Hoggard dunks over North Brunswick, West Brunswick stays undefeated & Laney falls in OT

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The North Brunswick boys did not put up much resistance to Hoggard on Tuesday night. An early dunk from Xavier Johnson energized the crowd and the Vikings rolled to an easy win. We had our sports cameras in Shallotte too. West Brunswick remains undefeated. Laney lost in overtime against Scotland County. We were there for that one as well. We did showcase a victory from the Laney girls though.

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Tuesday High School Scoreboard

Boys Scoreboard
WEST BRUNSWICK 66 – TOPSAIL 34 **Click icon for video
MIDWAY 67 – EAST BLADEN 61
WEST BLADEN 65 – UNION 27, RAHU PURDIE 17 POINTS, KNIGHTS ARE 7-0
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 62 – WILMINGTON CHRISTIAN 47, CHRIS KARRAS 16 POINTS FOR WCA
PENDER 74 – CLINTON 71
SCOTLAND COUNTY 61 – LANEY 60 IN OT **Click icon for video
DIXON 58 – JONES 54
HOGGARD 73 – NORTH BRUNSWICK 48 **Click icon for video

Girls Scoreboard
LANEY 37 – SCOTLAND COUNTY 35
HOGGARD 62 – NORTH BRUNSWICK 48
EAST BLADEN 51 – MIDWAY 12, LACEY SUGGS 17 POINTS & 14 REBOUNDS
WEST BLADEN 45 – UNION 27, AKIRA GRIMES 11 REBOUNDS
CLINTON 55 – PENDER 19
TOPSAIL 43 – WEST BRUNSWICK 32, KERI WHITE 19 POINTS
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 53 – WILMINGTON CHRISTIAN 38, ABBY SQUIRES 18 POINTS FOR WCA

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GREENSBORO, NC (AP) — Kennedy Meeks scored 18 points to help No. 24 North Carolina beat UNC Greensboro 79-56 on Tuesday night.

The Tar Heels (7-3) regrouped from a weekend loss at top-ranked Kentucky with an easy win against an instate opponent. They shot 49 percent and had a 20-point lead midway through the first half, cruising in the same arena where they’ll play in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in March.

Preseason Associated Press All-American Marcus Paige struggled with his shot again for the Tar Heels, finishing with five points on 1-for-8 shooting. He came in shooting just 37 percent on the season.

Kayel Locke scored 17 points for the Spartans (4-7), coached by former Tar Heels player Wes Miller. UNCG got off to a terrible start and never recovered, trailing by 27 points in the first half and 40-19 at the break before falling to 2-52 all-time against ACC opponents.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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WILMINGTON, NC (UNCW) -– Home games have been rare for the UNCW men’s basketball team this season, so Kevin Keatts and his Seahawks are ecstatic about being in the Port City for a pair of back-to-back contests this week against Big South Conference member Liberty and longtime regional rival East Carolina.

The Seahawks, 3-3, have played five of their first six games away from home and face the Flames on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. before wrapping up a busy week with a Saturday date against the Pirates. UNCW’s women, meanwhile, take on former Colonial Athletic Association rival Richmond earlier Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

“We have three important games coming up and they’re all going to be very challenging, and we have to be ready to compete in those games,” said Keatts, who won his first home test 11 days ago in a record-setting performance against NAIA member St. Andrews. Keatts grew up in the Lynchburg area, home of the Flames.

“We just have to play together, stay together and play on both ends. We have to get out on transition and be very solid defensively.”

UNCW is coming off an impressive performance last weekend in Louisville. The Seahawks pushed the fourth-ranked Cardinals and Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino to the limit before falling, 68-57, before 20,913 partisan fans at the red and black KFC Yum! Center.

“I thought our guys played really well,” reflected Keatts, who spent three seasons on Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino’s staff. “We did some really good things in the game and some things we can build on. We were very solid defensively, and we found a way to score some points versus a very stingy Louisville defense.”

Senior guard Freddie Jackson is coming off consecutive outstanding performances. He poured in a career-high 33 points in his last home appearance – a 105-47 throttling of the Knights on Dec. 3 – and tacked on team highs of 16 points and seven rebounds in the close loss to Louisville.

Jackson anchors four Seahawks in double figures with 17.7 points per game. Senior guard Addison Spruill is chipping in 12.3 ppg, junior guard Craig Ponder is collecting 10.8 ppg and senior forward Cedrick Williams is contributing 10.5 ppg and 8.7 rebounds.

Youth is serving the Seahawks well. Freshman point guard Jordon Talley, a 6-0, 180-pounder from Richmond, Va., was named the CAA’s Rookie-of-the-Week early Monday after scoring a career-high 13 points in 26 minutes against the Cardinals. He is averaging 6.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.8 rebounds and ranks fifth on the team in minutes played.

UNCW has shot the ball well through six appearances, connecting on 50 percent from the floor on 183-of-366 field goals, ranking the club 19th out of 355 NCAA Division I schools. The Seahawks are also eighth in three-point field goal percentage with an aim of 42.5 percent from long distance.

Keatts has instilled a new defensive philosophy that has quickly taken hold. UNCW ranks 22nd in the land in steals per game with nine thefts each contest.

The Seahawks have battled the Flames three times and swept all three matchups by an average of 8.3 points. UNCW has played Liberty in three of the last four seasons and topped Dale Layer’s unit last season, 87-76, at the Vines Center in Lynchburg.

Keatts said, “Liberty has always been a very good program. They have a great school with great facility and they’re well coached.”

The Flames and Layer feature a balanced attack with just one player, senior forward Tomasz Gielo, averaging in double digits. Liberty is averaging only 61.2 ppg as a team, but has limited opponents to 37.5 percent shooting and just 60.2 ppg.

Liberty did reach a season high in scoring its last time on the floor, racing past Bluefield College, 79-61, last Friday in the Hill City. The Flames have played one CAA opponent already and edged defending league champion Delaware, 61-55, at home back on Nov. 17.

Wednesday’s game with the Flames may be heard on the Seahawk Digital Network via UNCWsports.com. Fans should click on the “Live Events” button on the top right-hand corner of the main page and follow the prompts for the free broadcast. A 15-minute pregame show kicks off the coverage followed by first-half coverage, a 15-minute halftime show, second-half action and a 15-minute post-game show.

Live-in game updates are also available on Twitter by following @UNCWmenhoops.

There will be separate ticketing for the men’s and women’s games. Tickets for the women’s game with Richmond are $7 for adults and $2 for youths 15-under. Tickets for the men’s game are $18 for adults and $10 for youths 15-under.

Wednesday’s game is the annual U.S. Marines “Toys for Tots” game to benefit young children. Fans bringing in a new unwrapped toy will be able to gain admission to North Bleacher seating for just $5.

Season tickets remain on sale for UNCW’s home games and may be purchased at the UNCW Athletics Ticket Office in Trask Coliseum or by visiting UNCWsports.com. Tickets can also be purchased by calling the UNCW Athletic Ticket Office at 910-962-3233 or 1-800-808-UNCW.