LUMBERTON — Well, we won’t be forgetting the past 12 months anytime soon.

There’s no doubt 2020 has been a unique year, and that extended to sports in Robeson County.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected local sports — as it has affected everything — but there were also plenty of occurrences on the field, track and course that were unique in a positive way.

As the year comes to a close, here’s a look at the biggest stories of 2020.

1. COVID-19’s effect on sports

The No. 1 story of 2020 has, unfortunately, been the COVID-19 pandemic — and that’s true in pretty much any facet of American life, including sports, and including locally.

The sports world stopped on March 12. After the NBA’s suspension the night before, all other major sports leagues paused on this day and the NCAA Tournament was canceled. The Division I edition got the most publicity, but locally that abruptly ended the terrific season of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (see below) while they were on a bus somewhere between UNCP and Lincoln Memorial.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association also suspended all sports on that day, pausing not only spring sports (which were ultimately canceled April 24) but the basketball state championships as well, as the Lumberton boys were set to play for the 4A title (see below).

Local sports remained completely dormant for months. On Aug. 12, the NCHSAA announced its amended sports calendar, which pushed football to the spring of 2021 and allowed sports in the 2020-21 academic year to open with volleyball and cross country. This culminated with volleyball opening in Robeson County on Nov. 17, and taking a starring role in the local sports landscape it’s rarely if ever seen before — led by the undefeated start to conference play by St. Pauls.

UNCP athletics have also been slow to resume, though a cross country meet held on the track of Grace P. Johnson Stadium on Oct. 2 was the first high school or collegiate sporting event in the county since March 11.

Now, as 2020 closes, high school basketball is days away, while the UNCP women have played three games and the men will scrimmage next week before opening Jan. 2.

2. Lumberton basketball wins co-state championship

COVID-19 ended Lumberton’s chance to play for the state championship in Chapel Hill, a game which would have been March 14. But as time passes, what the Lumberton team did do is becoming more meaningful than what they didn’t get the chance to do.

Lumberton won the 4A East Regional championship on March 7, then after the state championship game was canceled the Pirates were declared co-state champions — the first championship in program history.

The No. 9-seed Pirates, the lowest seed of any of the NCHSAA’s basketball co-state champions, was away from home every playoff game after the first round. Lumberton defeated No. 24 South Central, the 2019 4A champions, 59-54 on Feb. 25; No. 8 Apex Friendship 77-74 on Feb. 27; No. 1 Garner Magnet 66-58 on Feb. 29; and No. 4 Hoggard 68-58 on March 3.

This led to the East Regional final, a 66-47 win over No. 3 Pinecrest — who had beaten the Pirates twice in the regular season — in front of a packed house at Fayetteville State’s Capel Arena.

Senior Jordan McNeill, the program’s all-time leading scorer, was named player of the year in both Robeson County and the Sandhills Athletic Conference. Coach Bryant Edwards, in his first season with the Pirates, was named HighSchoolOT’s Male Coach of the Year, an award reaching across all sports and all classifications statewide.

“A state championship was not in reaching distance from me. I wanted to win a conference championship, I would like to go on a good run in the playoffs, I’d like to do stuff like this at this level,” Lumberton coach Bryant Edwards said. “For my first year going in and being awarded a state champion, it’s awesome, but it’s all about the guys and the coaching staff that made it possible.”

The state championship game was postponed March 12 and canceled April 24 before all finalists were declared by the NCHSAA as co-champions on April 29.

Lumberton’s story reached far and wide — they were even featured in a “Senior Night” segment on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” on March 25.

3. UNCP moves to Conference Carolinas

After nearly three decades of competition in Peach Belt Conference, UNCP will have a new home in 2021.

The school announced April 16 it will compete in Conference Carolinas starting in the fall of 2021. Francis Marion is also making the move.

All Braves teams except football will now compete in the same conference for the first time. Football will remain an associate member of the Mountain East Conference.

Previously, while 11 of the 16 teams were in the Peach Belt, women’s swimming, wrestling and men’s and women’s indoor track and field were associated members of the MEC.

“Moving to Conference Carolinas we have 15 sports under the same umbrella, all pulling for the same goal and then you look at how many teams in Conference Carolinas support those championships,” UNCP Director of Athletics Dick Christy said. “Now wrestling, and track and field, and indoor track and field, and volleyball, and all these sports that may not have had a lot of in-league competition, they have robust championships and they have a great chance to have an awesome experience.”

The school announced Aug. 25 that men’s and women’s indoor track and field will go ahead and make the move to Conference Carolinas for the 2020-21 academic year.

4. UNCP men’s basketball conference title and coaching change

The 2019-20 UNCP men’s basketball season had its ups and downs, including the resignation of coach Ben Miller in Nov. 2019, but the season culminated with a PBC regular-season championship — the first outright regular-season title in program history.

The title was clinched with an 88-65 win over Georgia Southwestern in the regular-season finale on March 1.

Senior forward Akia Pruitt was named PBC Player of the Year and interim head coach Tony Jones was the league’s Coach of the Year.

The Braves were eliminated by Columbus State in the PBC Tournament semifinals March 7, and were selected for the Division II NCAA Tournament before its cancellation.

On March 13, Drew Richards was named as head coach. Richards had served as the program’s associate head coach under Miller from 2014-19, and was head coach at Lander for the 2019-20 season, leading the Bearcats to the PBC Tournament title.

“My family and I are excited to rejoin the UNCP community,” Richards said. “I feel honored to be given the opportunity to lead the Braves men’s basketball program and reunite with these talented student-athletes. It is a privilege to be a part of this program, and we will strive to uphold the values and strong traditions that make UNCP such a special place.”

5. St. Pauls girls basketball starts 27-0

The St. Pauls girls basketball team was undefeated through the regular season, reaching the third round of the state playoffs before its first loss.

After winning the Robeson County Shootout in Dec. 2019 on a T.J. Eichelberger buzzer-beater to beat Purnell Swett, St. Pauls made a statement early in conference play with a 65-22 win over East Bladen to snap the Eagles’ 37-game Three Rivers Conference winning streak.

The Bulldogs finished a perfect regular season Feb. 14 with a 38-4 win over Red Springs, and won a conference tournament game against South Columbus with an eye-catching 61-0 score before the TRC tournament was canceled due to inclement weather.

A No. 5 seed in the state playoffs, the Bulldogs defeated No. 28 Roanoke Rapids 59-34 on Feb. 25 and No. 21 North Pitt 59-36 on Feb. 27 before losing a 52-49 nailbiter Feb. 29 to No. 13 North Lenoir, finishing 27-1.

“I’m going to remember that nobody could beat us. Point blank, period. It can sound arrogant, it can sound whatever, but nobody could beat us,” Bulldogs coach Mike Moses said after the playoff loss. “We lost tonight, and that’s one, but there’s not a lot of people that can walk around and say they are 27-1.”

The St. Pauls boys also advanced to the third round of the state playoffs.

6. Local football players sign to the next level

For football players in Robeson County looking to advance their careers to the next level, 2020 was a good year.

Former UNCP defensive lineman Domenique Davis became the first Braves player to sign with an NFL team when he signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent on April 25. He ultimately was waived July 31 at the start of training camp.

“A lot of teams had shown a lot of interest in the beginning,” Davis said in April. “The Jets showed up at the end, and they just kept pursuing me, talking to me and my agent. They ended up picking me up right after the draft. It ended up being a blessing.”

At the high-school level, four Robeson County players signed to play Division I football on the same day Dec. 16.

Fairmont’s Kadeem Leonard signed with Central Florida, and three players from St. Pauls signed: William Ford with Florida Atlantic, Enrique Lopez-Ray with Air Force and Ethan Roberts with Eastern Illinois.

“It’s really important for a school like this to shine some light on Robeson County, so that the recruiters will come back,” St. Pauls coach Mike Setzer said. “Often times they just won’t come. I think this is huge, not just for today, but future recruiting here at the school and possibly in the county, so I’m very excited about it.”

7. UNCP conference championships, wrestling regional

Beyond men’s basketball, 2020 was a prolific year for UNCP winning conference championships — particularly the month of February.

Wrestling won the MEC title Feb. 1, and claimed the NCAA Super Regional championship as hosts on Feb. 29. Nick Daggett (125 pounds), Tyler Makosy (149), Kaleb Warner (165), Garrett Hill (174) and Nick Kee (197) won individual conference championships and Logan Seliga (133), Daggett and Kee won super regional championships.

Women’s swimming won the MEC team title on Feb. 16. Nathalia Sliva won two individual championships (1000-yard freestyle, 1650-yard freestyle), and three relay teams also won conference titles: Mariel Mencia Martinez, Jena Wise, Bianca Bateman and Silva in the 200-yard freestyle relay; Jaycie Knight, Sarah Morden, Bateman and Martinez in the 200-yard medley relay; and Ketlyn Rodriguez Matos, Megan Hunter, Knight and Bateman in the 400-yard individual medley relay.

Women’s indoor track and field won the MEC on Feb. 22, with the men’s team taking second. Individual titleists in the event included women’s athletes Erman Jepleting (800-meter run, 1-mile run), Aly Hudspeth (high jump) and the relay team of Riley Axe, Corey Pethers, Skylar Moreno and Jepleting (4000-meter distance medley relay). Men’s individual champs included Joshua Chepkesir (1-mile run, 3000-meters, 5000-meters), Jathan DeBerry (60-meter hurdles) and Bradley Thompson (high jump).

In the fall, Chepkesir won the Peach Belt’s cross country championship on Nov. 14, breaking his own event record.

8. New high school coaches

While they haven’t gotten to play games just yet, two new football coaches were announced at local high schools in 2020. Both are familiar to Robeson County.

Stephen Roberson was approved as Purnell Swett’s head coach Jan. 14. He was previously head coach at South Robeson in 2012-13, leading the Mustangs to the third round of the 2013 playoffs, before coaching at Westover and at C.A. Johnson in Columbia, South Carolina.

Purnell Swett was coached by interim Robbie Brown in the 2019 season after Jon Sherman left to coach West Bladen.

On Feb. 10, Fairmont hired George Coltharp. Coltharp is the former head coach at Red Springs, and also served as head coach at Western Harnett and Westover; he had not been a head coach since leaving Red Springs in 2013 prior to his hiring at Fairmont.

Coltharp replaced Kevin Inman, who was fired after three seasons with a 16-19 record.

9. McGirt returns to PGA Tour

Fairmont native William McGirt returned to the PGA Tour in 2020 after missing nearly two years with hip injuries.

McGirt made three starts on the Tour between July and October, making two of three cuts with a best finish of tied for 67th in the Safeway Open Sept. 10-13. He also made the cut in the Memorial Tournament, his first start back, and tied fr 68th in a field rated by the Official World Golf Ranking as the strongest non-major field in Tour history.

McGirt is playing on a major medical extension and has 29 starts to earn 375 FedEx Cup points to retain his playing status. After his three starts he has earned six points.

He also made two rehab starts on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour in July, missing the cut in both events.

10. Red Springs hosts inaugural MLK Classic

Red Springs hosted its inaugural MLK Classic on Jan. 20, with four basketball games played and organizers honoring King’s legacy with pregame ceremonies and events during timeouts and in between games.

“We traveled to other people’s tournaments and supported them, and I wanted to be at home and have something here,” Patterson said. “I know they’re doing it all over the state — I’ve had three or four different invitations to participate in other people’s tournaments. We want to give homage to Dr. King for what he’s done for all of us, and we definitely want to honor him and his legacy, so this was an opportunity to do something and also give people something to do on Dr. King’s day.”

Games included the Red Springs girls against Southern Lee, the Southern Lee boys against Scotland, the St. Pauls girls against Scotland and the Red Springs boys against Richmond.