1Carteret: Students. Sports. Success.

Coach Donnie Kiefer

ECHS football coach Don Kiefer hits the road to western NC at the end of February. He made an impact in his time here and he leaves us with a final CoachCast. Best wishes, Coach.
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A Year to Remember

Our middle school athletic philosophy is about participation. The more students that participate in more sports for more schools, the better. Athletic contexts give students a chance to test some necessary life skills: teamwork, commitment, drive, determination, endurance, belief, humility, grace, respect, confidence—among others. Truly, all who participate in sports can be winners who gain winning qualities.

But athletics also involves competition. And from that standpoint, we would be remiss not to recognize the Morehead Middle athletic program this year. As the above clipping from their website illustrates, the Minutemen have placed first or tied for first in five sports thus far. In the other two, soccer and wrestling, they placed second to Broad Creek.

Hat’s off to principal Sue Kreuser, the dedicated coaches and AD, the supportive parents, the loyal fan base, and the stellar Minuteman athletes (including cheerleaders) who have worked so hard to make this a year to remember.

Special Season Ends for East

East Carteret 55
East Bladen 66

Despite thrilling the fans with a 15-2 tear to go up by five in the third quarter, ECHS couldn’t match the nearly perfect play of East Bladen down the stretch. This special group of girls led by six seniors finishes among the elite eight in the 1A East.

Great season, and thanks for the memories, Lady Mariners!

Signage of Success

Last chance to see the Lady Mariners at home. This Saturday night at 7:00 versus East Bladen. This is the qualifier for the final four in the 1A East. Come out and cheer Carteret County’s own to victory.

How Champions Are Made

To be sure, all students who stay involved in sports (or other extra-curricular activities) learn life-skills that augment their purely scholastic endeavors. Major props to all winter sports athletes, coaches, and supporters.

The winter sports season is winding down. This is the time when champions are made.

ECHS Lady Mariners
The Mariners sank 10 of their last 13 free throws to ice a victory over Wallace-Rose Hill. With their rare chemistry, they have reached the elite eight in the 1A East state playoffs. On Saturday, Coaches Montford and Romph lead their charges against another #1 seed East Bladen at the Mariner Dome. Come out, catch the crazies, and support our girls in their quest for 1A glory! Follow their bracket.

Minutemen 120
What else can you say about a middle school girls basketball team that finishes the season 12-0? They are special and are going to be exciting to watch in high school!

BCMS Grapplers
Middle school conference and tournament team champions. The Croatan wrestling legacy looks strong.

CHS Men of the Mat
Seven qualifiers for the state tournament going on at Wake Forest University. These are the beasts of the east.

CHS Lady Cougars
This is the team to watch. Although they lost a hard fought battle with Pasquotank in the second round of the state playoffs, they finished among the Sweet Sixteen in the 2A East.  They are only losing three seniors from this squad. Next year, they will have height, speed, depth, outside shooting, and—most of all—big game experience.

Middle school boys hoops wraps up next week. Stay tuned for late -breaking details. . .

Dates with Destiny

When ECHS and CHS women’s basketball teams hooked horns for three barnburners early in the season, you could tell these two special teams would have dates with destiny this year. Now, in one chilly evening, both teams have emerged as victors in their respective conference tournaments.

The Lady Mariners left no doubt as they dismantled rival Jones Senior:

In the girls final, No. 1 East Carteret defeated No. 2 Jones Senior, 69-56. East Carteret was led by Logan Lilly’s 35 points. Daily News Sports Report

The Cougars capped of an amazing tournament run by knocking off the top two seeds on consecutive nights:

One night after defeating second-seeded Richlands, No. 3 Croatan upset top-seeded and host Southwest, 59-57, in overtime Friday in the championship contest of the East Central 2-A Conference tournament.

Not only did the Cougars (19-6) take home the tournament hardware, they also garnered the league’s second seed for next week’s NCHSAA 2-A playoffs.

“I don’t know how we did it,” said Yount, in his first year as Croatan’s coach. “We played some super teams and we just played hard and well and we didn’t quit.” Daily News sports report

Congratulations, ECHS Coaches Montford and Romph. Congratulations, CHS Coaches Yount and Wiseman.

Onward and upward, girls on both teams!

Got Game?

The regular season champs Lady Mariners sure do.  Hear Coach Montford’s thoughts on tonight’s match-up against Jones Senior for the conference tournament championship. —

Coach Scott McBride

The McBrides have added much to our local athletics and community over time. I remember watching Scott as the QB during his playing days at WCHS. So, I was elated to hear of the recent highlight of Scott’s young coaching career—the huge road upset Croatan handed East Duplin in conference tournament play.

Hear Coach McBride’s 4+ minute CoachCast debut—-

Croatan Advances

The first round of the playoffs have gone well for the Croatan Cougars. The girls rebounded in the second half to send Swansboro packing. (To access the 2 minute 50 second music video, click here.)

The Croatan boys won an OT thriller against highly touted East Duplin and returned to Cougar Country in triumphant fashion.

In other news, WCHS boys and girls fell to New Bern. ECHS boys lost to Lejeune.

Looking Ahead
Still in the conference title hunt: ECHS girls and CHS boys and girls. WCHS boys have already qualified for the state playoffs which begin next week.

One thing is certain, whether high school athletic teams win or lose, every single player

• who gives it his or her all,
• who stays with the program,
• who understands team, commitment, sacrifice, endurance, respect, dignity, grace and humility

in my book, IS A WINNER—who has learned life skills that transcend the hardwood floors.

Playoff Run

The WCHS Patriots take the floor this evening against New Bern in the first round of the conference tournament.

Get the skinny on the boys’ game in the most recent CoachCast from Coach McClanahan . . .

The CHS girls host Swansboro at 7:00; the CHS boys travel to East Duplin.

The ECHS girls have a first-round bye, then will play the winner of Dixon v. Lejuene on Wednesday; the ECHS boys travel to Lejeune tonight.