Category: Recreation Leagues

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Whether a bunch of older fellas hellbent on reliving the glory days of their youth or workaday dudes getting some exercise, the Watauga Community Recreation Center’s adult basketball league is about guys having fun, playing the game they love.

For the first game of the “play in” round of the championship tournament on Dec. 14, The Sky Hookers took on The Grillers. And don’t confuse the Sky Hookers as some kind of flight attendant escort service. No, these guys are basketball players.

Sweat poured down the furrowed brow of former Watauga High School star point guard Caleb Bryson as he dribbled at the top of the key, calculating his options. In a blink of an eye, he was driving down the lane toward the basket, drawing in defenders, then passed the ball out to an open teammate, Jordan Cameron, on the perimeter. Cameron calmly put up a 3-point attempt, the ball arching toward the basket — to find nothing but net. For Bryson, it was just like old times in Lentz Eggers Gym. No Utah Jones, T.J Poulos or Bryant Greene, but Jordan Cameron or another Sky Hookers teammate was there. If Bryson is not scoring himself, he is setting up a teammate.

Also a former Pioneer, Seth Moore of the Sky Hookers towers above most of the other players, the envy of short guys everywhere who wish they were at least a little taller while playing basketball. Watching Moore pull down a rebound while standing head and shoulders above the crowd seems almost unfair, reminiscent of Charles Barkley in the Capital One ad on TV. “Pick me first,” he tells the grammar school age boys and girls choosing up sides. Then Moore’s immediate outlet pass to Bryson in transition takes appreciation for the way this game is being played to another level. It was Moore, not Dobbins, Ebaugh, or Lambert from whom Bryson was receiving the pass. The fast break result was all the same, challenging The Grillers to keep up.

These guys play hard. These guys have played good basketball before. These guys know what they are doing. Any childhood thoughts about playing in the NBA one day have long since evaporated from their cranial tissues, but playing “like Mike”  or emulating Steph Curry still lives in their youthful souls.

Hearing large adult bodies periodically slam to the floor with a thud, followed by the inevitable adult grown or grimace… well, it prompts the onlooker to hope that WCRC has an insurance policy against damage to their glistening hardwood floor. That wasn’t an earthquake making the chandeliers rattle all the way in the front lobby. That was one of the guys wishing he was a little more supple and resilient, taking a nosedive to the floor after being fouled as he drove to the basket.

 

Holly Gates, the WCRC coordinator for the adult league explained that the regular season had just ended for the 14 teams. “We started with round robin pools,” she said, “and ended up with a top seven and a bottom seven. They will basically be playing in two separate tournaments at the same time, now.”

Bryson scored a little more than a third of the Sky Hookers’ points in his team’s 80-31 victory. But it didn’t seem like it because he was constantly distributing the ball to another player. The objective, he said, is not to be the individual that scores the most points. The objective is for the team to win, however that is accomplished.

On one occasion in the first half, the former Watauga star apologized to a teammate. In driving to the basket, Bryson had a good open look but, instead of taking the shot, he passed the ball to a teammate running down the lane toward the basket. Unfortunately, the teammate was in traffic and a Grillers player was able to poach the ball for a steal and what amounted to a Bryson turnover. “I’m sorry,” he said to the teammate. “I should have put it up.”

Credit to The Grillers. They were outmatched on this night, thumped by 49 points. And yet, just like the Sky Hookers they played hard all the way to the final tick of the game clock. It would have been easy to coast as their deficit reached 20 points, then 30 points, then 40 points… But they didn’t. They wanted to play basketball, too. And play they did.

SCORING SUMMARY

• SKY Caleb Bryson (29)
• GRI Khalin Gladden (12)
• SKY Nick Kellner (11)
• GRI Jay Bartoli (11)
• SKY Jordan Cameron (10)
• SKY Jerron Mills (8)
• SKY Joe Keys (7)
• SKY Cam Bulcar (7)
• SKY Seth Moore (4)
• SKY Joel Brown (4)
• GRI Tyler Cook (2)
• GRI Reggie Sloan (2)
• GRI Ruben Nelson (2)
• GRI Ollie Dunkin (2)

BONUS PHOTOS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — At least part of what was being raised as a county commissioner campaign controversy turned out to be a non-issue on Oct. 24 when representatives of High Country Press and High Country Sports independently measured the length of the Watauga Community Recreation Center’s swimming pool.

It had been widely asserted that the pool was 2.5 to 2.75 inches longer than the advertised 25 yards, so beyond the acceptable tolerance for sanctioned events. After Sam Garrett, owner of High Country Press and a Rec Center member measured the pool under the watchful eye of Rec Center Aquatics Director Kyle Disney and David Rogers, owner and publisher of High Country Sports, they determined that it was 25 yards and one-half inch in length.

“We measured from the intersection of the black tees on the pool walls, under the water’s surface, on both ends,” said Garrett, “and I suspect that the extra half-inch is due to a little bit of slack in the measuring tape over that 75 feet distance as it ran through the water. So the length of the pool appears to be spot on. Those black tees are where competitive swimmers make their turns.

“When someone comes to us with these sorts of claims,” Garrett added, “especially trying to make it an election issue, we cannot take their word for it. We need to independently very those claims. If our measurements had come out with that same 2.5 to 2.75 discrepancy, too, then we would have hired a contractor to certify the pool’s actual length.”

While the pool’s length is now a non-issue, there remains a question of what to do about the tennis courts on the north side of the Rec Center, outside. Apparently, the facility designers and contractors did not allow for enough space between the courts, nor in back of the service lines or between the side fences and the courts.

The tennis court issue was brought before the currently sitting board of commissioners on Oct. 18, by local resident Cary Davenport during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Davenport and his wife, Bridget, are now retired in the High Country, but report that they have previously owned and managed large health clubs and recreation centers in the Chicago area.  Davenport said that he had played competitive tennis for more than 50 years and the Rec Center courts are not safe. They represent a liability to the County, he said.

“The way these courts are now,” Davenport explained to High Country Sports after the commissioners meeting, “you can’t have sanctioned tennis events because the venue is not safe. That is troubling because part of how this facility was sold to taxpayers is that it would be an economic driver for area businesses, as well as generate sales and occupancy tax revenue through the hosting of tennis tournaments and other competitions, including swimming and basketball. Frankly, given the measurement issues in the tennis courts, every playing area in the center should be measured and certified for its accuracy.”

High Country Sports will have a future report on the tennis court issue after speaking with county officials and other local business interests.

By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — A 22-year-old Vilas resident Christopher Vega finished a full minute ahead of the nearest finisher on Sept. 17, in the 22nd annual running of the Stick Boy Bread “Mayview Madness” 5k, staged in benefit of the Blue Ridge Conservancy.

Vega completed the course in 17:24, a 5:36 mile pace, on a beautiful day for long distnce running in Blowing Rock. The race started a block off Main Street, at the intersection of Laurel Lane and Wallingford Street, and headed west on Laurel Lane into the Mayview neighborhood.

Jessica Howard (32) of Newland, N.C., was the top female finisher, coming in 12th overall in a time of 22:15. Stephanie Sales of Deep Gap was second in the distaff division, in 22:37.

1. Christopher Vega, 22, Vilas, 17:24
2. Peter Alexander, 43, Durham, 18:27
3. Brian Ulrich, 34, Jefferson, 19:23
4. Gabe Gomez, 28, Wilmington, 19:51
5. Jeremy Jones, 44, Boone, 19:53

TOP 5 WOMEN

1. Jessica Howard, 32, Newland, 22:15
2. Stephanie Sales, 34, Deep Gap, 22:37
3. Maddie Bollman, 15, Boone, 22:38
4. Bethany Jobe, 22, Boone, 22:58
5. Taylor Sherrill, 31, Statesville, 23:01

By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK — Twenty-four pickleball enthusiasts converged on Memorial Park, Aug. 26, 12 men and 12 women. They were all entered in the first annual Blowing Rock Pickleball tournament to raise money for the Blowing Rock Community Foundation.

The round robin format of randomly paired teams in each timed round eventually produced a “King” and a “Queen.” Ed Kyles and Lee Moore accepted all the trappings of royalty by tourney’s end, receiving crowns, t-shirts emblazoned with their respective titles, and a big jar of Mt. Olive pickles to commemorate the occasion.

To date, the Blowing Rock Community Foundation has awarded more than one million dollars in college scholarships to students who attended Blowing Rock School, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to area non-profits. Of those receiving scholarships, foundation chair Sandy Miller reports that more than 95 percent have graduated with their degrees.

For 2022, the pickleball tournament is just the first fundraising event to be hosted by Blowing Rock Community Foundation. On Oct. 1, a full slate of 100 golfers are expected to participate in the organization’s annual Community Service Days golf tournament at Blowing Rock Country Club, beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.

“This tournament is hugely popular,” said Miller, “notably because it is one of the few times that non-members get to play the beautiful Blowing Rock Country Club course. Reservations have already started to come in, so we encourage anyone interested to sign up as early as possible.

Miller also said that the “Groovy Nights” event will return in 2023.

“COVID-19, of course, made staging Groovy Nights next to impossible in both 2020 and 2021, and we decided to err on the side of caution for this year, too,” said Miller. “But in 2023, we will be back and there is already a lot of buzz about the acts that will be performing.”

Interested parties may learn more about the work of Blowing Rock Community Foundation and its various event opportunities by visiting www.blowingrockcf.org.