Ironmen Continue Conference Play in Basketball

Cherryville, NC (WNN) - The Ironmen and Lady Ironmen continued conference play this week, ending Dec 12th, 2025. Both teams had one game that came down to the wire and another in which they struggled. They will play two games next week, one at home and the other on the road, before the two-week break for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Cherryville at East Gaston

Lady Ironmen: On December 9th, Cherryville traveled to Mt. Holly to take on the Lady Warriors of East Gaston High School. This was a very close game, with Cherryville leading for most of the night. Unfortunately, they struggled at the free-throw line and suffered a heartbreaking 44-41 loss. Morgan Wray put the Lady Ironmen on the board first. Cherryville led 10-7 after the first quarter and held a 21-15 advantage at halftime. East Gaston was able to stay close with three-point shots during the first half. CHS was dominating on the boards and playing good defense. During the second half, the Lady Warriors again relied on three pointers to stay close and eventually take the lead. The game's first tie game at the 2:12 mark in the third quarter as Kayla Maiers drained two free throws. Kendyl Rivera would give them the lead as she sank two free throws as well with less than 30 seconds left in the period. The Lady Warriors used a combination of three-pointers and solid free-throw shooting to maintain momentum. There would be four more ties and lead changes. The last tie came on a shot below the basket from Jenna Anthony with 1:20 left in the game. East Gaston's Kayla Maiers scored on a fastbreak layup to put the Lady Warriors back in the lead 42-40 with only 44 seconds remaining. Emily Allen's free throw brought the game back to within one. CHS had the ball with 11.7 seconds left, but turned the ball over. Maiers was immediately fouled, and as she made both free throws, it sealed a 44-41 win for East Gaston.

  The loss dropped Cherryville to 1-6 and 0-3. East Gaston improved to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Leading all scorers was Kayla Maiers with 21 points, and Zoe Culbertson added 6 for the Lady Warriors. Emily Allen's 16 points led the Lady Ironmen. Morgan Wray had 10, Jenna Anthony 5, Jenny Brown 4, Kate Bookout 4, and Khloe Belcher 2.

Ironmen: The game began well for the team as Talon Dalton drove the lane for a layup, scoring the first four points of the game as Cherryville took an early 7-0 lead. Some early turnovers and fouls kept the Warriors in the game early. The Ironmen led the entire first quarter until Amani Hayward drained a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, giving East Gaston their first lead at 16-14. Things began to go sour for CHS in the second quarter as their shots were no longer falling and fouls started to pile up. The Ironmen were also struggling from the charity stripe. By halftime, they found themselves trailing 28-17. Cherryville was able to cut into the lead and got back to within 7 before foul trouble reared its ugly head. Ramon De La Oz III seemed to live at the foul line during the second half and scored 18 points from the charity stripe. By game's end, the Ironmen would be down 67-44. The Warriors were led by De La Oz III, who had a monster night, scoring 28 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, and dishing out 5 assists. East Gaston's K.J. Smith was held to 7 points; he had come into the game as the leading scorer, averaging 9.2 points per game. Evan Murphy added 10 points and 8 rebounds for the Warriors. The victory improved their record to 3-4 and 2-1. Leading the Ironmen was Paxton Pruett with 16 points, followed by Cole Kelly with 9, Isaiah Champion, and Talon Dalton, each added 6 points. Cherryville dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-3 in the conference.

Cherryville Ironmen Basketball - Nixon Gym - November 19th, 2025

Mason Beam (WNN)

Cherryville at Highland Tech

Lady Ironmen: Cherryville made a trip to Gastonia on December 12th to face the Lady Rams of Highland Tech. The Lady Rams came into the matchup riding a seven-game winning streak. Lily Johnson's 12.6 points per game and 6.6 assists average, along with Nyla Rae Bailey averaging 13.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocks, are a big reason why they came in undefeated. The Lady Ironmen looked strong early in the game. Emily Allen scored the first bucket of the game as she drained a long three-pointer. They led by as many as 6 points in the first quarter, thanks to good shooting and strong defense. After finishing the first quarter with a 12-11 lead, Cherryville would hold the lead until the 3:44 mark of the second quarter when the Lady Rams would take their first lead. They began to adjust and would claim a 24-16 lead at the half. The second half saw Highland turn up their defense, and Cherryville's shooting went cold. The Lady Rams seemed to do nothing wrong in the final period, putting the game away en route to a 56-26 victory. They remained undefeated, increasing their record to 8-0 Overall, 3-0 in conference play. Cherryville dropped to 1-7 and 0-4.

  Lily Johnson's 23 points led the way for Highland Tech; she was followed by Savannah Butler with 14, and Nyla Rae Bailey added 9 points. The Lady Ironmen were led by Emily Allen with 11, Jenny Brown with 7, Khloe Belcher with 5, followed by Jenna Anthony and Kate Bookout with 2 points each.

Ironmen: Cherryville played an extremely exciting game against the Rams. Paxton Pruett opened the scoring with a trey. The Ironmen were strong on the boards early on and led by as many as 8 points in the first quarter. Highland was able to stay close due to some free-throw struggles from CHS, with the first period ending at 18 each. The Rams would take their first lead with 7:24 left in the half. Less than a minute later, the Ironmen had the lead back after another three-point shot from Pruett. Cherryville seemed to have corrected its free-throw woes as well. At halftime, Cherryville held a 33-31 lead. The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair with Cherryville still holding the lead at 50-48. The final period had fans on the edge of their seats as Highland Tech had taken the lead, but Cole Kelly brought the Ironmen back within 2 at 57-55 with 1:05 left in the game with a three-point shot. Talon Dalton chipped off another point with a free throw as Highland's lead was only 1 point with just 44.7 seconds remaining. The Rams would hit a free throw, and then Talon Dalton would tie the game on a layup. 37.7 seconds remained in the nailbiter. Darius Stinson Jr. was fouled as he scored, but he missed the free throw, leaving Highland only up by 2 points with just over 7 seconds remaining. As Isaiah Champion attempted a shot, he was fouled with 6.7 seconds left. The first free throw rattled out, then it appeared his second shot was good, bringing the score to 60-59, but the referee's whistle sounded, and he waived off the free throw due to a lane violation. The score was reset to 60-58. Before the Ironmen could foul, a half-court shot was attempted, and time expired as the Rams were able to steal a two-point victory. The win would improve their record to 2-6 and 1-2. The Ironmen dropped to 3-5 overall and 0-4 in conference.

  Darius Stinson Jr. led the Rams with 19 points, followed by Iriv Thompson's 13 and Coleman Schafer's 12. Cherryville had three players with double-digit scores. Talon Dalton contributed 16 points, Paxton Pruett added 14 points, and Cole Kelly rounded it out with 13 points. Cherryville will look to bounce back next week, hosting Chase in Nixon Gym on December 18th for a non-conference game and traveling to Shelby on December 19th for a conference contest.

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