Cuthbertson cruises into boys final
Cuthbertson High's boys basketball team will play for the Rocky River Conference tournament championship for the third straight year.
The Cavaliers, who are 1-1 all-time in league title games, cruised to a 87-48 victory over Forest Hills in the semifinals on Thursday. The top-seeded Cavs will play in tonight's final starting at 7:30.
Five players scored in double figures on Thursday, including senior Cornelius Stradford, who came off the bench to drop in a game-high 19 points.
Senior forwards Isaiah Cureton and Jorden Hardrick each added 14 points while senior guard Emmitt Afam contributed 11.
Justin Austin, a senior guard who transferred in during the offseason, added 10 points off the bench.
The Cavs (24-2) jumped out to a 22-8 lead by the end of the first quarter, highlighted by four 3-point makes.
Cuthbertson outrebounded the fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets 37-29 on the night. Cureton pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds while senior forward Lucius McMillon added 10.
Forest Hills got 13 points and eight rebounds from senior forward Roderick Poag and Jordan Blakeney, a freshman guard, added eight points.
Thursday's box scores
Cuthbertson boys 87, Forest Hills 48
Forest Hills (14-11)
Roderick Poag 6 1-2 13, Kalief Harrison 2 0-0 4, Jarvis Wilson 3 0-0 7, Jordan Blakeney 3 0-0 8, Zaccheus Rorie 3 1-1 7, Terrance Huntley 1 0-0 2, Austin Perkins 0 0-0 0, Tyler White 1 0-0 3, Dexter Barrett 2 0-0 4, Kendryke Barrino 0 0-0 0, Camry Barbour 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 2-3 48.
Cuthbertson (23-2)
Jorden Hardrick 7 0-0 14, Emmitt Afam 5 1-3 11, Zach Chitwood 2 0-0 6, Lucius McMillon 2 1-2 5, Isaiah Cureton 6 2-3 14, Justin Austin 3 3-4 10, Cornelius Stradford 6 3-3 19, Anthony Pandoli 0 0-0 0, Matt Allen 1 4-5 6, Bobby Barnes 0 0-0 0, Tyler Hardiman 0 2-2 2, Ryan Mobley 0 0-0 0. Totals 32 16-22 87.
F. Hills^8^14^14^12 - 48
Cuthbertson^22^21^19^25 - 87
3-pointers: FH 4 (Blakeney 2, Wilson 1, White 1); CHS 7 (Stradford 4, Chitwood 2, Austin 1). Rebounds: FH 29 (Poag 8, Harrison 8, Wilson 4); CHS 37 (Cureton 12, McMillon 10, Afam 4). Assists: FH 10 (Blakeney 4, Huntley 3); CHS 16 (Afam 6, Cureton 4, Chitwood 4). Steals: FH 4 (Huntley 2); CHS 11 (Stradford 4, Cureton 3, Austin 2). Blocks: FH 1 (Harrison); CHS 4 (Cureton 2).
Area conference tournaments
Rocky River Conference
(at Monroe High)
Monday’s results
Girls first round
No. 5 Piedmont 60, No. 4 North Stanly 46
No. 3 Forest Hills 45, No. 6 Central Academy 42
No. 1 Monroe 60, No. 8 Union Academy 17
No. 2 Cuthbertson 47, No. 7 West Stanly 46
Tuesday’s results
Boys first round
No. 4 Forest Hills 63, No. 5 West Stanly 62
No. 3 Monroe 69, No. 6 Central Academy 40
No. 1 Cuthbertson 98, No. 8 Union Academy 33
No. 2 Piedmont 76, No. 7 North Stanly 61
Wednesday
Girls semifinals
Monroe 72, Piedmont 59
Forest Hills 41, Cuthbertson 38
Thursday
Boys semifinals
No. 1 Cuthbertson 87, No. 4 Forest Hills 48
No. 3 Monroe 71, No. 2 Piedmont 61
Friday
Girls championship
Forest Hills at Monroe, 6 p.m.
Boys championship
No. 1 Cuthbertson vs. No. 3 Monroe, 7:30 p.m.
Southern Carolina Conference
Monday’s results
First round (at higher seed)
Girls
No. 3 Parkwood 72, No. 6 Sun Valley 34
No. 4 Anson County 55, No. 5 Marvin Ridge 41
Boys
No. 3 Weddington 50, No. 6 Parkwood 47
No. 4 Anson County 83, No. 5 Porter Ridge 81
Wednesday
Semifinals (at Sun Valley High)
No. 1 Porter Ridge girls 67, Anson 31
No. 4 Anson boys 75, No. 1 Marvin Ridge 71
Thursday
Semifinals (at Sun Valley)
No. 2 Weddington girls 58, No. 3 Parkwood 56
No. 2 Sun Valley boys 33, No. 2 WHS 30
Friday
Girls championship
Porter Ridge vs. Weddington, 6 p.m.
Boys championship
Anson County vs. Sun Valley, 7:30 p.m.