Carmel Christian, Cannon School to meet for NCISAA 4A title Saturday
BY LANGSTON WERTZ JR.
FEBRUARY 23, 2021 07:04 PM,
UPDATED 7 HOURS 48 MINUTES AGO
Only when Badgett got to the locker room before Tuesday’s state semifinal with Raleigh’s Ravenscroft School, the locker room was empty.
“I get downstairs and they’re already on the floor warming up,” Badgett said after his team’s 87-54 win. “They were locked in and focused from the get-go, and if you do that, you’ll start games well. And four starters -- Cade Tyson and Ben Burnham and Glenn Bynum and Justin Taylor -- just did it on both ends of the floor. They got into an offensive rhythm and then took over with defense. And when that happens, we’re pretty hard to deal with.”
Ravenscroft (13-5), a No. 3 playoff seed, certainly had a tough time. The Ravens were down 27-9 to start the game and never recovered. Comeh Emuobor had 17 for Ravenscroft and Jeremiah Wiliams added 12, but this game was never close.
Tyson had 32 points. Burnham had 26. Bynum had 11, and Taylor and Julian Arias combined for 19 assists.
Carmel Christian advanced to its third state championship game in four years. Carmel won the 2A and 3A state finals in 2018 and 2019, but lost in the second round, at home, in the 2020 playoffs.
“It’s been of their focal points from the start of the year, to get back into the state championship game,” Badgett said, “and they’ve done a great job and we’ll see what happens next.”
Carmel (24-1) will face Cannon School (26-5) in the state final Saturday at 4:30 at Carmel Christian. Due to the pandemic, the N.C. Independent Schools decided to not hold multiple state finals at one site.
“It’s awesome,” said Tyson, who transferred from Union County’s Piedmont High School last fall. “I’ve never been there, and it’ll be awesome to see how it goes.”
