By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Jennifer White
The 2019 high school lacrosse season was off to a great start for Jennifer White and her Terry Sanford girls. They reeled off four straight wins before the COVID-19 quarantine struck in mid-March and ended everything.
White and company are back and off to a 1-0 beginning in the rescheduled 2020 season with a 19-3 win over county rival Jack Britt on Tuesday.
The biggest problem White has faced so far is one with which many coaches are dealing. Multiple sports are seeing their seasons piled on top of each other at times of the year they’re not normally used to playing.
That means sharing athletes, which White finds herself doing, with one of her players taking part in basketball and three others involved in cheerleading.
“It just takes the coaches getting together and deciding when they are going to practice,’’ White said.
White said this year’s team features a core group of juniors who have been heavily involved in traveling lacrosse, dating back to their elementary and middle school days.
“They’ve played together for multiple years and know their strengths and weaknesses,’’ she said.
Reese Walker
Patton Davis
Her top returners are Reese Walker, Patton Davis and Maggie Watson, a trio of midfielders that she expects will provide the bulk of the scoring for this year’s Bulldog team.
Maggie Watson
In the opener with Britt, Walker led the way with eight goals, Davis added six, while Watson had four goals and three assists.
The Bulldogs finished the abbreviated 2019 season as the No. 12 girls’ lacrosse team in the state according to MaxPreps.com, best among the Cumberland County schools playing the sport.
White expects the Bulldogs to contend for their conference title this season. League members include Pinecrest, Union Pines, Jack Britt and Cape Fear.
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No one was talking earlier this week when it was finally confirmed that Mike Paroli is no longer the head football coach at Douglas Byrd High School.
Cumberland County Schools announced Monday that the head football coach and ISS teacher position at Byrd was open in what is a routine announcement when a position is open.
CityView contacted a host of officials at both Douglas Byrd and the Cumberland County Schools seeking confirmation, but it was nearly 12 hours after the first announcement posted that associate superintendent Ruben Reyes confirmed that Paroli was no longer the head coach. Vernon Aldridge, student activities director for the Cumberland County Schools, later confirmed that Byrd assistant coach Dave Watson will serve as interim head coach for the postponed 2020 season, which is scheduled to begin with the start of practice on Feb. 8 and with first games on Feb. 28.
Repeated attempts to get comments from Paroli were unsuccessful.
Paroli took over the Byrd program in 2016 and compiled back-to-back 0-11 seasons before going 4-7 in 2018 and 2-9 in 2019.
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Congratulations to the following Cumberland County Schools athletes who were picked to the Sandhills Athletic All-Conference volleyball team.
Chosen from Seventy-First were Shayla Battle and Jewel Pitt. Picked from Jack Britt were Burneice Perofeta, Sydney Conklin and Alyssa Norton.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Members of the Terry Sanford girls’ lacrosse team pose on their home field after making history earlier this week. They became the first athletes from Terry Sanford to play a scheduled game in the school’s refurbished football stadium. The original plan had been to open the new facility at last fall’s first varsity football game, but the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted that. In Tuesday’s match, the Bulldogs recorded a 19-3 win over county rival Jack Britt. Maggie Watson, on an assist from Reese Walker, became the first Terry Sanford athlete to score in competition in the new facility.
SCORES
Jan. 22
Boys’ basketball
Terry Sanford 66, Cape Fear 61 OT
Westover 86, Douglas Byrd 33
Pine Forest 76, Overhills 75
Pinecrest 68, Seventy-First 54
Freedom Christian 49, Trinity Christian 35
Northwood Temple 79, Wayne Country Day 76
Girls’ basketball
Terry Sanford 67, Cape Fear 60
Pine Forest 66, Overhills 57
Seventy-First 56, Pinecrest 53
South View 39, Gray’s Creek 27
Trinity Christian 81, Freedom Christian 13
Wayne Country Day 57, Northwood Temple 25
Jan. 25
Boys’ basketball
Cape Fear Christian 74, Fayetteville Christian 39
Village Christian 71, LifeSpring Academy 35
Girls’ basketball
Fayetteville Christian 53, Cape Fear Christian 22
Jan. 26
Boys’ basketball
Cape Fear 62, Jack Britt 55
Pine Forest 65, Douglas Byrd 41
Northwood Temple 61, Trinity Christian 53
Cape Fear Christian 85, Village Christian 38
Girls’ basketball
Seventy-First 64, Hoke County 23
South View 50, Westover 29
Fayetteville Christian 43, Freedom Christian 18
Trinity Christian 71, Northwood Temple 41
Boys’ lacrosse
Jack Britt 18, Terry Sanford 4
Girls’ lacrosse
Terry Sanford 19, Jack Britt 3
Jan. 27
Girls’ lacrosse
Pinecrest 20, Cape Fear 1
Jan. 28
Boys’ soccer
Terry Sanford 4, South View 2
Gray’s Creek 2, Overhills 1
Pine Forest 1, Cape Fear 1 2 OT
Hoke County 10, Seventy-First 1
