HS Basketball Roundup: North Mecklenburg boys, girls sweep Holden Challenge

Elevator

↑Butler coach Myron Lowery: Lowery’s team is ranked No. 6 in the Observer Sweet 16 poll and beat Kings Mountain Saturday. He’s believed to be the only coach in Mecklenburg County history to win in every Charlotte-Mecklenburg School gym.

↑Phenom Hoop Feast, Charlotte Hoops Challenge: Tournaments provided a pair of media-heavy, college coach-heavy showcases for area teams. Hope the kids appreciated the opportunity.

↑South Meck offense: In a 67-57 win over Concord, South Mecklenburg shot 75 percent in the fourth quarter, led by Bryant Thomas, who made 10-of-13 field goal attempts for the game and finished with 22 points, five rebounds, four blocks and two steals.

↑Holden Challenge All-Tournament teams: Girls (Vanessa Bissinger, Alex Behnke, Lake Norman Charter; Monell Dunlap, MVP Dynasty Heyward, North Meck; Alecsia Allen, Mooresville); Boys (MVP Vaud Worthy, North Meck; Jae’Lyn Withers, North Meck; Tristan Maxwell, North Meck; Grayson Hickert, Lake Norman Charter; Noah Allen, Mooresville)

Saturday’s Big 5 Performances

Lavar Batts, Concord Robinson: 34 points, seven rebounds, four assists in a 76-71 loss to Providence Day at the Charlotte Hoops Challenge. Batts, a VCU recruit, made 5-of-9 3-point attempts in front of VCU coach Will Wade.

D’Shara Booker, Ardrey Kell girls: 23 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks in a 64-44 win over Burlington School at the Charlotte Hoops Challenge.

Cam Hamilton, Vance: 39 points on 14-for-21 shooting in a 91-63 win over Lexington. Hamilton made 7-of-11 3-point attempts. Hamilton added three assists, six rebounds and four steals. Teammate Justin Freeman added 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

Zane Rankin, Butler: 37 points, three rebounds in an 85-65 win over Kings Mountain at the Phenom Feast of Champions in Concord. A Lander College signee, Rankin made seven 3-point shots Saturday.

Trey Wertz, Providence Day: Led the No. 4 Chargers to a 76-71 win over No. 2 Concord Robinson at the Charlotte Hoops Challenge in a game matching the reigning N.C. Independent Schools 3A state champ (Providence Day) and the N.C. 3A public school champion. Wertz, a 6-5 junior guard, made 5-of-9 3-point attempts, had 30 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Saturday’s Boys Basketball Roundup

No. 1 North Mecklenburg 84, Mooresville 60: Tristan Maxwell had 23 points and Jae’Lyn Withers had 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Vikings won the championship game of the Leroy Holden Challenge at North Meck. Tournament MVP Vaud Worthy, a 6-1 junior point guard, finished with eight points, eight rebounds and 16 assists. In two games, Worthy had 29 assists.

Sacred Heart (AL) Catholic 82, No. 3 Cannon School 68: Sacred Heart’s backcourt duo of Diante Wood and D.J. Heath combined for 41 points in the win. Cannon, playing one of the area’s toughest schedules, dropped its third straight game and fell to 2-4.

No. 5 Charlotte Christian 78, York Prep 66: Christian (4-0) led by as many as 22 points at the Phenom Hoop Feast. Sophomore center B.J. Mack had 23 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Kayle Mason (16 points, seven rebounds, three steals, three assists), Blake Preston (12 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks) and point guard JC Tharrington (seven points, nine assists) all had strong games. DJ Burns, a 6-8 sophomore, had 21 points and 10 rebounds for York Prep.

No. 6 Butler 85, Kings Mountain 65: 4A Butler dominated this game at the Phenom Feast of Champions in Concord. The Bulldogs led 3A Kings Mountain 53-30 at halftime. Jah’lil Gibson had 15 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists for Butler. Kings Mountain got 15 points, 10 rebounds from Adrian Delph and 15 points from Zach Littlejohn.

Gaston Day 79, No. 10 Cox Mill 69: 6-3 junior guard MJ Armstrong had 26 points, two rebounds and two assists to lead his team to a win over a 3A public school power. Nate Hinton (11 points, 11 assists) and Quan McCluney (12 points, seven rebounds, three assists) also had strong games for Gaston Day (4-1). Cox Mill sophomore Wendell Moore had 31 points.

No. 11 Weddington 61, Concord First Assembly 53: Ryan Schwieger, a Princeton recruit, had 24 points, three rebounds and three steals to lead his team to a win over a private school power. Casey Litton had 15 points on five 3-pointers, Treston Grier had 12 points on four 3-point shots and Corey Davis added 11 points and six assists. First Assembly got nine points and 14 rebounds from Amiri Waddell and 16 points and six rebounds from Stephen Edoka.

In three games at the Phenom Feast, Schwieger had 71 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, nine steals and five blocks.

No. 13 Lincoln Charter 67, Piedmont 52: Junior point guard Kody Shubert had 23 points, eight assists, four rebounds and three steals in an easy win at the Phenom Feast of Champions. Piedmont junior Hunter Tyson finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Lincoln Charter’s Jackson Gabriel made six 3-point shots and finished with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Center Jehlon Johnson had 10 points and seven rebounds.

No. 15 Forest Hills 75, Victory Christian 53: Nas Tyson had 20 points, Jai Rorie 14, Tyrese Barbour 13 and Trey Belin and Keeshawn Tyson had 11 each in the win at the Phenom Feast. Forest Hills (1-0) outscored Victory Christian 42-24 in the second and third quarters. Armon Dailey had 12 points and Preston Gaines 11 to lead the Kings (2-3).

Carmel Christian 72, Lovett (GA) 63: Carmel Christian (5-1) won is third straight game at the Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta behind 27 points from sophomore Donovan Gregory, 16 points and 14 rebounds from sophomore Myles Pierre. Greg McDonald added eight points and nine rebounds for coach Byron Dinkins’ team, which busted the game open with a 24-12 third quarter push.

Burlington School 54, Charlotte Catholic 48: Burlington’s bench outscored Charlotte Catholic 22-7 in a close game at the Charlotte Hoops Challenge. Jordan Nelson had 11 points, five rebounds, Trey Cousin had 11 points and TJ Jeffers had 12 for Burlington School. Catholic’s Trey Kloiber had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars, defending N.C. 4A public school state champions.

New Hampstead 71, Berry 63: O’ronte Anderson had 30 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals for New Hampstead, which outscored Berry 44-22 in the second half to win. Berry got 15 points, five assists, three rebounds from Chandler Ford, 15 points from Justin Graham and 10 points, five rebounds from Jaylen Pledger.

Saturday’s Girls Basketball Roundup

No. 7 Providence Day 43, No. 4 Davidson Day 25: Providence Day got its second straight win over a higher-ranked Sweet 16 team at the Charlotte Hoops Challenge. Providence Day beat No. 2 South Mecklenburg Friday. On Saturday, the Chargers didn’t allow Davidson Day to score more than eight points in a quarter. All-American Janelle Bailey led the Chargers with 22 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Providence Day’s Andi Levitz had 14 points and three rebounds in the win. Anika Riley led Davidson Day with eight points. The Patriots shot 6-for-31 and were 0-for-6 from the 3-point line.

No. 9 Ardrey Kell 64, Burlington School 13: Deniyah Lutz had 14 points, six rebounds and Journey Muhammad had 10 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Knights in an easy win. Ardrey Kell limited Burlington School to 32.8 percent shooting and out-rebounded Burlington 50-29. Aniyah Vanhook had 12 points, seven rebounds for Burlington.

Concord First Assembly 77, No. 13 Rocky River 71: An 18-7 third quarter gave First Assembly breathing room at the Charlotte Hoops Challenge. In the third quarter, Rocky River shot 23 percent. Shamani Stafford had 25 points, seven rebounds and two steals for First Assembly. She made 4-of-7 3-point attempts and 7-of-8 free throw attempts. Ojai Brooks (13 points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals), Jessyka Leak (12 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals) and Zaria Wright (19 points, five rebounds) helped lead First Assembly. Ariana Nance had 24 points, three rebounds and three steals for Rocky River and Courtney Meadows added 19 points, five assists and three rebounds.

Carmel Christian 52, Greensboro Day 39: Chloe Williams, a Carmel seventh grader, had 13 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Eighth grader Emily Cunningham had five points, five rebounds and 10 assists in the win. Carmel’s Carrie Barnett led the team with 18 points and 13 rebounds. A 21-15 fourth quarter sealed the win at the Headliners Classic at High Point Wesleyan.

Mooresville 56, Independence 44: Megan Bornkamp had 16 points to lead the Blue Devils (2-1) to the win in the Leroy Holden Challenge consolation game. The game was tied at 6 after the first quarter, but Mooresville won the second and third quarters by a combined 32-17 to open up the lead. Tiffany Reed led Independence (0-4) with 13 points.

North Mecklenburg 64, Lake Norman Charter 37: Dynasty Heyward scored a team-high 20 points to lead the Vikings (5-0) to the win in the championship game of the Leroy Holden Classic at North Meck. Monell Dunlap (12) and Nazhiyah Hayes (11) were also in double figures for North, which led 27-13 at halftime.

Northern Guilford 65, Charlotte Catholic 34: Elissa Cunnane had 20 points and Kasie Robakiewicz 18 to lead Northern (2-0) to an easy win. Catholic’s Lorelei Roper had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Catholic fell to 1-1.

This story was originally published November 26, 2016 at 10:48 PM with the headline "HS Basketball Roundup: North Mecklenburg boys, girls sweep Holden Challenge."