↑Grayson Hickert, Lake Norman Charter: Had 15 points in the Big South 2A/3A championship game Friday, helping his team to the second conference tournament title in school history. In three tournament games, Hickert averaged 21.3 points.
↑Olympic: beat Charlotte Catholic to win the SoMeck 8 conference championship in coach Baronton Terry’s rookie season.
↑Weddington: beat Marvin Ridge 64-33 in the Southern Carolinas conference title. Corey Davis (16 points) and Ryan Schwieger (10) led Weddington to its fourth straight conference tournament title.
↑No. 8 Lincolnton: Down 15 points in the fourth quarter, Lincolnton rallied to beat arch rival East Lincoln 93-91 in overtime in the Southern District 7 2A championship game.
Troy Cracknell, Lake Norman Charter: 33 points in an 81-69 win over South Point in the Big South 2A/3A finals. Cracknell averaged 28.6 points over three games in the tournament.
Justin Dula, Alexander Central: 25 points, 10 rebounds, two assists in a 75-62 win over Mooresville in the North Piedmont championship game. Dula made 7-of-10 field goal attempts and 11-of-14 free throw attempts. Treye Gunnings had 17 and Seth Welch 16 for Mooresville.
Levontae Knox, Lincoln Charter: 22 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the 77-48 win over Community School of Davidson in the Southern Piedmont championship game. Lincoln Charter has won the title three years in a row. Teammate Jehlon Johnson had 10 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks.
Wendell Moore, Francis Sio, Cox Mill: Duo led Cox Mill to the South Piedmont 3A championship Friday. Cox Mill beat Hickory Ridge 90-68. Moore had 25 points, 12 rebounds. Sio had 25 points and three assists for Cox Mill (21-6).
Vaud Worthy, North Mecklenburg: 11 points and seven assists in the Vikings’ tournament championship win over Vance. Worthy was named MECKA tournament MVP.
No. 1 Butler 62, No. 3 Independence 37: The first time Butler played Independence this season, back on Jan. 12 at home, Bulldogs coach Myron Lowery said his team played a great offensive game. The Bulldogs took a narrow win, 76-69.
The second time Butler played the Patriots — a week ago at Independence — Butler won 52-48, playing what Lowery called “a stellar defensive game.”
Heading into Friday’s Southwestern 4A championship, Lowery gave his team a simple pre-game speech. It sunk in.
“This was our best performance all season,” Lowery said. “We didn’t allow any double-figure scorers from Independence. I told them in pregame that we played a great offensive game against them the first time. Second game, last Friday, we played fantastic defense. I told them before the game (Friday) that ‘We’ve got to put it together offensively and defensively.”
Zane Rankin had 15 points and Tarique Stowe and DJ Little added 11 each for Butler, which led 19-8 after the first quarter and 33-19 at halftime. Now, Butler will start the postseason next week hoping to become the first Mecklenburg County unbeaten state public school champion since Olympic won it all four years ago.
“We put it together tonight,” Lowery said. “And that’s why the score was what it was tonight.”
No. 2 North Mecklenburg 71, No. 11 Vance 60: North Meck, the outright regular-season MECKA champion, won the conference tournament Friday, following a wild third quarter. North led 41-32 at the end of the third quarter, but outscored Vance 30-28 in a frantic final period. Jalen Lowery led the Vikings with 15. Terrell Sherman had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Cam Hamilton led Vance with 20. North Meck won its third straight conference tournament championship.
No. 7 Providence Day 63, Christ School 57: The Chargers, down two starters, returned to the N.C. Independent Schools 3A semifinals for the third straight year, getting clutch free throw shooting from junior guards Trey Wertz and Devon Dotson in the final minutes as Christ School rallied from 13 down to get close. Matt Halvorsen, a Western Carolina recruit had 21 points for Christ School. Dotson also had 21 for Providence Day to go with seven assists and five rebounds. Wertz had 16 points, four rebounds, three steals, two assists. Isaac Suffren had 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists and freshman center John Miralia had 10 points and five rebounds for Providence Day, which faces the winner of Saturday’s High Point Wesleyan-Raleigh Ravenscroft game in next week’s semifinals.
No. 12 Cannon School 53, No. 9 Charlotte Christian 52: Cannon (20-11) advanced to the N.C. Independent Schools quarterfinals, rallying from seven points down before the teams’ traded the lead late several times. With 14 seconds, BJ Mack tied the game for Christian on a free throw. On Cannon’s next possession, Cory Deveaux rebounded Qon Murphy’s miss and was fouled. He missed the first shot but made the second with one second left. Christian missed a long shot at the buzzer.
“Cory Deveaux was outstanding,” Cannon coach Che Roth said. “He and (Christian guard) JC (Tharrington) kind of took the game over.”
Deveaux had 10 points for Cannon, which got 13 from Murphy and 12 from national recruit Jairus Hamilton, who battled foul trouble. Tharrington had 14 to lead Christian. Mack, a sophomore Virginia Tech recruit, added 10. Cannon will play Greensboro Day in the semifinals next week.
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