JoRaye Morrison tallied three touchdowns Friday evening in Moravian Falls as his Wilkes Central Eagles defeated visiting North Wilkes 34-7 in Mountain Valley 1A/2A Athletic Conference varsity action.

North Wilkes senior guard Zack Carlton and West Wilkes coach Allie Greene were honored Wednesday as basketball player and coach of the year in the Mountain Valley 1A/2A Athletic Conference.

The strangest high school football season in recent memory started for two Wilkes County teams Thursday night in Ronda, both six months late and one day early.

BOONE — Starting with a Thursday night game against East Carolina to kick off the college football season in North Carolina, App State will play an exciting 2021 fall schedule in head coach Shawn Clark’s second full season at the helm.

The historic season of the West Wilkes varsity girls ended Thursday night in Burnsville.

The East Wilkes varsity boys, playing in endurance mode, had something left in the tank for North Wilkes on Wednesday, in the season finale for both clubs.

Wilkes County varsity football teams have their sights set this season on Ashe County and Elkin, who last year finished as co-champions of the Mountain Valley 1A/2A Athletic Conference with 6-1 league marks.

Dawson Martin added an exceptional moment to his already exceptional life on Feb. 16.

The West Wilkes varsity girls advanced to the second round of the 2A state playoffs for the third straight year by turning away North Surry in Millers Creek on Tuesday, 59-34.

Laura Foster, a former player at West Wilkes High School and coach at Ashe County and Wilkes Central high schools, recorded her 300th career coaching victory on Feb. 17.

The West Wilkes varsity girls completed an undefeated league campaign by nearly tripling the output of Ashe County in Millers Creek on Feb. 17.

The West Wilkes varsity girls clinched the first outright conference championship in school history on Friday, knocking off North Wilkes in Hays, 46-22.

To keep their 1A state playoff chances alive, the East Wilkes varsity boys had to win all three of its games this week and hope that Starmount lost at least two of its last three.

West Wilkes handed Ashe County its first loss of the season on Feb. 10. The Blackhawks prevailed in Millers Creek, 2-0.

The West Wilkes girls took a giant step Friday toward the school’s first solo conference championship in varsity basketball.

The West Wilkes varsity boys gained a season split with Wilkes Central by downing the Eagles in Millers Creek on Friday, 66-56.

The West Wilkes soccer team blanked East Wilkes in Millers Creek on Thursday, 4-0.

RALEIGH — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will close approximately 1,000 miles of hatchery supported trout waters to fishing one-half hour after sunset on Feb. 28 and reopen them at 7 a.m. on April 3.

Scott Wood, who played and coached football at North Wilkes High School and is now the football and track coach at Elkin High School, was one of three recipients of the Lowe’s Campus Captain award for January.

It was senior night Friday in Moravian Falls, but it was also the youth brigade that boosted the Wilkes Central varsity boys past North Wilkes, 69-52.

The West Wilkes varsity girls kept its lock on first place in the Mountain Valley 1A/2A Athletic Conference on Monday, knocking off Starmount in Boonville, 66-46.

Four swimmers from West Wilkes High School — Ethan Hurley, Anthony Mackler, Samuel Lewczyk and Isaiah Lewczyk — achieved all-league status after finishing second in events on Jan. 23 at the Mountain Valley 1A/2A Athletic Conference championships.

They say good things come in threes, and that certainly applies to West Wilkes volleyball player Cheyenne Clonch and her coach, Steve Bryan, in 2021.

BOONE — App State women’s golf welcomed North Carolina native and freshman Lenoir-Rhyne transfer Ava Tharpe to the Mountaineer golf program Thursday afternoon.

The West Wilkes volleyball team had made this postseason all about settling old scores.

The West Wilkes varsity girls disproved a famous line from F. Scott Fitzgerald — “there are no second acts in American lives” — on Monday.

The Tabor cross country teams have experienced tremendous success to this point in their fall season.

Anchored by strong play down the stretch from its floor leader, Dylan Ward, the East Wilkes boys defeated North Wilkes in Ronda on Friday, 49-40.

Several Wilkes County high school swimmers had runner-up showings Saturday at the Mountain Valley 1A/2A Athletic Conference swim finals at the Armfield Center in Pilot Mountain.

Even missing its head coach and one of its floor leaders, the Wilkes Central varsity boys had little trouble dispatching West Wilkes in Moravian Falls on Jan. 13, 71-52.

Wilkes Central junior Isabelle Curry posted the best finish among Wilkes County runners at regional cross country meets on Saturday.

OAKBORO - Playing an undefeated volleyball team on its home court would be a daunting task for any squad, especially in the 2A West Region semifinals.

East Wilkes High School is proposed to leave the Mountain Valley 1A/2A Athletic Conference and join seven other area 1A schools in a yet-to-be named conference, according to the second draft of realignment data released Thursday by the N.C. High School Athletic Association.

The volleyball teams, the court and the stakes were the same as a year ago.

The normally raucous Nest was nearly empty on Thursday, but the result was the same: another win for the Wilkes Central varsity boys inside the warm, friendly confines of home.

On Jan. 5, the West Wilkes varsity girls basketball team had no trouble dispatching East Wilkes in Millers Creek on senior night, 53-17.

An online public hearing for proposed 2021-22 fishing, hunting, trapping and game land regulations in North Carolina, including Sunday hunting on game lands, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 21.