
He made the first team All-Charlotte Independent
Schools Athletic Association Conference Basketbal'
Team and led Providence Day to the state finals.
Once again the Independence Patriots have done ii
The iunior varsity basketball team beat Harding 72-56 to
finish its season with a 20-0 record.
Apologies to West Charlotte’s Kevin Reid. The article
on his first team all-county selection inadvertently dmit
ted his 12.5 points per game average and his l4.5>e
bounds per game average.
•* ;
Melvin Jones is en outstanding wrestler for Coach John Carothen'
Lions.
He is the conference champion, the sectional champion and the regional
champion in the 195 weight class.
"Every since he was in 10th grade, he has been the captain," said Coach
John Caro then.
Out of 27 matches since 10th grade, he has only lost three, finishing se
cond in the conference, second in the sectionals and making the regional!.
In the 11th grade, he won 25 and lost one and finished second in the
conference, second in the sectional and made it to the regional!.
This year he was seeded number one from the West in the state. He
finished third in the state tournament.”
-■
BATCH Kicks Off
New Tennis Season
The BATCH Racquet Association
will officially kickoff its 1965 season
the first week of March with a
Tennis Extravaganza beginning at 9
a.m. at Hornet’s Nest Park.
New members are invited to the
extravaganza to meet the members
of last year’s second place team in
the Southeastern Racquet Associa
tion Conference tournament
championship.
The Traveling All-Stars were 1-2
in the conference and 4-2 overall last
year finishing in a second place tie
with Greensboro and Columbia.
Greenville, S.C. finished last.
Memberships are $90 per person
this year and $45 per family.
Junior Round Robin will be held on
March 9.
Senior Round Robin will be held on
March 16.
The Charlotte Spring Open Tennis
Tournament will be the first
tournament.
It will be held on March 30 and 31.
Lart week the incorrect photo of
Antomo Howard, the Charlotte
Poet’. “Player of the Year” waa
shown. The above gentleman is Mr.
Howard who » a 80.3 percent free
throw shooter averaging 19.6 points
per game. «■
>: 15 Gridden Signed -y ;M
Mo Forte Delighted
With 1985 Recruits
By Drexei Ball
fecial To The Psat
GREENSBORO, — Outstanding.
That was the word used most often
when veteran North Carolina A&T
football coach Mo Forte assessed the
potential of his 198S recruits.
“I’m extremely happy with our
recruiting year thus-far,” Forte
said. “I think we’ve recruited an
outstanding group of young talent
that will develop into some fine
athletes before they graduate for
A4T.”
Battling major college powers for
the services of some of the nation's
leading high school seniors, AAT
signed 15 players on the national
signing date. While that number is
expected to increase before recruit
ing ends. A&T has already claimed a
number of players with all-confe
rence, all-state and regional honors.
Forte said recruiting efforts cen
tered on defense.
“We felt we were weakest on
defense last season,’’ Forte said.
“We tried to get the best individuals
available to shore up our defense.’’
Toward that end. AltT signed
seven linebackers, three defensive
tackles, and two defensive backs.
The offensive signees included two
running backs and one wide
receiver.
Continuing a pattern of recent
years, A4T recruited heavily in the
state. Forte and his coaching staff
will greet no fewer than 11 new
comers from North Carolina in the
fall. The remaining recruits will
come from Virginia, Maryland,
Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.
Forte made good on his efforts to
sign local talent. The three local
players who’ll be attending AAT in
the fall are coming from traditional
ly winning programs.
Southern Guilford was a major
contender forr the Triad 3-A Confe
rence title last season and Forte
grabbed two players from its ranks.
They include running back Jerome
Crawford (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) and
defensive tackle Jimmy Fennell
(6-0,220). The other local product is
l-:
6-1, 176-pound wide receiver Regi
nald Rambert, who propped at
Dudley High School. •
Massive defensive tackle Steve
Williams (6-2, 245) is typical of
the defensive linemen the AAT
coaching staff sought A product of
Terry Sandford High School of Fay
etteville, N.C., Williams earned ail
state and ail-conference honors. He
also has been selected to partici
pate in the East-West All
Star game, a mid-summer football
spectacle that showcases North
Carolina’s outstanding senior
players.
But A&T’s pick of the litter very
well may be 6-foot-4, 205-pound
linebacker Demont Vann. Vann was
a two-sport standout at Bethel High
School of Hampton, Va., earning
All-America honors in football and
track.
While some of the recruits may
win starting berths this fall, Forte is
keeping his expectation at an even
-'keah'.;
“As usual, we don’t know how
good these players are going to be
until we get them on the field,”
Forte said. “But I’m very excited
about their potential. I honestly
think this is another group of players
we’ll be proud of.”
The Aggies finished with a 2-8
record last season. But Forte be
lieves his most recent recruiting
effort will help bring about a
reversal.
r~~ —
t DON7
Mouse
AROUND I
Read The Post
WILLIAM R. FITZGERALD
PRESIDENT and FOUNDER
1907-1008
JOHN MERRICK
PRESIDENT 1909-191B
i~—.. - ■ ■ ■ ■ -,
WILLIAM C. PEARSON
PRESIDENT t»18
r—■
Back in 1908 the safest place for most Blacks to keep their
money was in their mattress. For the Black business com
munity, composed mostly of mechanics (skilled craftsmen)
andfarmers, securing a business loan was unheard of.
I tw Black businessmen, including R.B. Fitzgerald.
John Merrick, Stanford L. Warren, Dr. Aaron M. Moore, WG
Pearson, G.W. Stephens and PW. Dawkins, decided to form
Mechanics and Farmers Bank.
These men wanted to change things for the better. They opened
the bank as a waV for Blacks to save and use their money for
the betterment of themselves and their community.
Through the help of Mechanics and Farmers Bank, Blacks
had a way of improving their situations.
The objective and heritage started back in 1908 continues todatf
With nearly 62 million dollars in assets, K
we’ve grown beyond the dreams of our founders
but with higher goals in mind. j_
We loaned over 11 million dollars in 1984 '
to build homes, churches and businesses.
Through personal loans, we’ve helped im
prove the quality of life in the communities
we serve.
No matter what we do, or how large we
grow, we’ll never forget how we came to be
tnis way.
, We began by offering the services needed
by our community and today we are contin
uing to change in order to serve you better
with qualitative financial servicfes. '
f'J Mechanics and
Farmers Bank
Durham • Raleigh • Charlotte • Wlnaton-Salem
Member PDIC • Equal Houeing Lender
,