The news was good and bad for the Carolinas women’s basketball teams competing in the NCAA tournament this weekend. Charlotte Hornets is optimistic about the return of guard LaMelo Ball this season. And a student with special needs is able to shine on the football field. With “All Things Considered” host Gwendolyn Glenn, to talk about sports is Langston Wertz Jr., a longtime sports columnist for The Charlotte Observer.
Gwendolyn Glenn: Hi, Langston.
Langston Wertz Jr.: Hey Gwen, how are you?
Glenn: Everything is good. So, let’s start by checking out the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
(Recording) Ryan Ruocco: Perez on the track … stop, turn that around. Cunane … Two seconds … sigh. Misses. THAT’S IT! Indiana!
Glenn: This came from the game between Indiana University and NC State, the final score was 73-70. Well, this game was a game NC State was expected to win, Langston. And even though it is a tough game, where did they fall short?
Wertz: They just chose a bad day to have a bad day. Honestly, they didn’t play well in the beginning. Elissa Cunane did not have her best game. The coach made a bad decision late. They had a time limit that they called with 13 seconds left for Indiana to score. And that was the last timeout. And in women’s basketball, unlike men’s, you can ask for a break and advance the ball to the midfield.
Therefore, NC State had dropped 13 points. They close within three. So they had a chance to draw, but they didn’t have time to pass the ball to the midfield. So they ended up having to make the owner, Raina Perez, drive the entire length of the court. And she turned to Cunane, who missed a shot.
Glenn: And a little to the south, Lady Gamecocks, from the University of South Carolina, had a better result.
(Recording) Beth Mowins: What a great job to move the ball around South Carolina.
Glenn: Tell us about that game, Langston, and Lady Gamecock sophomore guard Zia Cooke, who had a warm hand.
Wertz: Yes, she got five out of six points out of 3. She has 17 points and was cooking. They beat Georgia Tech 76-65. It is the third time in four years that Gamecocks, the Lady Gamecocks, have entered the Elite Eight and won a national title in 2017.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they won another national championship this year. They will try to reach the Final Four on Tuesday playing against Texas. I expected them to win and advance.
Glenn: OK, so staying on the basketball court, Charlotte Hornets’ new guard LaMelo Ball had surgery for a wrist injury and was thought to be out for the rest of the season. He received good news last week. Tell us about it.
Wertz: Yes, I mean, GM Mitch Kupchak told the media that they expect LaMelo to be reevaluated in the next four or five weeks. That would happen at the end of April. They will still have a few weeks to play, maybe three. So, you know, if LaMelo can come back and be healthy and fit and ready to go, they can do a playoff race. But they won three out of four games, despite losing to Phoenix in Sunday’s overtime. So, they showed that they can win without LaMelo.
Glenn: And Langston, this weekend we saw Charlotte Thunder debut with fans at the Bojangles Coliseum in the American Arena League. How did they do against the Pennsylvania Union?
Wertz: They beat them 69-12. They blew them up. Yes, it was a big win and I think there were 1,200 fans on Bojangles. Yes, it was a big win for them at the beginning.
Glenn: And former Carolina Panther Thomas Davis as co-owner of the team and Thunder quarterback, Jalan McLendon, who played in the NFL, also has Charlotte roots, right?
Wertz: Yes, he has Charlotte’s roots. Jalan McClendon played at West Mecklenburg High School. He went on to play at NC State. He had a cup of coffee with Washington’s football team, the Ravens. He played briefly in the XFL and was excited to play in Thunder, which belongs to ex-Panthers Ted Ginn and Thomas Davis.
Glenn: Well, let’s switch to college football and Providence and Olympic High. They meet on Friday. What makes this confrontation a bit to wait for?
Wertz: Well, these are not teams that we hope to see in the game of the week at this time of the season. You know, you expect to see Vance and Hough schools and so on; you know, the Myers parks. And this is a chance for two teams that are not used to the big spotlight to receive the big spotlight.
Both are fighting for a conference championship. Providence has a great defense; they don’t allow teams to run. Olympic has a great attack and runs as a team. So it’s going to be strength against strength in the big showdown on Thursday night.
Glenn: OK, and this weekend Vance High beat Lake Norman 35-16. But Langston, the story and you wrote about it was not who won or lost, but it was about Sam Jordan, a student with Down syndrome in Lake Norman, who has been the team’s coach since he was a freshman.
Wertz: Sam Jordan is a veteran at Lake Norman. His mother asked the coaches at the school, “Could he attend last year’s night?” And they had the idea to basically let you score a touchdown.
We’ve seen it, you know, several times over the years in high school. But you know, he was in his 50s, they gave him the ball. Vance’s guys have fallen, he’s running, he’s in the final zone. You can hear him screaming and shouting in the video. You can see the joy. You could feel the joy, on the contrary, and the two teams kind of surrounded you.
He was on the Today Show Monday morning. Then the story became national. The video went viral on social media. It’s just the power of sports to be good. Good to see.
Glenn: That was a moving story.
Wertz: Yes, absolutely.
Glenn: Also in high school, Weddington High won the 3A state men’s soccer game 2-1 against New Hanover.
Wertz: Yes, Jacob Wells scored the winning goal in the first overtime. Only 18 seconds. They have two 10-minute overtime hours at school. He basically scored the goal. They held him and won a championship.
Glenn: And Langston, I know it happened last weekend, but we have to give a shout out to the Queens University men’s and women’s swim teams for winning the Division II National Swimming and Diving Championship.
Wertz: Gwen, they are used to doing this. I mean, both teams have won six in a row. I mean, this is incredible. Talk about a dynasty.
Glenn: Yes Yes.
Langston Wertz Jr. is a sports journalist for The Charlotte Observer.
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