Waynesville-Tuscola knocked off Hickory, the No.1 seed in the West in Class 3A, 61-57 Friday night. The win moves Tuscola (22-7), the No.4 seed, into the West 3A Regional in Greensboro. The Mountaineers held Hickory to 32 percent

shooting and avenged last year’s third-round 64-39 loss to the Red Tornadoes. The Red Tornadoes forced eight turnovers and led 25-21 at the halftime. But Tuscola rallied, outscoring Hickory 18-8 in the third quarter as the Red Tornadoes’ shooting woes (3-for-14) continued, and the Mountaineers led 39-33 before Hickory got within 39-37 on four of six free throws by Yazmen Hannah. But six more points by Tuscola made it 45-37, giving the Mountaineers their largest lead.

ASHBROOK 64, FRED T. FOARD 59 (OT)

Antonio Blalock and Grant Stafford scored all 13 points in overtime Friday night, pushing visiting Ashbrook High to a 64-59 win over third-seeded Fred T. Foard in the third round of the state 3A boys’ basketball playoffs. The win moves the seventh-seeded Green Wave (21-8) to the West Regionals, where they will face Big South 3A and crosstown rival Hunter Huss (24-3) on Wednesday night at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Green Wave and Tigers both missed chances to win in the final 19.6 seconds of the game. With Ashbrook leading 51-50, Foard’s Brice Falgout made the first of two free throws for a tie but missed the second.
After a timeout, Blalock (17 points) penetrated the lane and then hit Stafford with a pass along the right baseline, but Stafford’s off-balanced layup missed and sent the game to OT.
Blalock, who hit one of nine 3-pointers in regulation, found an opening off a screen and drilled one from the right wing on the Green Wave’s first possession. Daniel Tomberlin countered for the Tigers (24-5), backing in for a layup, followed by a drive from midcourt to the bucket by Jordan Turner for a layup to give Foard its only lead in overtime at 55-54.
Blalock missed a short jumper, but Trey Dellinger got the offensive board and found Blalock, who hit his second 3-pointer in overtime. Foard’s Deric Barnes (13 points) tied it at 57-all with two free throws
Stafford (20 points) then made an old-fashioned three-point play before the Tigers cut the deficit to one on a runner by Turner, Stafford took a feed from Blalock for a layup with 33 seconds to play to make it 62-59.
Foard missed three 3-pointers down the stretch, and Stafford popped in two free throws for the final margin.

FRIDAY'S REGIONAL SCOREBOARD

STATE PLAYOFFS BASKETBALL
GIRLS:
CLASS 4A
PORTER RIDGE 71, ALEXANDER CENTRAL 53

CLASS 3A
TUSCOLA 61, HICKORY 57

CLASS 2A
BANDYS 58, EAST BURKE 55

CLASS 1A
NORTH WILKES 58, AVERY 40

BOYS
CLASS 3A
ASHBROOK 54, FRED T. FOARD 49 (OT)

CLASS 2A
SHELBY 90, EAST BURKE 78

NORTHWESTERN 3A/4A CONFERENCE BASEBALL
FRIDAY'S GAMES

HICKORY 12-6, STATESVILLE 2-0
FRED T. FOARD 12, NEWTON-CONOVER 2
ALEXANDER CENTRAL 4, PATTON 2
ST. STEPHENS 15, BUNKER HILL 11
HIBRITEN 4, DRAUGHN 1