CANNON 11 SOUTH ROWAN
CAN : 1-0-0-7-0-3-0---11-16-5
SRH : 1-2-3-0-0-2-1---9-17-3
WP—Maddie Sturgill
LP—Lexi Ritchie
CAN—Kaycie Campurciani 2-2, Maddie Sturgill 3-5, Jolie Matthews 3-5, Andie Evans 2-3, Layla Wagner 2-4
SRH—Carmen Thomas 3-5, Avery Fisher 2-4, Lexi Ritchie 2-4,Danica Kreig 2-5, Bailey Yon 2-5
Cannon 1-0

John Williams steps down at ACA
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACH AND ESPN COMMENTATOR MOVES ON AFTER NINE SEASONS
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
The head women’s basketball coach who led the Asheville Christian Academy program to a pair of state championships is stepping down after nine seasons.
John Williams, former UNC Asheville standout and Harlem Globetrotter, cited increasing commitments to his college basketball broadcasting career, in a press release issued, Feb. 27, by the Swannanoa school.
“Coach Williams has led our women’s program to new levels over the past nine seasons. He and Coach (Joey) Harrell are two of the best in N.C. and have helped many ACA girls make their way to the collegiate level as well,” ACA Director of Athletics Joe Johnson said. “John has led with class and character. His leadership has left a lasting mark on ACA Athletics. We know that John will be a positive impact wherever he goes, and we will miss him and his family. “
Williams, who won 138 games as head coach of the Lions, guided the program to six final four appearances during his tenure with the team, and four appearances in the NCISAA State Championship. He and Harrell, his assistant coach and former UNCA teammate, led ACA to titles in 2020 and 2022.
Known as “The Jet” during his high-flying Bulldogs career, Williams helped lead his college program to a Big South Conference Tournament Championship in 2011, when he gained national attention for his performance in the NCAA dunk contest.
“Coach Williams’ departure is in large part due to his growing presence in the NCAA college basketball scene as a commentator for ESPN, regionally and nationally,” ACA said in the announcement, adding the school intended to announce a new head coach later in the week.

FAITH CHRISTIAN INVITATIONAL
BASEBALL
Thursday
4:00 : Faith Christian vs Fayetteville Christian
6:30 ; Greenfield vs Freedom Christian

Friday

4:00 :Trinity/Durham vs Wilson Christian
6:30 : Westchester vs Harrells

Saturday

11: 00 : Faith Christian vs Wilson Christian
1:30 : Freedom Christian vs Wayne Country Day
4: 00 : Harrells vs Trinity/Durham
6:30 : Greenfield vs Fayetteville Christian

PRESEASON SWEET 16
1 – Charlotte Christian (NCISAA 4A) –
2 – Providence (4A) – 34-0
3 – Hough (4A) – 21-3
4 – South Rowan (3A) – 30-6
5 – East Rowan (3A) – 25-5
6 – Ardrey Kell (4A) – 20-7
7 – Myers Park (4A) - 25-4
8 – Cherryville (1A) – 22-12
9 – East Lincoln (3A) – 21-8
10 – Metrolina Christian (NCISAA 4A) – 19-8
11 – Lake Norman (4A) – 16-11
12 – Marvin Ridge (4A) – 18-10
13 – Burns (2A) – 22-4 14 – Carson (3A) – 18-11
15 – North Stanly (2A) – 22-3
16 – Charlotte Catholic (4A) – 18-10

Also receiving consideration: Hickory Grove (NCISAA 3A, 14-11); Lincoln Charter (2A, 20-5); Union Academy (1A, 20-9).

Cancer took its coach but Charlotte Christian baseball is ready for a season like no other
BY STEVE LYTTLE FEBRUARY 26, 2023 5:30 AM
This will be a baseball season like no other at Charlotte Christian. The Knights might field the best team in the school’s storied baseball history.
Despite the graduation of three standouts now playing Division 1 college baseball, Charlotte Christian is loaded. Four seniors have committed to Division 1 programs, and college scouts are looking at several sophomores and juniors. But even if Charlotte Christian somehow falls short in some way, this will be remembered as the season without Greg Simmons.
Simmons, who guided the Knights for 30 seasons and coached 16 state championship teams, died in January at age 57 of cancer. Assistant Reid Fronk, who played for Simmons at Charlotte Christian and had been an assistant at the school for several years, has taken over. His team is No. 1 in The Observer’s baseball Sweet 16 preseason rankings. The Knights also are getting national attention with a No. 30 ranking from Maxpreps. ‘
TAKE IT DAY BY DAY’ “
There’s no manual for how to handle something like this,” said Fronk, a college standout at North Carolina who played minor league ball for several seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization. “We take it day by day.”

Coach (Simmons) was my Lower School PE teacher,” Fronk said. “He opened the door for me every day when I arrived in the car pool line. He was a coach, and then a mentor, a friend, a colleague, and a confidant.”
“It’s been hard,” Fronk said about the adjustment to life without the architect of the Knights baseball program. Charlotte Christian’s players say Simmons won’t be far from their minds this season.
“Everything we do is for him,” said senior starting pitcher Ryan O’Rourke, who was 5-1 on the mound last season. “The impact he left on us is something that will carry with us for a long time,” added sophomore infielder-pitcher John Lash, who is being recruited by dozens of schools in both baseball and basketball.
Fronk said the first weeks after Simmons’ death were very tough for everyone in the program. Gradually, every-day life is taking away some of the sting.
“Just the process of scheduling games – getting dates on the calendar, aiming for opening day – that has helped,” Fronk said.

“It’s been great, just to get out on the field.”

A BONDING TRIP
The Knights will have a chance to bond this week, having left Saturday for a mission/baseball trip to the Dominican Republic. It’s a trip Simmons used to schedule for the team .

“It should be a good experience for us,” said senior pitcher Wesley Jones, a Charlotte commit who was 7-0 last season and will be the Knights’ No. 1 starter this spring. “We’ll get to do some mission work, play ball against some really, really good teams, and bond.”

Fronk said he knows some people expect a lot from this year’s team. “But we lost a lot,” he said, referring to Judd Utermark (now at Ole Miss), Calvert Clark (Charlotte) and Everette Harris (N.C. State).
“Those are three guys who played D1 baseball last weekend.” Fronk said the Knights will build around five senior starters and will depend on new faces.
“We’ve got some really talented young guys, and it’s their time to step up,” he said. Fronk said the Knights won’t rely on power quite as much this year. That might be good news for motorists on neighboring Sardis Road, whose vehicles were sometimes in the flight path of Utermark’s 400-foot-plus home runs last spring.

“We’re more well-rounded,” Fronk said. “We can play the small-ball game, we have solid pitching, but we’ll have some power in the middle of the lineup.”

Senior closer Johnny Joseph, a Queens commit, said Charlotte Christian’s strength will start on the mound. “Our pitching will be strong,” he said. “We have several really good starters and strong relievers. And I’m sure we’ll have new guys who step up.”

So Charlotte Christian has lots of talent -- and lots of expectations. That’s all normal. Not having Simmons? That isn’t.
“It still seems strange,” Fronk said of life without his mentor. “Sometimes I’ll be driving up and see someone walking at the field, wearing a sweatshirt. Just for a minute, I’ll think it’s Coach. “Our goal is to keep this program at a high level, just like Coach had it. I think we can do that.”

SOME TOP PROSPECTS

Some of the players expected to have key roles this spring: ▪
Jones, who had a 2.42 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 38 innings. ▪
O’Rourke, who will be the starting pitcher often this spring. ▪
Grant Nicholson, a sophomore pitcher (and Wake Forest commit) who is 6-6 with a big fastball. ▪
Joseph, whose relief pitching was key in the Knights’ run to the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association’s 4A state title last year. ▪
Taylor McCammon, a senior shortstop (Elon commit) who batted .387 with five homers. ▪
Lash, who can pitch in addition to playing first base. ▪
Drew Beard, a junior centerfielder who hit .326 with 19 RBI. ▪
D.J. Layton, a junior infielder who is an excellent fielder and can pitch. ▪ Cohen Betancourt, a sophomore catcher who has already captured the attention of college scouts with his defensive ability.

Knights turned back again in state title clash
LEWISVILLE — The momentum from Thursday’s decisive defeat of archrival Wayne Country Day did not travel with the Greenfield School boys basketball team for Saturday’s NCISAA 2-A championship game. The Burlington School added a third straight 2-A title after handing the Knights a 78-65 defeat in their second title game loss in as many years.
“We’re sad that we lost, but I’m definitely not disappointed in the guys. I’m so proud of them,” assured head coach Rob Salter in a postgame telephone interview.
Foul trouble throughout the contest and a bunch of shots that would not fall conspire to doom the No. 3-seeded Knights, who finished 28-11, against the No. 1 Spartans (23-15) in the teams’ second meeting of 2023. The Burlington School pulled out a 68-64 win in the MLK Classic Showcase at Farmville Central on Jan. 16, scoring the last six points to stun the Knights, who had led much of the contest. This time Greenfield was playing catch-up from the second quarter, Salter said.
“We played really hard we just didn’t play good enough to win,” he said. “We were up most of the first quarter and they hit a shot at the buzzer to take the lead. … And we had the looks we wanted, we had great looks all night but just didn’t make them.”
Greenfield, the 1-A runner-up in 2022, was making its 12th trip to the NCISAA championship game but the first at the 2-A level. The Knights won five 1-A crowns, most recently in 2019.
The Spartans pulled away from a 13-11 lead through one quarter to a 36-22 halftime advantage that the Knights were barely able to chip into the second half. Salter said that Greenfield fought to within nine points but a whistle cut that momentum and Burlington kept the Knights at arm’s length the rest of the way.
“Obviously, there’s always going to be questionable calls,” Salter said. “They were pounding it inside. I mean, they’re huge so they were definitely pounding it inside, but the problem with us – it was foul trouble, but we also missed shots we shouldn’t have. We missed free throws in the first half that could have really helped us. I mean, our guys played so hard. I’m so proud of them. We just didn’t play well enough to win, so hats off to them. They made free throws and we didn’t.”
With junior forward Hampton Evans, who had 22 points in the January matchup with TBS, saddled with early foul trouble along with freshman point guard Kobe Edwards and junior wing Nik Edwards, Salter’s options were limited throughout Saturday’s championship game at Forsyth Country Day School.
“When you have three starters that can’t play because of foul trouble, let me tell you about that,” Salter said. “Kobe and Nik and Hampton combined for five points. That kills you.”
Junior guard Matt Kirby filled the void somewhat with a game-high 27 points for Greenfield while senior Kyshon Atkinson dropped in 11 points.
“Matt was phenomenal tonight,” Salter said. “He was great inside and out, penetrating and shooting the ball. He really put us on his back and kept us in the ballgame.”
The Spartans were paced by junior point guard Zion Walker with 20 points, one of four scorers in double figures. Josh Randolph, a 6-7 junior wing, and 6-8 sophomore post Kaden Hammond each provided 14 points while 6-4 junior guard Jordan Durham added 12 points.
“They’re big and athletic and they’ve got a phenomenal point guard in Zion Walker,” Salter said. “He’s had a fantastic year for them this year and he led them today. He made the plays and the free throws when he needed to.”
It was the final game for an indispensable quartet of seniors the Knights will certainly miss — Atkinson, Jack Adair, Micah Sherrod and Bryson Wall.
“I just want to thank our four seniors — they were phenomenal this year and their whole career,” Salter said. “I wanted it so bad for them because they’re such fantastic young men and represent our school the way they should.”
But Evans, whose buzzer-beater as an eighth grader eliminated The Burlington School from the 1-A quarterfinals in 2020, will head an impressive returning cast for Greenfield, which demonstrated that it’s as much as a state contender at the 2-A level as it was for more than 20 years in the 1-A ranks.
“I’m so proud of us getting there,” Salter said. “A lot of people doubted us, didn’t think we would get this far this year. Some of the stuff we’ve gone through but these guys stayed together. This was such a tight, tight team, man, they were so close and I loved coaching ‘em every second. But we do, we’ve got a lot of talent coming back and these guys are going to use this to motivate themselves and continue to get better because these guys love being in the gym and love working with each other. You know, we’re gonna be back. We’re going to try it again next year. You know, we’re excited with what we have coming back.”

GREENFIELD (65) Kirby 27, Atkinson 11, H. Evans 5, Sherrod 3, Adair 13, C. Evans 6.
BURLINGTON (78) Walker 20, Flippen 7, Lassiter 8, Durham 12, Randolph 14, Taylor 3, Hammond 14.
Score by quarters:
Greenfield11 11 16 27 — 65
Burlington 13 23 13 29 — 78

Fourth-quarter comeback delivers Lady Chargers four-peat
WALKERTOWN — State championship celebrations have become an annual tradition for the Wilson Christian girls basketball team.
Despite trailing entering the fourth quarter against Living Water Christian at Gospel Light Christian on Saturday, the Lady Chargers rallied for a 49-43 victory, securing their fourth straight championship in their fifth straight title game appearance.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Lady Chargers head coach Brian Trull. “What makes it even better is that we had to fight for it. Some are different than others. This one was tough. (Living Water) had a great game plan, and they executed perfectly. We didn’t shoot very well, but we still did what we needed to in the end.”
The East Region top-seeded Lady Chargers, who finished the season with a 30-3 record, took a 25-19 lead at halftime, but a 13-6 third quarter allowed the Warriors, the East’s No. 2 seed, to take a one-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
“Coach Tom Farmer at Living Water had his girls prepared unbelievably,” Trull said. “They were absolutely ready to play, they played with a ton of class and they were deserving of being here, for sure.”
A veteran, experience-laden team wasn’t going to let that phase them, however. The Lady Chargers bounced back with an 18-11 fourth quarter, ensuring they continued the dynastic run that started four years ago.
“I think it says that not only are we all skilled players, but we have a lot of heart and depth in our team,” said WCA senior Sophia Nesbit. “We have a lot of momentum, and we all love each other and want what’s best. We work together, because we’re out there not only playing for ourselves and God, but we play for each other, and we want each of us to have that special moment.”
The Lady Chargers knocked down four of their 11 3-pointers in the fourth frame.
“We handled their press pretty well when they tried to extend on us,” Trull said. “It was a matter of getting the right look and hitting open shots in the fourth quarter, shots that we really hadn’t hit all game. That was the difference.”
Jocelyn Bailey. Kate Hoskins and Gracie Farmer led the Lady Chargers with 12 points apiece, with Bailey also pulling down nine rebounds.
Fittingly, each member of the team’s dynamic starting five made an impact, with Nesbit grabbing eight rebounds, and point guard Chloe Villaverde notching eight points and seven assists.
“I think when we came out in the fourth quarter, we held the momentum, and I think that helped us tremendously,” Bailey said. “I think we were really depending on each other and leaning on each other, and we knew we were very close. We knew where each person was going to be. I think our connection just helps us so much.”
The game marked the end of the line for Hoskins, Bailey and Nesbit, as well as fellow seniors Holland Miller, who Trull said helped stabilize WCA in the second quarter with Hoskins in foul trouble, and Patsy Price.
Hoskins and Nesbit were part of all four state titles of WCA’s four-peat, and this group doubled the number of state championships the program had won four years ago. Not a bad legacy to leave.
“It’s an honor,” Nesbit said. “Most high school athletes can rarely say they won one championship. But the fact that I get to say that in all my high school basketball, I’ve gotten to win four state championships with some great teams, it’s just been really special.”
Trull lamented the loss of his seniors, but knows that WCA couldn’t have sent them off in a better fashion.
“I wanted it for them because of how hard they worked,” Trull said. “They never took a day off. They never mailed it in in practice or mailed it in at any point during a game. You want them to be rewarded for that effort, and I thought they were.”
The players said that the cohesion and the chemistry that they’ve built over their time together was critical in a game such as this, one where the Lady Chargers had to stick together for their fourth-quarter rally.
“I honestly never thought that I would be on a team that would gel this well,” Hoskins said. “Everyone has their roles. We’ll give up a shot that we have to make sure someone else can score on our team. I think if you didn’t have a team that you could gel with, this game would have a totally different outcome. This game would have been totally switched if we had to rely on one person to carry that rest of the game. This is a game we definitely had to work for and rely on all of our shooters, all of our post players, all of our defensive positions. We each have a spot, and we each play it so well. We’ve played it for so long that having a team that gels together can change the outcome of a game

Carmel Christian’s boys fall short in bid for second 4A state basketball title

BY STEVE LYTTLE UPDATED FEBRUARY 25,



WINSTON-SALEM Joe Badgett has been to a few of these big basketball games, and he said late Saturday night that there’s one important requirement of any would-be champion.



“When you get to this point, it’s important to stay true to who you are,” Badgett said.

“Tonight, we didn’t.”



Badgett’s Carmel Christian team got away from its offense, the coach said. The result was a 53-48 loss to Christ School in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 4A championship, played at Forsyth Country Day. The loss deprived the Cougars of winning back-to-back state titles.



This was the 12th state championship game of Badgett’s career.



“I’ve have six go the right way and six go the other way,” he said. “And I’ve come to learn that you can’t get away from what got you to this point.”



Specifically, Badgett said, the Cougars (28-4) didn’t run their typical offense.



“There were several times when we tried to beat their defense by going around it, by going to the outside,” he said. “We missed the chance to pass the ball to someone who was open on the inside.”



t was a rugged, no-quarter-given type of defensive struggle. Each team was whistled for 18 fouls, and the officiating crew could’ve called more. Badgett said he was very happy with his team’s play on defense.



“I couldn’t ask any more of them defensively,” he said. “We kept that team in the 50’s, and we made them work for what they got.”





It was the kind of game that seemed primed for one team to make a few big plays and run away with it. That never happened, though. Trailing 35-34 to start the fourth quarter, Carmel Christian scored five straight points, but the Greenies (31-4) battled back and regained the lead, 43-41, with 4:29 remaining. Badgett said one of the game’s big plays happened with about five minutes to play. The Cougars led 41-38 and seemed to be regaining the upper hand again.



But Christ School guard Keenan Wilkins broke free of a Carmel Christian defender and made a 3-pointer.



“I thought that shot changed the momentum,” Badgett said. “It was a big play.”



In the closing minute, the Cougars twice closed within two points but had to foul the Greenies. Both times, the Christ School shooters made both free throws.



“Don’t get me wrong about the offense,” Badgett said. “It wasn’t as if we were playing selfishly. We were working the ball around. It was just that we weren’t running our offense the way we had for much of the season.”

Junior Jaeden Mustaf lead the Cougars with 22 points. Emanuel Richards led Christ School with 18.



“That was a very good team we played tonight,” Badgett said. “It was a tough defensive game, and I’m proud of our kids. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”



It was the finale for three seniors – Khamani Wertz, Boston Smith and Kaleb Siler.



“I hate that those guys couldn’t get another championship, but they have a lot of basketball still ahead of them at the next level,” Badgett said. “And the rest of our guys will have to get back to work and get ready for next year.”



Christ School is a perennial basketball power, but this was the Greenies’ first state championship since 2011, when a player named Marshall Plumlee was at center.



Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle



Christ School 16-10-9-18—53

Carmel Christian 6-15-12-14—48

CHRIST – Emanuel Richards 18; Jamari Briggs 12; Keenan Wilkins 10; Robinson 4; Cokley 5; Thomas-Johnson 4; Boyer 0; Hamilton 0.

CARMEL – Freeman 0; Jaedan Mustaf 22; Marcus 2; Wertz 5; Cash 8; Smith 4; Siler 2; Burnham 3.

Greensboro Day wins state championship

BRYANT ROCHE bryant.roche@greensboro.com

WINSTON-SALEM — Greensboro Day led 15-5, trailed 19-15 and then up one with about five seconds life, a mad scramble following a missed free throw may have decided the Bengals’ 58-56 win over top-seed Concord Academy in the NCISAA 3A State Championship victory. The victory at Forsyth Country Day marked the 12th state title for Greensboro Day, all under coach Freddy Johnson, whose 1,166-315 record makes him the winningest coach in North Carolina high school basketball history.

However, the 2023 championship meant the first since 2019 when it had won three in a row and four out of five. After a Concord (31-7) desperation heave at the buzzer fell short, the coach came onto the court, his eyes to sky.

“All championships are special, but this year, it was extra special,” Johnson said. “No one in the world though that after losing four starters, that we could win a state championship. We weren’t picked to win our conference, we weren’t picked to win anything and the kids really pulled together and the six seniors were such great leaders for us.”

No. 2 seed Greensboro Day (30-5) lost to the Eagles in the regular season and successful controlled the tempo as it led 7-0 before extending to its 10-point lead. However, Concord held the Bengals to 0-for-7 from the field during a 14-0 run and kept the opposition off the scoreboard until Reid Carrier (14 points) hit his first of back-toback three-pointers—the senior made four in the game— to make it 19-18 with 2:55 in the second quarter.

A battle from there, Carrier’s second three of the second quarter tied the game at 21. Trailing 25-23 at the break, Greensboro Day Virginia Tech signee Jaydon Young, who had scored five of the team’s first 10 points, re-tied the game off the glass to start the second half in which he totaled 18 of his gamehigh 23 points. With 6:04 in the third, drifting right, Young hit a contested shot to move ahead, 30-25. All told, the Bengals lead never exceeded eight in the second half.

Down 53-45, Concord’s Noah Van Bibber, hit his second three, his only two made shots of the night, to pull within five with 2:31 remaining. At the 1:37 mark, the Eagles got the ball back. At the center of the court, just beyond the arc, Avion Pinner pump-faked a three-point attempt. Moving toward the basket, the 6-foot-8 forward drew a foul, initially trading jerseys with No. 33. After taking his No. 2 off, he ended up putting it back on before any game action took place.

Sinking the first of two, it was 53-49. The second one rattled out, with Pinner getting his own rebound. Kicking out to the left corner, Bibber missed on an open three-point look. Rattling out, Carrier corralled the ball near the baseline. The official ruled that he had moved out of bounds, at that point 1:57 remaining.

“I felt like I got pushed out of bounds ,” Carrier said. “That’s why I landed on the line. I was out of bounds, but I think they made the right call at the end of the day even though they didn’t call a foul.”
Capitalizing, Pinner got inside, his first attempt blocked. Regathering, the follow went in and the ensuing foul shot made it a one-point game with 1:25 to play. On the next possession, Greensboro Day three passes beyond the arc chewed off clock, prior

Will Otto, who later recovered a crucial loose ball, sunk both free throws. In response, Pinner passed to Isiah Tate for a knockdown, tying three. Following a timeout, a 13-second possession ended as Young’s layup made it 57-55 with 45 seconds left.

A miss three-pointer from the corner, Concord got another chance with 22.6 seconds. Still up two, Johnson coached his team to take away the three. With four fouls on him, JJ Moore drove to the basket, veered slightly to his left of the goal.

On a bump, Moore drew the call, making the first of two. The score 57-56, a missed attempt got tipped around in a cluster of players from both teams. Greensboro Day had trained for this moment, having practiced loose balls off free throws about a week before.

Otto swiped the ball away and knowing Concord was in the bonus, found Young off to the right side near the Eagles bench.

“In a situation like that, the first player I am looking for is Jaydon and if I saw that he was open, that’s who the ball was going to go to,” Otto said. Young converted the second after missing his first to give the Bengals the two-point advantage with 3.2 seconds left.

bryant.roche@greensboro.com 336-373-7034 @brochesport

1A FINAL:

NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN 64, UNITED FAITH 57

Northside Christian won its first state championship in nine years Saturday. The Knights got 20 points from Josh Bullock, 16 from Kamar Goudelock and 11 from Antonio Perkins in the win. Northside Christian (22-14) denied United Faith (32-2) a second straight state championship.

United Faith got 15 points from JD Bowden and Evan Morton. Lance Gill had 10. United Faith had its 18-game win streak snapped. “I think our tough schedule really helped us in the tournament,” Northside coach Ed Cooke said. “This team got better and better as the season went along.”

Grace Christian of Sanford repeats NCISAA 2A girls basketball title, blows by Wayne Country Day

By J. Mike Blake, HighSchoolOT Contributor

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Grace Christian of Sanford put the pedal to the floor early and left no doubt en route to its second straight championship.
The Crusaders repeated the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 2A girls basketball championship with an 88-63 win over Wayne Country Day on Saturday in a contest hosted by Calvary Day School.
The Crusaders (32-3) handed the Chargers (27-2) just their second loss of the season by running out to a 48-21 halftime lead and a 21-5 first-quarter gap that Wayne Country Day could never close.
Grace Christian got a game-high 23 points from Icyss Storm and 22 from national top-10 recruit Sarah Strong, who was happy to be the decoy and find open teammates for much of the night.
The Chargers found their shooting stroke in the fourth quarter, scoring 27 points. Wayne Country Day was led by Ja'Kea Brunson's 17 points.

Box Score

Grace Christian 21 27 17 23 88
Wayne Country Day 5 16 15 27 63
Grace Christian: Icyss Storm 23, Sarah Strong 22, Hallisi Whitley 16, Reagan Windholm 10, Miyah Campbell 6, Danauje Brooks 6, Sydney Damude 4
Wayne Country Day: Ja'Kea Brunson 17, Jayla Hicks 16, Jada Vanderhorst 12, Kyrah Davis 11, Jordin Whitney 4, Audrey Teeter 3

Living Water Christian boys' basketball takes home NCCSA tournament title
By Chris Miller cmiller@jdnews.com Feb 25, 2023 Updated 3 hrs ago

The Living Water Christian School boys’ basketball team continued to show it could compete with tough competition.

The Warriors earned their second consecutive state title on Saturday night, defeating Tabernacle Christian of Hickory 83-77 in the N.C. Christian School Association 2-A tournament championship game at Gospel Light Christian School in Winston-Salem.

Living Water won the N.C. Christian Athletic Conference tournament crown last year in its last year in that association before moving to the more competitive NCCSA. Despite the jump up to a tougher league, the Warriors showed they were still a quality program.


“This title says that this program is resilient, that it has built up and that it will continue to build,” Living Water coach Derrick Benbow, Sr., said. “These guys believe in who they are.”

Living Water, which started the season 7-7 amid playing teams such as Greenfield School and public schools Trask and James Kenan, finished having won 13 of its last 15 to finish 20-9 overall. The Warriors ended the season with a nine-game winning streak.

“This was the ultimate goal,” Benbow said. “They believed in the system and just found their groove.”

Several different Living Water players contributed in the championship game victory over Tabernacle Christian (24-3).

Sophomore Dino Loyd had 25 points and 10 rebounds junior Ireione Seright had 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists and junior DJ Benbow had 18 points and four assists.

Senior Christopher Marshburn added 14 points, including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and junior Bo Koebbe added six points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

Benbow and Koebbe were both named to the NCCSA All-State team.

The Warriors led 15-11 after the first quarter and 37-25 at halftime after building a 37-17 lead in the second quarter. Tabernacle got to within 58-57 late in the third, but Seright made a half-court shot to end the period and give Living Water a 61-57 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“That shot sparked things up for us,” Benbow, Sr., said. “The team we played was built tough and tonight we showed what a championship game is all about.”

The Living Water boys’ team wasn’t the only team from the school to play in the tournament final.


The Living Water girls’ team got 22 points from senior Ma’Nyah Thomas-Wilson and 17 from junior Janise Holmes, but it wasn’t enough as the Warriors fell to Wilson Christian 49-43.

Living Water (17-5) was looking for its fourth consecutive tournament title after the Warriors won the last three N.C. Christian Athletic Conference title, but ran into Wilson Christian (30-3), which was the three-time defending champion.

CONCORD ACADEMY 64, HP CHRISTIAN 43

Concord Academy rocked High Point Christian with 27 first-quarter points Saturday on route to a 64-43 victory in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association’s 3A girls championship game. The Eagles raced to a 27-9 first-quarter lead and were never threatened.

They led 42-18 at halftime. Senior forward Zoey Ward scored a game-high 28 points, with eight of those coming in the opening period. Junior guard Samantha Meters added 12 points, and senior center Jada Steele added 10 for Concord Academy.

Dream deferred: Cannon girls fall in NCISAA 4A state basketball finals
BY STEVE LYTTLE


It was all going so well for the Cannon School girls’ basketball team Saturday afternoon. The Cougars were piling up offensive rebounds and making enough shots to open a seven-point lead against Rabun Gap School. And then – seemingly in an instant – it all went away.

“It’s hard to figure it out, when something like that happens,” Cannon School coach Kelvin Drakeford said. “But it all turned around.”

The Cougars’ shooting turned dreadfully cold, and Rabun Gap took the lead and widened it, wining the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association’s 4A championship 53-43 at Calvary Day School. It was the second straight state title for the Eagles, whose school is in the northeast Georgia mountains.

“We haven’t had a game like this since we lost in the playoff semifinals a year ago,” said Drakeford, whose team finished with a 24-6 record. “When you make only 4 of 21 3’s, it’s tough to win.”

Cannon School took a 28-19 lead with 6:45 left in the third quarter on two free throws by Samya Suffren.

“At that point, everything was going well,” Drakeford said. “We were making some baskets, getting offensive rebounds, and playing good defense.”

For the remainder of the game, the Cougars hit 3-of-25 from the floor. And when they got to the foul line, things went no better. They hit 8-of-18 free throws in the final 14 minutes of play.

Rabun Gap (25-7) went on a 17-1 run in the third quarter, taking a 36-33 lead into the final period. The fourth quarter followed a familiar theme. Cannon School missed a shot, Rabun Gap rebounded, Cannon fouled Rabun Gap, and the Eagles usually made the free throw. In fact, the Eagles hit 15-of-20 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

“We tried – we really tried,” Drakeford said. “We fought. We kept applying pressure defensively. We worked to get rebounds. But no matter how hard we worked, the shots just didn’t fall.”

Drakeford credited Rabun Gap’s zone defense with some of the shooting problems.

“They used their length to cause chaos for us,” he said. “They contested a lot of our shots. They had a strong game defensively.”

Cannon School standout Samya Suffren closed her high school career with a game-high 20 points. But she made only two field goals in the second half and usually found a Rabun Gap defender’s arm in her way when she shot. She was the only Cannon School player in double figures.

Mia Wilson, a 5-7 senior guard, led Rabun Gap with 16 points. The Eagles finished with 25-of-40 from the foul line.

SATURDAY’S RESULTS NCISAA STATE BOYS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Class 4A
Christ School 53, Carmel Christian 48

Class 3A
Greensboro Day 58, Concord Academy 56

Class 2A
The Burlington School 78, Greenfield School 65

Class 1A
Northside Christian 64, United Faith 57

NCISAA FINALS TO BE STREAMED SATURDAY

Saturday’s N.C Independent Schools state championship games will be streamed on BahakelSports.com

Saturday’s boys schedule @ FORSYTH COUNTRY DAY

4A FINAL: CARMEL CHRISTIAN (28-3) VS. CHRIST SCHOOL (30-4), 7
3A FINAL: CONCORD ACADEMY (31-6) VS. GREENSBORO DAY (29-5), 5
2A FINAL: THE BURLINGTON SCHOOL (22-15) VS GREENFIELD SCHOOL (29-10), 3 1A FINAL:
UNITED FAITH CHRISTIAN (31-2) VS. NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN (21-14), 1

FAYETTEVILLE CHRISTIAN 2 CAPE FEAR CHRISTIAN 0
CFC : 0-0---0
FCS : 0-2---2
FCS—Abby Wallace 2
CFCA 0-1 FCS 1-0

Here is the Charlotte Independent Schools Athletlc Association boys basketall all-conference team, as voted by league coaches.

FIRST TEAM
Austin Swartz (Cannon; POY)
Ned Hull (Latin)
Dallas Gardner (Charlotte Country Day)
John Lash (Charlotte Christian)
Riley Allenspach (Providence Day)

SECOND TEAM
Sean Birmingham (Cannon)
Isaiah Henry (Cannon)
Elijah Green (Covenant Day)
Micah Gilbert (Charlotte Christian)
Amare Bethel (Charlotte Country Day)

Knights set to face Spartans in NCISAA title game

By Andrew Schnittker
aschnittker@wilsontimes.

With just one game left in the 2022-23 NCISAA season, the Greenfield School boys basketball team is exactly where it wants to be: preparing to play in that game.

With a 64-51 road win over Coastal Plain Independents Conference rival Wayne Country Day on Thursday night, the Knights punched their ticket to the state title game for the second straight year. In facing off with top-seeded The Burlington School at Forsyth Country Day on Saturday, the third-seeded Knights will play in their 11th state title game, and seek their sixth championship.

This will be their first appearance in the 2-A championship game, however, as head coach Rob Salter and the Knights advanced to the finale in their first season in the 2-A ranks.

“To come in and do it the first year with as deep and talented as 2-A was this year, it’s a tribute to the guys,” Salter said. “I’m proud of them, and I hope we can put it together for one more game.”

The Knights enter Saturday’s game at 29-10 after playoff wins over Wayne Country Day, Fayetteville Academy and Freedom Christian Academy, but that record doesn’t tell the full story of this year.

A mix of veterans and young players has experienced highs and lows throughout the season, from big wins and tough stretches and losses like the one they suffered to Wayne Country Day in the CPIC title game.

Through it all, however, Salter said his team’s closeness on and off the court has kept it together and allowed the Knights to weather the adversity they’ve faced – experience that should serve them well in the championship game.

“In those tough times and losses, you’ve got to self-reflect, and you learn so much,” Salter said. “We really had to break it down to the fiber of who we are and what Greenfield basketball is about, and continue to show them what makes us successful. Trusting everyone and believing in the team is what it is. And these guys are doing that. But the adversity has made us stronger. And I told them that as we were going through it. I said, ‘We’re going to learn so much from this. This is going to make us better for the year.’ And it has.”

The Knights should also be plenty battle tested coming into this game. As usual, they played a very tough schedule, facing top teams from in and out of North Carolina, including a previous matchup with The Burlington School, in showcases such as the John Wall Holiday Invitational, Farmville Central’s MLK Showcase and more.

That schedule is designed to prepare the Knights for the exact task they find in front of them now: making a run through the NCISAA playoffs and capturing a state championship.

“That’s exactly what it’s for,” Salter said. “Playing in all those events and the big-time moments, big-time environments, that’s what it prepares you for. This is the ultimate goal. We don’t take it for granted. We know how hard it is to get there. But I think this team has seen any type of situation it can during the season. It’s just a matter of us going out there, playing and leaving it all on the floor. And we’ll see what happens.”

Greenfield’s biggest strength this year has been its depth, and ability to call upon different players for different situations.


Guards Matt Kirby and Kobe Edwards run the offense, with Kirby tying for the team lead with 17 points to go with four assists per game and Edwards averaging 10 points and six assists. Hampton Evans, who also boasts 17 points per game to go with eight rebounds per game, is capable of creating havoc in the post while also stretching the floor and knocking down outside shots.

Add in sharp shooter Kyshon Atkinson’s 14 points per game, Nik Edwards’ 10 points and seven rebounds per game and ample contributions from the likes of Bryson Wall, Jack Adair and Cole Evans and Salter has a deep, diverse group he can rely on.

“It’s been huge for us,” Salter said. “Even last night, certain lineups, we’re not big, but we had to go with some of the size on our team. It’s matchups. You can throw people out there that have had a lot of time on the floor, and have been successful on the floor all year. These guys are accepting their roles. We’ve got a lot of guys that can make plays and knock some shots down. Building that depth is going to be big come Saturday. Our bench has been our strength all year, and it’s carried us to tomorrow.”

Saturday’s game will also be a shot at redemption for those players returning from last year who played in a 76-69 loss to United Faith Christian in the 1-A title game.

That game left a bad taste in the mouths of the Greenfield players and coaches, and has been a driving force to get back to his point.


“We talked about it,” Salter said. “Last year, the guys that have returned knew that we didn’t leave it on the floor. We weren’t us at the big moment. That was inexperience last year. Now, these guys have been in the state championship game, so they have the experience, and they know we didn’t show up and deserve to win the game last year. That ate them up. “I think they’re going to come out with a lot of energy. That’s all you can ask. It’s so hard to win. You’ve got to play good, you’ve got to be lucky. All you ask when you get this far is just to leave it on the floor and see what happens.”

The Knights will have their hands full with the Spartans, a 22-15 team this season that has won back-to-back state championships.

The Burlington School is led by Zion Walker’s 22.3 points per game.

“They’re just so talented, they’re so big,” Salter said. “They’ve got experience in the games too. Zion Walker’s having one of the best seasons in the state this year. He’s been phenomenal. We’ve been competing against him for three years now. He’s a big-time player. They’ve got the size around him. They’ve got all the pieces to win a state championship. That’s why they’re the favorite, that’s why they’ve done it. But we’d better get on the floor and play, and see what happens.”

The Knights will enter Saturday with some familiarity with the Spartans after playing them at Farmville Central last month.

Greenfield let a fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 68-64 loss, so the Knights know they’re perfectly capable of playing with this opponent.

“We feel like we can play with anybody when we play like we’re supposed to,” Salter said. “But we know we’ve got to scrap and claw. They’re so much bigger than we are. We’ve got to be smart, we’ve got to cherish the ball and we’ve got to scrap on the glass. But there’s no doubt we felt like we let that slip away. We definitely believe we can win the ballgame.”

CLASS AA GIRLS
Lady Chargers shoot lights out, advance to state title game

WALKERTOWN — All season, an ability to knock down 3-point shots has been a staple for a juggernaut Wilson Christian girls basketball team.

So it’s fitting that the Lady Chargers had an excellent night from downtown as they moved to one win away from their ultimate goal from the season, knocking down 16 treys in a 63-33 win over Triad Baptist at Gospel Light Christian in the NCCSA 2-A semifinals on Friday night.

“I think it was confidence in doing what we do and doing it well,” said Wilson Christian head coach Brian Trull. “When you step on the court confident, there’s good results. We weren’t overconfident, we just understood what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. Then we went about our business.”

With the victory, the Lady Chargers (29-3), the top overall seed out of the East Region, advanced to their fifth straight state championship game, and will take on Living Water Christian on Saturday to seek their fourth straight title. A victory would be the Lady Chargers’ eighth state championship in program history, and this is their 11th title game appearance.

“We talked about it at the beginning of the season,” Trull said. “We knew what our goal was. I told them in the locker room after the game tonight, ‘One more game. This is what we have worked for all season, to get to this game tomorrow.’ They’re confident but they’re not overconfident. I think they’re ready for it, I think they’re prepared. They’ll be prepared mentally tomorrow, and I’m just excited about it. I can’t wait for it.”

Wilson Christian stormed out of the gate in this one, zipping out to a 19-2 lead after the first quarter and 45-10 lead at halftime over the Titans, the West’s No. 2 seed.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well (Thursday night),” Trull said. “We played great defensively, but we didn’t shoot the ball very well. We had just told them to trust what we do and trust how we do it. The law of averages is that we’re going to hit more shots tonight. And we did. It was 19-0 before they called a timeout.”

The Lady Chargers shot the lights out from 3-point range in this one, bombing in 16 of 32 attempts from downtown.

Point guard Chloe Villaverde led the Lady Chargers with six 3-pointers for 18 points, followed by Kate Hoskins with five 3-pointers for 15 points and Gracie Farmer with four triples for 12 points.

“It’s ball movement,” Trull said. “We do a great job of moving the ball side to side. We don’t take the good shot, we take the better or the best shot. We’re just incredibly unselfish. So when you’re unselfish and you’re patient on the offensive end, it’ll get you good looks, and then it’s just a matter of making them.”

It was also a strong night on the boards for the Lady Chargers, with WCA grabbing 33 rebounds on the night, led by Jocelyn Bailey with 11 and Holland Miller with eight.

Saturday at 5:30 p.m., the Lady Chargers will take on Living Water Christian, the East’s No. 2 seed, in pursuit of that four-peat state championship.

“It was a well-played game all the way through, by all six of the girls that rotated in the normal flow of the game on the offensive and defensive end,” Trull said.

The Lady Chargers beat the Warriors 54-29 at the end of January, but Trull expects a tougher test this time around.

“We play a very athletic Living Water team,” Trull said. “They’re a team that’s just full of athletes. I don’t think that score of how well they played and how hard we had to work to beat them. So the key is going to be to stop them from getting out in transition and scoring easy baskets. We’re going to have to force them to score in the half-court offense, be patient, handle the pressure that they put on us and get the best shot. I think if you combine those two things offensively and defensively, it’ll put us in a very good place.”



Win or lose, Saturday’s game will mark the end of the road in a Wilson Christian basketball uniform for a number of key contributors across this dynastic run, such as seniors Hoskins, Bailey, Miller, Sophia Nesbit and Patsy Price.

“We talked about that before we ever got here on Thursday for the quarterfinal game,” Trull said. “We said, ‘Here’s the thing, you need to enjoy this. This is memories that are going to last for a lifetime. You need to get out and enjoy the opportunity to play together and to do this.’ It’s about to move into another stage. It’ll be different opportunities and different things, but you’ve got to be ready.”

CALVARY DAY 15 RALEIGH GRACE CHRISTIAN 0
CDS : 13-1-1---15-10-
GCS : 0-0-0---0
CDS—Rex Steward 3-3, Kaden Christian 2-3, Bailey 1-1, Baity 1-2, Morris 1-2, Pack 1-3, Burns 1-3
GRACE 0-1 CALVARY 1-0

CLASS A BOYS
NEW MANNA 67 FAYETTEVILLE STREET 40
NMC—JM McDaniel 18, AJ Goode 17, Micah Wagner 12, Lamb 6, Pyatt 8, Addison 2, Baker 2
NMC 19-5 FSC 8-12

Knights return to state title game with rivalry win
From staff reports

GOLDSBORO — The Greenfield School boys basketball team is one final step away from achieving its ultimate goal for the 2022-23 season. With a satisfying 74-61 victory over 2-A/3-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference rival Wayne Country Day in the NCISAA 2-A semifinals Thursday night, the Knights punched their ticket to Saturday’s state championship game.

The third-seeded Knights, who improved to 29-10 on the season, took a 29-26 halftime lead before pulling away from the second-seeded Chargers (29-7) in the second half of the fourth meeting of the season between the rivals.


“I can’t be more proud of the team in that situation,” said Greenfield head coach Rob Salter. “We were so tough, so good defensively. We set the tone for us early. We played Greenfield basketball. We moved the ball. Our guards got in the lane and made plays. We shared the ball. Everybody that played stepped up and made a big play during the game. It was just such a complete team effort on both ends of the court.”

The Knights led 45-38 through three quarters before hitting their free throws in the fourth quarter.
Greenfield’s Kobe Edwards drives to the inside during a road win over Wayne Country Day in the NCISAA 2-A semifinals Thursday. Carl Copeland | Special to the Times
The Knights connected on 21-of-25 free-throw attempts, with 23 of those attempts coming in the final frame. Guards Kobe Edwards and Matt Kirby went 8 for 8 and 5 for 6, respectively, from the charity stripe.

“I thought we guarded the ball very well, I thought we were so tough on the glass tonight,” Salter said. “There were a couple guys that hurt us in the last two games, we did a good job trying to slow them down. We were just challenging everything. Matt Kirby completely controlled the game in the second half. He and Kobe Edwards were fantastic running what we had to do. Hampton (Evans) made big plays for us offensively, Nik (Edwards) made four straight free throws for us to give us that breathing room we wanted.
“At the beginning of the year, I thought we played really tough against some really good teams. I think we kind of lost that toughness on the defensive end as the year went on a little bit, and I thought for the last week in the playoffs, we’ve been so tough on the defensive end on the glass.


With the victory, the Knights not only advanced to the state championship game, but also avenged an 81-56 loss to the Chargers in the CPIC title game as well as loss at WCD in the regular-season finale, finishing the year 2-2 against their rival.

“It was nice,” Salter said. “It was just a phenomenal environment. Both teams played so hard. Obviously, Wayne and Greenfield is big if we were playing on the playground, but to play them in a final four, they were so good this year. After they embarrassed us a week and a half ago, to get back healthy and have everybody back, for us to bounce back like we did, I couldn’t ask for anything else. We just came ready to play tonight. It was a great win. It was Wayne but it was us having to play at that level to beat a really good basketball team.”

Kirby led the Knights with 26 points, followed by Hampton Evans with 15 and Edwards with 12.

“I thought our seniors showed leadership tonight,” Salter said. “I thought Bryson Wall was phenomenal on the defensive end and on the glass. He really slowed down (Nayshin) Waller, who had dominated us the last two games. He just did a fantastic job of making him work. We just made the winning plays that we had to to advance to the state championship game.”

The Knights will now play in the state title game for the second year in a row, and their first in the 2-A ranks. The Knights fell 76-69 to United Faith Christian in last year’s 1-A title game.

At Forsyth Country Day School, the Knights will face top-seeded The Burlington School, which defeated Gaston Day School 53-49 Thursday, and beat the Knights 68-64 at Farmville Central’s MLK Showcase in January.

“A lot of people probably didn’t think we could do it,” Salter said. “We always believed we could. We’re there. We’re not satisfied just to be there, but you can’t win it unless you’re there. We believed that we had the team that could get there this year when we play at the level we can play at. We’re playing our best basketball right now at the right time, and hopefully we can keep that going for one game. But we know that’s going to be an absolute war.”

BOYS

GREENFIELD 28-10 @ WAYNE COUNTRY DAY 29-6
GASTON DAY 21-5 @ BURLINGTON SCHOOL 21-15

GIRLS

GREENFIELD 17-11 @ WAYNE COUNTRY DAY 26-1
O’NEAL 26-2 @ GRACE CHRISTIAN 30-3

THURSDAY FEB 23
CLASS A GIRLS QUARTERFINALS @ CALVARY CHRISTIAN –KING NC
4:00 FAYETTEVILLE CHRISTIAN 5-11 vs NEW MANNA 14-7
7:00 TABERNACLE CHRISTIAN (Monroe) 7-15 vs SHEETS MEMORIAL 17-4
8:30 ROCKWELL CHRISTIAN 10-14 vs SCOTLAND CHRISTIAN 16-2
5:30CALVARY CHRISTIAN 8-9 vs SOUTHVIEW CHRISTIAN 17-5