Staff Reports

Starmount’s girls soccer season came to an end Saturday night, with the Rams falling 5-1 at West Stokes in the second round of the 2A playoffs.

The Wildcats, the top 2A seed from the Northwest 1A/2A Conference, scored four goals in the first half and added its final net in the last 15 minutes. The game was halted for a brief time due to lightning.

Savannah Anthony, a senior, ended her high school sports career by scoring the Rams’ final goal of the season. Anthony converted a header in the first half.

Starmount, which surged late in the season to earn a wildcard berth, finishes with an 11-10-1 record. West Stokes (12-7-2) advances to play one of Starmount’s conference partners on Wednesday night, Wilkes Central (16-3-1).

The West Stokes-Wilkes Central winner likely will face top-ranked and undefeated Forbush in the fourth round. Forbush mauled Bandys 9-0 on Saturday, scoring six goals in the opening half.

SOFTBALL PLAYOFF TIME: The N.C. High School Athletic Association had not posted state playoff brackets for softball as of late Sunday night.

But Starmount coach Heather Courts already knows who and when her team is going to play.

The Rams, winners of the MVAC tournament last week, will host Smoky Mountain on Tuesday at 6 p.m., Courts said. Smoky Mountain finished fourth in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, third among the league’s 2A schools.

Look for complete brackets to be posted at www.nchsaa.org on Monday.

Forbush, the conference’s regular season champion, earned the MVAC’s No. 1 seed for the 2A brackets. East Wilkes will play in the 1A tournament as the No. 2 seed from the MVAC. Both the Falcons and Cardinals are set to host games Tuesday.