UP – Ashbrook: Gastonia team beat R-S Central 82-66 and will play for its first regional berth in six years Friday.

UP – Mekhi Dula, West Caldwell: Rebounded his own miss and made a 4-foot shot at the buzzer to lift his team to a 52-50 win against Lincolnton. Somebody buy his lunch today at school.

UP – Charlotte Christian: Boys' team has rematch of last year's N.C. Independent Schools' 3A championship game today. The Knights play Arden's Christ School in a quarterfinal at 5:30 in Raleigh.

UP – Southwestern 4A girls: Three conference teams in sectional finals Friday, including Butler and Myers Park playing each other.

Wednesday's Top Performers

Bre Armstrong, Forestview girls: 22 points in 56-41 win over Gastonia rival Ashbrook in 3A playoffs. Ashbrook's Brittany Patterson had 24 points.

Essence Baucom, Berry girls: 23 points in 50-44 overtime win over Parkwood. Berry will try to reach its first regional tournament Friday. Parkwood got 19 from Emry Tsitouris.

Robert Champion, Charlotte Catholic: 30 points in 77-74 win over Anson Senior in the second round of the 3A playoffs.

Desiree Gray, Robinson girls: 24 points in 59-45 win over Anson Senior in 3A playoffs. Anson's Keyara McKnight had 16.

Brody Koerner, Robinson: Concord-area star went for 32 points, 16 rebounds and two assists in 79-71 win over Statesville in the 3A playoffs. Josh Gaither had 17 points for Statesville.

Kennedy Meeks, West Charlotte: 22 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals in 54-49 win over North Meck for Meeks, who has raised his game in the postseason, averaging 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Shelton Mitchell, Cuthbertson: 27 points - and teammate Emmit Afam had 22 - in a 94-56 win over Starmount in a second-round 2A playoff game.

Jevon Patton, Highland Tech: 28 points, 10 rebounds, five steals in 62-50 win over Mitchell County.

Brooke Redmond, North Iredell girls: Nine points, 14 rebounds, three steals, three assists in 61-40 win over Concord.

Wednesday's Headlines

No. 1 Olympic bounces back from slow start, moves to sectional final

Olympic is one game away from a N.C. 4A Western Regional appearance.

The Trojans, No. 1 in the Sweet 16, overcame a slow start to beat ME-GA 7 Conference rival East Gaston 69-54 in the second round of the playoffs Friday. Olympic will play Alexander Central or McDowell in Friday's sectional championship game at home. Tipoff is likely to be 7 p.m.

Olympic got 17 points from Trey Mitchell, 14 from Josh Smith, 12 from Austin Dasent and 10 from D'Riece Parks. Nationally ranked junior recruit Allerik Freeman finished with seven.

East Gaston got 13 points from DeSean Murray.

South Meck beats Mallard Creek, will face West Charlotte Friday

South Mecklenburg won its first conference championship in nine years this season. Friday night, the Sabres will host N.C. 4A reigning state champ West Charlotte with a chance to reach its first regional playoff berth since 1999.

The Sabres rallied from an 11-point first-quarter deficit to beat Mallard Creek 50-45. In the playoffs, South Meck is allowing 41.5 points per game.

Mallard Creek only scored five points in the fourth quarter.

South Meck got 11 points from Carrington Kirkpatrick and 10 from Kenton Straite. Mallard Creek's Jamal White had 21 points.

Butler girls upset Hopewell in 4A playoffs

Butler's girls upset I-Meck 4A champion Hopewell 48-46 and the Bulldogs will now try to make the N.C. 4A regionals for the fourth time in school history.

Butler's Jaymee Fisher-Davis, a Southwestern 4A all-conference pick by the Observer, finished with 26 points. Teammate Symphonie Richardson had 14.

Hopewell's Bryanna Curry finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and seven steals. Teammate Sharee' Boyd, the school's all-time leading scorer, ended her career with 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Harding loses Haywood, falls in 3A

Harding star Jarvis Haywood fouled out late in regulation at North Forsyth, and the teams went to two overtimes before Harding fell 75-71.

The Rams, who upset nationally ranked Olympic in the ME-GA 7 championship game last week, were denied at shot at Friday's sectional final, where Harding could've qualified for the Western Regional championships for the first time, according to N.C. High School Athletic Association records.