FROM STAFF REPORTS

sports@newstopic.net

All three Caldwell County high school wrestling teams, as well as a number of teams from the Unifour area, will gather at Hibriten High School today for the annual Jamie Tuttle Invitational tournament.

The 15-team tournament will hold its first matches beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Hibriten High gymnasium.

In addition to host-team Hibriten, also competing in the tournament are South and West Caldwell, Northwestern 3A-4A members Alexander Central, Hickory and Fred T. Foard; Catawba Valley 2A members Bandys, Draughn and Maiden; South Mountain 2A-3A teams Freedom and Patton; and East Carteret, Alleghany County, South Rowan and Forbush.

Admission to the tournament is $7 per person.

VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL South Caldwell 56 Draughn 48

Jonathan Cox scored a season-high 26 points to help South Caldwell's varsity boys basketball team pick up its first win of the season, beating Draughn 56-48 in Valdese Friday night.

The game was also the first career win for Spartans head coach Lee Swanson.

"This (win) feels great, and it makes me feel good to see the guys get the win after working so hard this offseason," Swanson said. "We didn't play great, but we played well enough to win."

South (1-3) held a 26-24 lead at halftime, but built its lead in the second half to as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter over the Wildcats.

"Jonathan was in a zone and he had a great game," Swanson said. "We kind of slid a little in the fourth quarter, but we found a way to win. Hopefully, we can build on this for the rest of the nonconference schedule."

Drew McGuire led Draughn with 17 points.

Victory Christian 62 Heritage Christian 60

Victory Christian came back in the fourth quarter to squeeze out a 62-60 win over Heritage Christian on Friday afternoon in Hudson.

Tevin Friday scored a game-high 41 points to lead the Patriots to the come-from-behind win.

Mitchell Prestwood scored 20 points and Cameron Kirkman added 14 for the Eagles (4-2).

VARSITY GIRLS BASKETBALL South Caldwell 66 Draughn 45

South Caldwell's varsity girls basketball team remained undefeated with a 66-45 nonconference win over Draughn on Friday night in Valdese.

Kayla Gross finished with a game-high 19 points to lead the Spartans in the come-from-behind win.

South (4-0) trailed 15-13 after the first quarter, but rallied to outscore the Wildcats 19-10 in the second and lead 32-25 at halftime.

The Spartans broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring Draughn 22-17 to build a comfortable 54-32 lead.

Matison Hall scored 15 points and Shaina Sams finished with a double-double (10 points and 10 assists) for South Caldwell.

Heritage Christian 52 Victory Christian 18

Heritage Christian used a big first quarter to build a big lead and cruise to a 52-18 win over Victory Christian on Friday afternoon in Hudson.

Makayla Morgan led the Eagles with 18 and Amber Hodge pitched in 17 to help Heritage Christian improve to 5-1 overall.

Cassie Streeter led Victory Christian with seven points.

JV BOYS BASKETBALL Draughn 64 South Caldwell 56

Draughn withstood a furious second-half comeback by South Caldwell to get a 64-56 win Friday afternoon in nonconference action in Valdese.

Draughn led 42-10 at halftime, but the Spartans answered in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 46-22 to close the deficit.

Josh Evans led South with 16 points and Jordyn Propst added 14 points.

Keith Loomis led Draughn with 10 points.

West Caldwell 57 Hibriten 40

West Caldwell's junior varsity boys team used a big third quarter run to break open a close game to defeat Hibriten 57-40 Friday afternoon in Gamewell.

With the game tied 27-27 at halftime, The Warriors outscored the Panthers 19-6 in the third quarter to pull away and remain undefeated this season at 3-0.

Kris Barrett led West with 16, with Ryan Corpening and Kalice Barrett each adding 11 points.

Jordan Rutherford finished with a game-high 23 for Hibriten.

JV GIRLS BASKETBALL South Caldwell 32 Draughn 24

South Caldwell's junior varsity girls basketball team remained undefeated this season with a 32-24 nonconference win at Draughn in Valdese.

Lindsey Potter scored 12 points to lead the Spartans, who held a comfortable 24-15 lead at halftime and only allowed nine second half points for Draughn.

West Caldwell 43 Hibriten 27

West Caldwell's junior varsity girls basketball team used a big second-quarter run to pull away from Hibriten en route to a 43-27 nonconference victory Friday in Gamewell.

Daryan Dixon scored a game-high 17 points for the Warriors, who went on an 18-7 run in the second quarter to take a 23-9 lead at the halftime break.

Kayla Green led the Panthers (1-4) with six points.