Buncombe County teams post late-February results, push into postseason

Robbinsville produced a postseason split with its squads trading dramatic finishes: the Robbinsville girls, seeded No. 9, stunned No. 1 Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy 50-41 in the 1A NCHSAA State Playoffs third round, while the Thomas Jefferson boys, seeded No. 8, edged Robbinsville 64-60 in the boys 1A third round.

Oak Grove's girls, the No. 1 seed in 5A, posted a decisive 62-32 win over No. 9 North Buncombe in the girls 5A third round, a 30-point margin that keeps Oak Grove moving through the bracket. In contrast, T.C. Roberson split results across its programs: the T.C. Roberson boys, seeded No. 12, advanced with a one-point 44-43 victory over No. 4 Eastern Guilford in the 6A third round, while the T.C. Roberson girls, the No. 4 seed in 6A, fell 63-61 to No. 13 King's Mountain.

Area teams produced a string of close finishes in the third round. A.C. Reynolds, seeded No. 3 in 6A boys, beat No. 11 Charlotte Catholic 60-48, and East Surry edged No. 5 Hendersonville 51-50 in 3A boys. Lincolnton, the No. 8 seed in 3A boys, knocked off top-seeded East Rutherford 76-64. The 4A listings in the WLOS roundup include a 4A result of No. 8 Lincoln Charter 52 over No. 1 East Henderson 33, with 4A coverage credited to Marvin Parker in the original roundup.

Girls brackets featured multiple high seeds advancing alongside upsets. In 2A girls, No. 2 Bishop McGuinness beat No. 7 Murphy 59-16 and No. 1 Cherokee routed No. 9 Community School of Davidson 81-25. In 3A girls, No. 1 East Surry beat No. 8 Polk County 79-55 while No. 4 Mountain Heritage defeated No. 12 Shelby 70-55. Northwest Cabarrus, the No. 3 seed in 5A girls, beat No. 11 Franklin 58-43.

Carolinassportshub’s area scoreboard filled out the regional picture with regular-season and midweek results. North Buncombe beat No. 24 Forestview 71-63 in a 5A boys matchup while Crest toppled No. 22 North Gaston 88-67. No. 12 Kings Mountain hosted St. Stephens and won 67-44; No. 14 Ashbrook beat Olympic 72-68. On the girls side, Highland Tech defeated Alleghany County 49-29, Mountain Island Charter routed Corvian Community 59-11, and Community School of Davidson handled No. 24 Cherryville 72-10. Lincolnton won 61-39 over Patton; Shelby beat Trinity 65-34; Bessemer City upset No. 13 Piedmont Community Charter 48-43.

Carolinassportshub’s Feb. 25 softball and baseball logs show heavy local activity on Wednesday, Feb. 25. East Lincoln smashed Newton-Conover 14-1 with winning pitcher Jordyn Aungst (4 innings, 7 strikeouts; also a double and triple at the plate) and reliever Ava Cook (1 inning, 2 strikeouts; double, walk, 2 runs, RBI). East Lincoln offensive leaders listed include Kaitlyn Gust, Keylee Donaldson, Maliya Fletcher-McLean, Gabby Vaughn, Brylee Belcher, Sadie Higgins, Peyton Passmore and Olivia Cato. Baseball results that day included West Lincoln 12 Bessemer City 0 (5 innings), Cherryville 13 Lincolnton 1 (5 innings), Thomas Jefferson 4 Piedmont Community Charter 2, Kings Mountain 7 East Rutherford 4, and Lincoln Charter 10 Mallard Creek 1 among others.

These late-February and early postseason results leave Buncombe County and neighboring programs with a mix of advancing seeds and notable upsets. Robbinsville’s girls and Oak Grove’s dominant 62-32 performance stand out as local momentum drivers, while one-point finishes from T.C. Roberson boys and East Surry illustrate how narrow margins are reshaping which western North Carolina teams will still be playing deeper into the NCHSAA brackets.