By Sonny Jones
It’s interesting to follow the athletic careers of former Bladen County athletes. With that in mind, here’s the latest on a trio of high school graduates in West Bladen’s John Bowen and East Bladen’s Maya McDonald and Larrell Murchison.
• Bowen and the Phoenix are 1-2 prior to Thursday night’s home game against North Dakota. Elon is scheduled to play at N.C. State on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ACC Extra Network.
Bowen is averaging 7.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game through three games. He has made 10 of his 12 field goal attempts, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range.
Bowen has been in the starting lineup the past two games for Elon. He netted a team-high 17 points in a 77-64 loss against East Tennessee State on Nov. 11. Against Harvard on Nov. 13, Bowen was hampered by foul trouble (4 fouls) and was limited to 12 minutes of play and 2 points.
The West Bladen High graduate played two seasons at Belmont Abbey and two seasons at UNC Wilmington before attending Elon this season to join the basketball team and study to receive his Masters degree in Business Analytics.
Elon is scheduled to play at UNC Wilmington on Monday, Jan. 16.
• McDonald ended her first season playing with the Cape Fear Community College women’s soccer team with a trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II tournament in Tucson, Arizona.
The 12th-seeded Sea Devils lost to top-seeded Holmes 6-1 and eighth-seeded Schoolcraft 4-0 in pool play in the national tournament and were eliminated. McDonald combined for three shot attempts in the two games.
McDonald scored 28 goals and had 6 assists for CFCC, which finished 11-4-1 and won the Region 10 championship. The East Bladen High graduate scored 6 goals in a game against Lenoir Community College on Oct. 15 and 5 goals against Patrick & Henry on Sept. 23.
McDonald led Region 10 Division II teams in goals, points (62) and shots (72). She was named to the All-Region team.
• Good news for Murchison this week as he was signed to the Tennessee Titans’ active roster from the practice squad. The 6-foot-2, 297-pound defensive lineman out of East Bladen High was with Tennessee’s practice squad for the first six games of the NFL season, but was elevated to the active roster for the past three games.
NFL rules state a player can be elevated three times during the season and not count against the 53-player roster. After the third time, the practice squad player would have to be elevated to the 53-man roster before playing.
Murchison had used his three practice squad elevations. Therefore, the only way Murchison could play in a game for Tennessee was to be signed to the active roster.
Tennessee is scheduled to play at Green Bay on Thursday at 8:15 p.m.. The game will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video stream.
Murchison has seen limited playing time in his three games on the active roster and has been credited with assisting on a tackle. In his first two seasons with the Titans, he started five of 21 games he appeared in.
WEDNESDAY’S PICK TO CLICK
Stephen Curry drops 40 for a struggling Golden State team to help the Warriors get a much-needed win at Phoenix.
TUESDAY’S PICK: Jeremy Roach collects a double-double in points and assists in helping Duke slip past Kansas in the Champions Classic. RESULTS: Roach scored 16 points and had only 1 assist in Duke’s 69-64 loss to the Jayhawks. And, no, I couldn’t stay awake until halftime.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 1982 — The NFL Management Council and the NFL Players’ Association announce settlement of a 57-day player strike.
POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
BASKETBALL: HBCU Tip-Off: Johnson C. Smith vs. Clark Atlanta, 1 p.m., ESPNU
BASKETBALL: HBCU Tip-Off: Xavier (La.) vs. Virginia Union, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU
NHL: St. Louis at Chicago, 7:30 p.m., TNT
NBA: Boston at Atlanta, 7:45 p.m., ESPN
BASKETBALL: Gonzaga at Texas, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2
NHL: Los Angeles at Edmonton, 10 p.m., TNT
NBA: Golden State at Phoenix, 10:05 p.m., ESPN
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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