SPORTS
Off the Clock
Larry Sipe resigns after 12 years
as clock keeper at Tar Heel games
~The winningest men’s basketball coach in
the history of Kings Mountain High School
has retired from another job.
Larry Sipe this week resigned as the clock
operator for the University of North Carolina
men’s basketball games, ending a 12-year
reign ~~ which
began when his
wife, Brenda,
told former
UNC coach
Bill Guthridge
that it was
okay.
Sipe, who
has been work-
ing basketball
camps at UNC
for 36 consecu-
tive summers -
and plans to
continue in that
role - said
Guthridge
asked him if he
would be interested in the job.
“I couldn’t just retire from basketball
completely,” Sipe recalled. “I told him I
would have to ask my wife. He said, ‘I’ve al-
ready talked to her and she said it’s okay.”
Sipe didn’t get to keep the clock for
Guthridge as he later resigned and Matt Do-
herty came in as head coach. Sipe spent two
seasons with Doherty and the last ten years
with Roy Williams, who led the Tar Heels to
COACH SIPE
. NCAA championships in 2005 and 2009.
Sipe said driving back and forth to Chapel
Hill, especially for 9 p.m. games, was getting
to be too much for him. On occasion he
would spend the night with his daughter,
Carrie, who lives in Chapel Hill, but driving
back the next morning was still too tiring, he
said.
Like coaching, keeping the game clock
can be high-pressure and you really can’t
enjoy the game, he said.
But Sipe certainly enjoyed the friendships
he made with coaches, players, press, ACC
and Smith Center personnel, and others.
“Just secing-the things that-go-on-before
the 9 o’clock game is exciting,” he said, “The
preparation in the back, the press conferences
at the end of the game, and folks in there
cleaning up and disassembling. It’s quite a
production. I was very fortunate to do that
for 12 years.
“I have no regrets,” he added. “I wish I
was a little younger and lived closer to
Chapel Hill. Then the travel wouldn’t be so
hard.”
Sipe has been around basketball and edu-
cation for most of his life. As a youngster
growing up in Cherryville he played basket-
ball and other youth sports. In high school he
played basketball for the Cherryville Iron-
men, and after graduation he went on to
Lenoir-Rhyne to get his degree and to UNC
for post-graduate work.
He coached for several years at Washing-
ton High School in eastern North Carolina,
where he coached Dominique Wilkins. He
came to KMHS in 1983 and coached the
Mountaineers to numerous conference cham-
pionships. His 1990 team won the Western
NC Regional championship and played in
the state 3A title game at the Dean Dome.
Sipe’s teams won 234 games in 18 years,
breaking the longtime school record of the
late Don Parker from 1944-1967.
Sipe will continue to teach drivers educa-
tion at KMHS.
“That’s to keep me busy,” he said. “But
it’s like when I was coaching. After 33 years
there’s going to come a time when you know
it’s time to retire. After 12 seasons I know
how tired I was the next day after a game,
and it was time.
“I'm glad I had the opportunity,” he
added. “I made a lot of new friends and know
how everything works there. The toughest
thing about leaving was telling Angel Bit-
ting, who is the director of the Smith Center,
and Roy Williams. But I”’1l find something
to occupy my time.” :
Doing driver’s ed won't be as tiring as
going back and forth to Chapel Hill several
times a week. And Sipe said he intends to see
a lot of basketball in the area - just not from
the scorer’s table. 3
“I went over and watched Gardner-Webb
play a couple times last season and was re-
ally impressed with what they’re doing,” he
said. “This will give me some time to see
them play. I haven’t seen Belmont Abbey
play since LaVar Curry (one of his former
players) graduated. I want to go see David-
son and UNC Charlotte play. I might go
nights when Carolina’s on TV.”
No doubt, Sipe had to bite his tongue a lot
while keeping the clock.
“When I was coaching sometimes you’d
holler at the guy running the clock to make
sure it was running on time,” he said. “Herb
Sendeck (former NC State coach) was the
first one to say something to me, and Coach
(Mike) Krzyzewski (of Duke) got on me one
night. But that sort of comes with the terri-
tory. It’s not a job where you can sit there and
enjoy the game. I had the best seat in the
house but it was also the most stressful seat
in the house.”
Sipe got to know former UNC coach
Dean Smith when he was there as a grad stu-
dent. ‘When Smith learned: Sipe" was a codch
* he invited him to work his summer camps.
He just finished his 36th summer.
“Il still do the camps,” he said. “They’ll
have to carry me out of there.”
Sipe recalled seeing NASCAR driver El-
liott Sadler at a UNC game one night and
went over to introduce himself. “His little
brother, Hermie, was there,” Sipe noted. “He
said, ‘coach, don’t you remember me? I was
in your class at basketball camp.’
“I was able to meet a lot of great players
through the camps,” Sipe added. “Stephon
Curry (former Davidson great and now with
the San Francisco Warriors) was in my gym,
and countless others.
“I’ve been in basketball a long time,” he
said. “Just think about it. Twelve years of
school; I didn’t go to kindergarten and it was-
n’t because I was too smart. They didn’t have
kindergarten back then. I started teaching in
1968, so that’s. ..45, plus 12...” And then he
thought:
“I don’t even want to add it up!”
First place Mint Hill whips KM 14-1
Mint Hill solidified its hold on first place
in the Eastern Division of Area IV with a 14-
1, seven-inning victory over Kings Mountain
Post 155 Wednesday night at Lancaster
Field.
Thursday’s game with Gaston Post 23 at
Gastonia’s Sims Legion Park was cancelled
because of thunderstorms. KM was leading
3-1 when the game was called in the third in-
ning.
A five-run first inning was all Mint Hill
needed to nail down the win and send KM
spiraling to a three-game losing steak to end
the regular season. KM lost six of its last
eight games after opening with a 6-1 record.
Post 155 scored its only run in the bottom
of the first when Jhaqui Adams beat out an
infield hit, stole second and scored on a sin-
gle to center by Alex Reynolds.
KMHS teams, individuals receive Spring
Scholar Athlete Awards from NCHSAA
Five teams and numerous individuals
from Kings Mountain High School received
Spring Scholar Athletes Awards from the
North Carolina High School Athletic Asso-
ciation.
Teams recognized for an unweighted GPA
: of 3.1 or higher were baseball, softball,
women’s track, women’s soccer and men’s
tennis. ; :
Athletes recognized for having a
weighted GPA of 3.5 or higher included:
Mary Asgari, Jamie Bagwell, Lyndsey
Barnes, Carsyn Bolin, Nina Bounpheng,
Sarah Bradshaw, Artaysia Brooks, Faythe
Brown, Erin Calhoun, Haley Camp, Erica
Carpenter, Hannah Chapman, Reagan
Childers, Tionja Crumpton, Mary Dellinger,
Kimberley Farris, Annamarie Fulbright,
McKenzie Gibbons, Kristian Goins, Lauren
Gould, Adrienne Green, Emily Harris,
Ceikayia Haynes, Emily Hester, Gwendolyn
Hopper, Courtney Johnson, Jada Mauney,
Sydney Morris, Cassie Morton, Tichina
Parker, Radhika Patel, Mekeijah Pettis,
Mikayla Price, Mary Robinson, Betzaira
Saenz, Johnna Scism, Sarah Scism, Molly
Short, Trista Sikes, Madeline Skeith, Jamie
Slater, Sara Smart, Mackenzie Smith, Kate-
lyn Terry, Destiny Wood, Hannah Wyte;
Alexander Austin, Devin Ayscue, Colby
Bailey, Robert Baker, Tyler Batchler,
Nicholas Bolin, Will Boyles, Joshua Brucker,
Cameron Bullock, Nicholas Chanthavong,
Michael Cole, Michael Cooke, Baron Craw-
ford, Colby Crisp, Tico Crocker, Jason
Dawkins, Kenneh Dimetros, Jacob Edmond-
son, Andrew Estridge, Collin Foster, Alex
Grooms, Devin Heath, Zachary Hegler, Tyler
Herndon, Devin Hullender, Vincent Lewis,
David Lovelace, Donnie Malaythong, Brent
Martin, William McGill, Gregory McGinnis,
Jacob Miller, Andrew Moore, Jordan Moore,
Rielly: Neal, Tanner Orders, Arrick
Rithiphong, William Ruffalo, Zackery Saldo,
William Sellers, Carver Warren, Tyler Wells,
Will Wilson and Jack Zyble.
The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald. net
A
i
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
TERR
a
Kings Mountain catcher Addison Stinnett can’t quite catch up to a sliding Tanner Muse as he
scores in Friday’s American Legion game at Lancaster Field.
Post 155 plays Hickory
in first round of playoffs
Kings Mountain Post 155
‘was swept by the Gaston
Braves 9-2 and 7-5 to end
the regular season Friday
night at Lancaster Field.
The losses left Post 155
with an 8-7 Eastern Division
record and 8-9 overall mark
heading into the first round
of the Area IV playoffs
tonight at Hickory.
The best-of-five series
will continue Thursday night
at Kings Mountain and Fri-
day night at Hickory. If a
fourth game is necessary it
will be played Saturday
night at KM; and if a fifth
game is needed it will be
Sunday night in Hickory.
The KM-Hickory winner
will advance to the second.
round playoff series against
the winner of the Gaston
Braves- Rutherford. County
Series.
The Braves scored three
runs in the top of the first in-
ning and were never caught
in the opening game of Fri-
day's twinbill.
KM southpaw Alex
Grooms settled down after
that and held the Braves
scoreless over the next two
innings. He retired the first
two batters: in the fourth be-
fore an error produced a run,
followed by a two-run home
run by Thomas Nantz for a
6-0 Braves lead.
The Braves’ lead went to
7-0 in the fifth on a double
by Nate Buchanan, single by
Jarke Hoptkins and a sacri-
fice fly by Tanner Muse.
Kings Mountain’s only
run came in the bottom of
the fifth when Addison Stin-
nett walked and later scored
on a single to right by Jhaqui
Adams.
Kings Mountain man-
aged only five hits with
Adams providing a pair of
singles. Addison Stinnett had
a double and Hunter Stinnett
and Daniel Barrett each had
a single.
Game two was back and
forth with Post 155 holding
a 5-4 lead when thunder
clouds began moving in
going into the bottom of the
fourth. The Braves were the
home team and came in and
scored three runs off Dallas
Conner to win the game.
With one out in the top of the
fifth and lightning dancing in
the distance, the umpires
called the players off the
field.
The slim KM lead looked
- good when Conner retired
the first two batters in the
bottom of the fourth. But
Hopkins beat out an infield
hit, Nantz walked and Justin
Williams laced a double to
left to tie the game. Andrew
Locklear ‘followed with a
two-run single to left for the
winning runs,
The Braves broke a
scoreless tie in the bottom of
the second when Muse and
Aaron walked and Muse
later scored on a wild pitch
for a 1-0 Braves lead.
It didn’t last long, though,
as Adams sent a two-run
home run over the left-cen-
ter field fence with Addison
Stinnett aboard for a 2-1 KM
lead in the top of the third.
The Braves answered
with a RBI single by Lock-
lear and a two-run home run
by: Lawing to take a 4-2 lead
in the bottom of the third.
KM regained the lead at
5-4 in the top of the fourth
on singles by Hunter Stinnett
and Colby Crisp, followed
by a run-scoring single by
Cameron Bullock to cut the
margin to 4-3; and a two-run
single by Adams for the 5-4
lead.
Adams was KM’s only
player with two hits. He had
a single to go with his home
run. Kevin Mills, Hunter
Stinnett, Crisp, Bullock and
Will Wilson added a hit
apiece.
Ceank it u
Bring ¢ on your best for a chance to
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ICE CREAM CRANK OFF
doin us Puly 20 at Kings Mountain's BeachlBlast Celebration.
All proceeds will go to Relay for Life. Help us fight cancer, have a
great time and win bragging rights to the best freezer of ice cream
in this area! Pick your category, fill out the tshelion form on
Page 3 of today's newspaper, gs
‘Benefitting
LLEVA Lg {811
crank up your freezer and
join the fun!
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