HS Rewind: Providence, Vance girls, North Meck, Ardrey Kell boys advance to state semis

It was definitely Super Saturday for Mecklenburg County’s 4A public school basketball teams.

Four of them will take all four spots in the N.C. High School Athletic Association boys and girls Western Regional championship games Tuesday.

On the boys side, North Mecklenburg beat South Mecklenburg and is one win away from its second straight berth in the 4A finals and the fifth in school history.

Ardrey Kell beat RJ Reynolds to advance. The Knights, who will host North Meck on Tuesday, will look for their second state championship appearance in school history and the first since a narrow 70-64 loss to Garner in 2015, when Knights star Steven Santa Ana had a finals-record 44 points.

▪ On the girls side, reigning 4A state champion Vance beat Independence in a thrilling overtime game and will look to become the first Mecklenburg County to qualify for back-to-back finals since Myers Park won a pair in 2014 and ‘15. Vance will play Providence, looking for its first state final. Providence beat South Caldwell on Saturday.

North Meck boys stay undefeated, stop South Meck

South Mecklenburg hung tough with North Mecklenburg for much of Saturday’s state quarterfinal, but the Vikings were able to keep enough cushion for a 71-57 lead.

The score was tied at 13 after the first quarter and was tight for good portions of the second and third, but every time South Meck threatened, North Meck had a spurt.

South Meck freshman Bishop Boswell had 14 points, freshman Peter Moye had 12 and the Sabres got 22 combined from Joseph Ferrante and Sincere Rasul.

North Mecklenburg got big games from guards Davion Cunningham (19 points, five rebounds), Jordan Crawford (18 points, three assists) as well as forwards Jeremy Gregory (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Chris Ford (11 points, 11 rebounds).

Ardrey Kell pounds RJR Reynolds, moves to regional finals

Ardrey Kell shredded R.J. Reynolds’ tough defense with a 24-point second-quarter surge and pulled away for an easy 84-53 home quarterfinal 4A boys victory.

The Knights (9-0) advanced to their meeting with North Mecklenburg by dominating every facet of the game against the Demons (13-2).

Ardrey Kell shot better than 50% from the floor (30 of 59), held R.J. Reynolds to 34% shooting (16 of 47), outrebounded the Demons 38-17, and blocked eight R.J. Reynolds shots.

R.J. Reynolds had not allowed an opponent to score more than 67 points in a game before Saturday night.

“We really played well,” Knights coach Mike Craft said. “It really helps when you’re making the shots.”

But the Knights’ defense was the key.

Every R.J. Reynolds’ excursion toward the basket was an adventure, with an Ardrey Kell defender either blocking a shot or forcing an off-balance attempt most of the time.

“Peyton Gerald is 6-9, and he does a really good job of using his body and his length,” Craft said. “And Elijah (Gray), at 6-8, does the same thing.”

Sophomore guard Brandon Nelson scored a game-high 21 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and Knoah Carver added 18 points with a trio of 3s.

The Demons hung with Ardrey Kell through the first quarter and trailed just 12-8 after eight minutes. But the trend was obvious. R.J. Reynolds made just 3 of 14 from the floor in that period. Ardrey Kell also was cold, hitting 5 of 15.

When the Knights heated up in the second quarter (9 of 15) and third quarter (7 of 10), the visitors had no answer. Ardrey Kell outscored the Demons 49-24 over the middle two periods.

“Now we play North Mecklenburg, and I guess that’s the game everyone wanted to see,” Craft said. “It should be really good. And I’m happy we’re playing at our place.”

— Steve Lyttle

Providence girls rally for regional berth

Down 15 points with 90 seconds left in the third quarter, Providence rallied for a 48-42 win over South Caldwell to advance to the regional round for the first time in school history.

Providence was outscored 16-5 in the second quarter as South Caldwell opened a lead.

Providence’s Nyla McGill (21 points) led the comeback. Delanie Hill had two big 3-pointers in the decisive fourth quarter.

Davidson Day, Victory, Concord Academy win girls NCISAA titles

▪ Victory Christian won its second straight NCISAA 1A title, beating Lee Christian 50-24.

▪ Concord Academy beat Asheville Christian 58-57 in overtime to win the 3A championship. Concord Academy had lost in the previous two state finals.

Sophomore Zoey Ward had 16 points and senior Zykia Benjamin had 14 for Concord Academy.

▪ Davidson Day’s girls won their third straight title, winning 65-46 over the Burlington School on the Burlington School’s home floor. Davidson Day avenged an earlier loss to Burlington.

Roundup

3A BOYS

Crest 68, West Rowan 62 ... The Chargers knocked off the top-seeded Falcons, with Caleb Borders and Mari Adams each hitting a pair of free throws in the closing 15 seconds. Jalen Moss scored 14 points for West Rowan.

Weddington 61, Mount Tabor 48 ... Chase Lowe scored 23 points and Kyle Frazier added 18 as the Warriors advanced to the West finals. They will host Crest on Tuesday.

4A GIRLS

Garner 61, Apex Friendship 48 ... The host Trojans (15-0) moved on to an East regional final against Ashley, behind the 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists by junior Nyah Wilkins. Jerni Kiuku added 14 points for Garner.

3A GIRLS

Hickory 53, Freedom 41 ... The Red Tornadoes stunned the top-seeded Patriots, outscoring them 23-11 in the fourth quarter. Freedom led 38-37 early in the final period, but Hickory took the lead on Ellie Rumbaugh’s 3-pointer. A 10-0 Hickory run put the Red Tornadoes up 47-38.

Quick Links

Cannon School girls rally to beat North Raleigh Christian in 4A finals

Cannon boys run to big lead against Carmel, hold on to win 4A state

Victory Christian beats United Faith to win 1A state finals

Saturday’s statewide scores, NCHSAA semifinal pairings

Saturday’s #BIG5 Top Performers

Davion Cunningham, North Mecklenburg: 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 71-57 win over South Meck in the state quarterfinals.

Chase Lowe, Weddington: 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks in a 81-48 win over Mount Tabor.

Nyla McGill, Providence: 21 points, 14 rebounds, seven steals, five assists in a 48-42 win over South Caldwell.

Amhyia Moreland, Vance: 23 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and two blocks in a 63-61 overtime win over Independence in the N.C. 4A quarterfinals.

Reigan Richardson, Cannon School: McDonald’s All-American had a game-high 24 points to lift her team to a 53-39 win over North Raleigh Christian in the N.C. Independent Schools 4A state final. It was Cannon’s first girls basketball state title.

Saturday’s Boys Boxscores

ARDREY KELL 84, RJ REYNOLDS 53

Ardrey Kell 12 24 25 23 — 84

RJ Reynolds 8 9 15 21 — 53

Ardrey Kell: Brandon Nelson 21, Knoah Carver 14, Elijah Gray 12, Gerald 9, Hanchard 5, Smith 5, German 3, Wofford 3, Akenyelu 2, Witherspoon 2, Holmes 2, Hammonds 2

RJ Reynolds: Davis 17, Leach 11

Notable: Ardrey Kell defeats RJ Reynolds to advance to the regional final. Ardrey Kell will face North Meck at home on Tuesday night for a trip to the state championship. Brandon Nelson lead all scorers with 21 including 5 threes. Elijah Gray 12. Peyton Gerald chips in with 9 and 10 rebounds. Evan Smith scores 5 points with 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

LINCOLN CHARTER 82, MITCHELL 42

Lincoln Charter 26 25 17 14 — 82

Mitchell 14 8 14 6 — 42

Lincoln Charter: Sam Cogan 24, Troy Fulton 21, Elijah Burnett 15, Marcus Farley 13, Carter Seitz 11, Baich 1

Notable: LCS. Carter Seitz 11 pts 15 rbs

NORTH LINCOLN 87, SHELBY 56

North Lincoln 20 23 23 21 — 87

Shelby 12 16 14 14 — 56

NORTH LINCOLN 87: Samari Collins 22, Jack Carter 20, Cole Seagle 17, Daniel Carter 11, Jack Waggoner 9, Seth Whitley 6, Jake Dedmon 2

SHELBY 56: Tyler Arrington 17, Jimmy Whisnant 13, Elijah Borders 8, Torrian Arrington 7, Jaden Pierce 4, Omar Phillips 4, Drew Hollifield 3

Notable: North Lincoln advances to round 4 of state 2A tourney.

NORTH MECKENBURG 71, SOUTH MECKLENBURG 57

South Meck 13 9 21 14 — 57

North Meck 13 18 27 13 — 71

SM: Bishop Boswell 14, Moye 12, Josheph Ferrante 11, Sincere Rasul 11, Lose 5, Nesbit 3, Alexander 1

NM: Davion Cunningham 19, Jordan Crawford 18, Chris Ford 11, Jeremy Gregory 10, Coles 9, Waters 4

Notable: Davion Cunningham 19pts 5rbs 3ast 2stl, Jordan Crawford 18pts 3ast, Chris Ford 11pts 11rbs, Jeremy Gregory 10pts 11rbs

WEDDINGTON 81, MOUNT TABOR 48

Mt Tabor 11 12 6 19 — 48

Weddington 12 11 24 14 — 81

MOUNT TABOR 48: Jashaun Torrence – 12, Daniel Fulp – 10, Viola – 8, Peterkin – 6, Simmons – 6, Bank - 4, Fernandees – 2,

WEDDINGTON 81: Chase Lowe – 23, Kyle Frazier – 18, AJ Cook – 7, Wetherbee – 6, Bates – 5, Morton – 2

Notable: Weddington Junior PG Chase Lowe led the Warriors with 23 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Junior Kyle Frazier scored 15 of his 18 in the 2nd half as the Warriors advance to the 3A Boys Final Four.

Saturday’s Girls Boxscores

CANNON SCHOOL 53 NORTH RALEIGH 39

Cannon School 13 6 20 14 — 53

North Raleigh 10 12 9 8 — 39

Cannon School 53: Reigan Richardson 24, Sydney Wood 12, Hicks 9, Z. Edwards 6, Galloway 2

North Raleigh 39:Imani Lester 16, Emma Finster 11, Mims 8, Harris 4

Cannon School 20-5; North Raleigh 19-2

CONCORD ACADEMY 58, ASHEVILLE CHRISTIAN 57

CONCORD ACADEMY 58: Zykia Benjamin 14, Raegan Dickens 12, Mckenzie Taylor 10, Lexander 4, Hall 2, Zoey Ward 16

HICKORY 53, FREEDOM 41

Hickory 8 12 10 23 — 53

Freedom 12 9 9 11 — 41

HICKORY 53: Aysha Short 16, Kellen Morin 10, Finley LeFevers 10, Chloe James 11, Rumbaugh 6, Greenard.

FREEDOM 41: Danisha Hemphill 16, Adair Garrison 10, Ste. McGee 5, Walker 4, Rhone 6, Armentrout, Kania.

PROVIDENCE 48, SOUTH CALDWELL 42

Providence 7 5 13 23 — 48

South Caldwell 4 16 12 10 — 42

PROVIDENCE 48: Webb, Nyla McGill 21, Eva Butler 10, Skinner, Nolan 7, Delanie Hill 10

SOUTH CALDWELL 42: Propst 3, Olivia Miller 12, Jackson 4, Phillips, Syd Austin, Katlyn Katlyn Wynn 13, Heavener, Faith Curtis 10

Records: South Caldwell 8-7 (2-1)

VANCE 63, INDEPENDENCE 61 (OT)

Vance 9 15 17 14 8

Indy 11 22 9 13 6

VANCE 62: Amhyia Moreland: 23 Points, 15 Rebounds, 2 Steals, 2 Blocks; Tanajah Hayes: 18 Points, 5 Asst, 6 Rebounds, 2 Steals, 1 Block; Leah Barringer: 10 Points, 1 Rebound