NCHSAA championship central: Charlotte area’s big day Saturday
North Mecklenburg’s boys and Lake Norman’s girls gave the Charlotte area its second and third high school basketball champions Saturday by capturing 4A titles.
A day earlier, Corvian Community beat Southern Wake Academy 58-55 in overtime and captured the 1A boys’ state championship.
The N.C. High School Athletic Association’s Final Four week has come to an end, and here’s a look at how eight teams became state champions.
How to watch
Replays of all the games are available on NFHS, available via subscription (www.nfhs.com).
Today’s topic
Which county is N.C.’s basketball champion?
The N.C. High School Athletic Association record book tells us that New Hanover High, which lost to North Mecklenburg in Saturday’s 4A boys’ state championship game, has won the most basketball state titles — 14.
But which county is king of boys’ hoops?
A look through the NCHSAA records shows Forsyth County leads the list, with 28. Guilford and Mecklenburg counties are not far behind. Guilford County added to its total Friday night, when Ben Smith took the 3A boys’ crown.
So here are the leading counties. This list includes all size classifications, dating back more than 100 years. It includes all schools named as “co-champions” in 2020, when COVID prevented the state finals from being played.
And the list is from the NCHSAA record book (through Saturday’s 4A championship games).
Forsyth — 28
Mecklenburg — 26
Guilford — 26
Wake — 19
Pitt — 19
Surry — 17
Durham — 16
New Hanover — 15
From the Charlotte area, Cabarrus (8), Gaston (7) and Union (6) were the leaders.
4A girls’ championship
LAKE NORMAN 43, WAKEFIELD 41
Rayana Minard cut behind the Wakefield defense Saturday afternoon and scored a layup that gave Lake Norman the 4A girls’ state basketball championship.
Lake Norman wins thriller over Wakefield.
4A boys’ championship
NORTH MECKLENBURG 59, NEW HANOVER 56
North Mecklenburg battled back from a 14-0 deficit and won its second straight 4A boys’ championship. New Hanover got off a potentially tying 3-point shot in the final seconds, but the attempt missed.
The Vikings are the first boys’ 4A team to repeat as state champion in North Carolina in more than two decades. And it’s been even longer since a Mecklenburg team won back-to-back titles.
Read more about the Vikings’ thrilling victory.
2A girls’ championship
SOUTHEAST ALAMANCE 43, NORTH WILKES 33
Southeast Alamance’s defense was the difference Tuesday evening, as the Stallions won the girls’ 2A state championship in just the second year of the school’s existence.
Southeast Alamance (29-3), which will not even have a senior class until next year, held high-scoring North Wilkes to 30.2 percent shooting from the floor and gradually pulled away in the second half.
“33 points? That’s a good half for us,” said North Wilkes coach Steven Phillips said of his team’s offensive output. “It wasn’t our best game.”
Southeast Alamance coach Amy Sarratt said her team turned in “a fantastic defensive effort.”
The Stallions held North Wilkes standout Meredith Tomko to 2-of-18 field goal goal shooting. Tomko and Ralee Bare were a combined 2-of-20 from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, Southeast Alamance helped put the game away by making 13-of-16 from the foul line.
“We struggled at the free throw line all season,” Sarratt said. “But we made them tonight.”
The game was tied 12-12 after one quarter, and Southeast Alamance (29-3) was up 21-20 at the half. North Wilkes (30-2) briefly took the lead in the second half, but the Stallions went on a surge and led 30-24 after three quarters.
Clara LaChapelle led the Stallions with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Ralee Bare scored 10 for North Wilkes, and her sister Shalyn Bare grabbed 14 rebounds.
2A boys’ championship
REIDSVILLE 71, NORTHWOOD 54
The Final Four turned out to be a coronation tour for Reidsville, which capped a perfect 30-0 season by winning its second consecutive 2A state championship.
The Rams have a 60-game winning streak, and their only loss in their last 91 games was in the 2023 state finals.
Northwood (30-3) kept it close for a half and trailed 23-20 at intermission. But Reidsville stepped on the gas in the third quarter and outscored the Chargers 21-10.
“We started off slow, and credit that to Northwood, because their 1-3-1 zone gave us trouble,” Reidsville coach Jason Ross said.
“In the third quarter,” he added, “we got it going.”
Northwood coach Matt Brown said Reidsville was able to ignite its fast-break offense by forcing turnovers.
“We h,ad a couple turnovers that led to run-outs,” Brown said. “We’d hoped to prevent that.”
Kendre Harrison finished with 16 points, making 8-of-10 field-goal attempts. He also had 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. Teammate Dionte Neal had a team-high 24 for Reidsville.
Northwood dealt with foul troubles in the second half. Starters Hayes Burleson and Chad Graves fouled out, and Isaiah Blair finished with four fouls.
Cam Fowler led Northwood with 27 points and eight rebounds.
1A boys’ championship
CORVIAN COMMUNITY 58, SOUTHERN WAKE ACADEMY 55 (OT)
R.J. Moore Jr., the sophomore 3-point specialist, connected from long range with 1 second remaining in overtime and gave the Cardinals a 1A boys’ state championship.
Corvian Charter wins on a buzzer-beater.
1A girls’ championship
CHEROKEE 84, EAST BLADEN 48
East Bladen battled powerful Cherokee on near-even terms for more than three quarters. Then the defending 1A champion Braves turned on the jets.
Cherokee put up a flurry of shots and raced to an 84-48 victory for a second straight state championship Friday.
The final score belies how close the game was for more than two quarters. Cherokee led only 37-35 early in the third period, but the Braves (28-2) went on a 41-8 run and outscored East Bladen (26-4) 47-16 in the second half.
The shots weren’t falling early for Cherokee, so the Braves just kept shooting. They put up a staggering 97 shots, making enough of them (35 percent) to pull away.
“There was a lid on the bucket at the beginning, but they won’t give up,” Cherokee coach Miranda Stamper said of her team. “We will shoot 200 times, if that’s what it takes to win.”
“That’s all we know,” Stamper said of her team’s relentless attack. “We play better at a fast pace.”
East Bladen employed an interesting strategy through much of the opening three quarters, keeping one of its players far behind the action, at the other end of the court, in case Cherokee missed a shot. When an East Bladen player got a rebound, she threw the ball downcourt to the fifth player for an easy basket.
That worked, until Cherokee started making its shots.
Whitney Rogers scored 33 points for the Braves, despite playing with a hyper-extended knee, suffered in Tuesday’s regional final victory over Bishop McGuinness.
“She went to rehab and did what she was supposed to do,” Stamper said of Rogers.
The victory came on Stamper’s birthday. During practice Thursday, Rogers told her coach, “I’m gonna go get you a state championship for your birthday. Is that enough?”
Dvdaya Swimmer added 15 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals for Cherokee.
East Bladen, now 0-5 in girls’ championship games, got 24 points from Laila Smith and 12 points and eight rebounds from Nene Ward.
3A girls’ championship
WESTERN ALAMANCE 76, STUART CRAMER 58
Stuart Cramer junior Oshauna Holland had a state championship game to remember, pouring in 49 points, but her teammates totaled only 9 additional points in a 3A girls’ championship finale.
Western Alamance beats Stuart Cramer for 3A girls’ title.
3A boys’ championship
BEN SMITH 64, SOUTHERN DURHAM 62 (OT)
Gavin Palmore sank two free throws with three seconds left in overtime, clinching a victory and the first state championship in Smith’s school history.
Palmore’s free throws gave Ben Smith a 64-59 lead, before Southern Durham’s Jackson Keith sank a long 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Jyi Dawkins had given Smith a 62-59 lead with 12 seconds remaining by making two free throws. Southern Durham’s attempt to tie failed with Keith’s 3-point shot rolled around the rim and spun out. Ben Smith got the rebound, and Palmore was fouled.
“We played with a lot of resilience,” Ben Smith coach Derrick Partee said. “We had foul troubles early, but in the second half, we came out with a lot more energy.”
Partee said the state championship means a lot to the school and the program.
“What got me was how many guys from the 1995 team that lost (in the finals) were here today for this game,” he said. “It means a lot.”
Dawkins led the victorious Eagles (29-3) with 29 points and eight rebounds.
Southern Durham, which finished with a 30-3 record, got 23 points apiece from A.J. Morman Jr. and Jackson Keith. Each of them played the entire game.
Live scoreboard
State final scores/schedules
FRIDAY
Class 1A boys
Corvian Community 58, Southern Wake Academy 55 (OT)
Class 1A girls
Cherokee 83, East Bladen 48
Class 3A girls
Western Alamance 76, Stuart Cramer 58
Class 3A boys
Ben Smith 64, Southern Durham 62 (OT)
SATURDAY
Class 4A girls
Lake Norman 43, Wakefield 41
Class 4A boys
North Mecklenburg 59, New Hanover 56
Class 2A girls
Southeast Alamance 43, North Wilkes 33
Class 2A boys
Reidsville 71, Northwood 54
This story was originally published March 15, 2025 at 5:15 AM with the headline "NCHSAA championship central: Charlotte area’s big day Saturday."