Friday’s HS Basketball Roundup: nationally ranked Wesleyan escapes Independence upset bid

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↑Butler: Bulldogs, No. 1 in the Observer’s Sweet 16, improved to 13-0 by beating Hunter Huss 73-59 in the championship game of the YC Winborn Classic in Rock Hill. It’s the third straight year Butler has won the championship. DJ Little was tournament MVP.

↑Butler girls: Bulldogs upset Sweet 16 No. 12 Rock Hill in the YC Winborn championship game at Rock Hill High. Butler’s Rinnah Green, who scored 19 in the 52-39 win, was named tournament MVP. Teammate Meghan Flowers made the all-tournament team. Flowers had 10 points Friday. Butler outscored Rock Hill 22-7 in a decisive second quarter.

↑Covenant Day girls: beat Independence 46-25 in the championship game of the BSN Queen City Clash. Covenant allowed an average of just 22 points per game during the tournament.

↑Jordan Chambers, Olympic: 30 points and game MVP in 87-70 win over Dawson (GA) Christian in the Queen City Jingle Bell Classic at Olympic Friday.

Friday’s #BIG5 Performers

Sarah Billiard, Covenant Day girls: 23 points, 24 rebounds, seven blocks in a 46-25 win over Independence in BSN Queen City Clash championship. Billiard and teammate Alexi Klohr made the all-tournament team.

Myliek Durham, Rock Hill Northwestern: Scored 28 points as Northwestern (5-3) upset Sweet 16 No. 4 North Mecklenburg in the championship game of the 16th Moody Holiday tournament in Rock HIll. Teammates Ali Shockley and Dee Hardin made all-tournament.

Jairus Hamilton, Cannon School: 26 points, on 12-for-19 shooting, plus 10 rebounds and four assists in a 76-61 win over No. 5 Providence Day at the Chick-Fil-A Classic in Columbia. Hamilton, a top 30 national recruit, was named to the all-tournament team. In three games at the tournament, Hamilton had 94 points and 23 rebounds.

KC Hankton, United Faith: 22 points, 15 rebounds in a 70-63 win over York Prep at the Queen City Holiday Classic.

Jehniya Smith, Monroe girls: 21 points, 10 rebounds in a 57-42 win over Hunter Huss. Teammate Tanaja Stevenson had 17 for the Redhawks (5-2), No. 15 in the Observer’s Sweet 16 poll.

Friday’s Boys Roundup

Rock Hill Northwestern 75, No. 4 North Mecklenburg 72: Northwestern pulled off the upset in the Moody championship game. North Meck cut an eight point lead to three and had the ball in the final 30 seconds but couldn’t tie the game. Jalen Lowery had 21 points for the Vikings. Yancey Hairston added 14 and JaeLyn Withers had 10 rebounds. Lowery and point guard Vaud Worthy made the all-tournament team.

No. 10 Cannon 76, No. 5 Providence Day 61: Cannon (9-6) used its huge size advantage to cause major problems for the Chargers (9-5). Cannon outrebounded Providence Day 38-25 and made 28-of-42 2-point field goals, with many off dunks or close layups. Cannon shot 75 percent in the second half and 57 percent for the game. Providence Day shot 42 percent and made 1-of-13 3-point attempts. Qon Murphy had 19 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and Philip McKenzie had 15 points and four rebounds for Cannon. All-tournament guard Devon Dotson had 34 points and 10 rebounds for Providence Day. Dotson made 15-of-25 field goal attempts. Chargers guard Trey Wertz, nursing a sprained right ankle, missed about a third of the game with foul trouble and finished with 17 points and four rebounds.

Charlotte Country Day 46, Pinewood Prep 39: The Bucs (6-6) outscored Pinewood (8-4) 15-4 in the third quarter, moving out to a 39-26 lead and held on for the win in the third place game at the BSN Queen City Clash. DeAngelo Epps had 20 points and eight rebounds for Country Day. Teammate Drew Bernard had 17 points and made five 3-point shots. Jalen Slawson had 16 for Pinewood Prep and Brandon Miller and Tyler Garvin had 10 each.

Kernersville Forest Trails Academy 56, West Charlotte 55: Ibriham Dada had 20 points and Caleb Burgess 17 as Forest Trails got a narrow win over West Charlotte at the Queen City Jingle Bell Shootout. West Charlotte got 15 each from Isayah Johnson and Melvin Huntley.

High Point Wesleyan 55, No. 6 Indepenence 52: Aaron Wiggins had 13 points and Jaylen Hoard and Brenden Austin added 10 each as nationally ranked Wesleyan (12-1) won the championship game at the BSN Queen City Clash. Hoard and Wiggins made the all-tournament team. Independence got 17 points, three rebounds and two steals from Matthew Statile, 12 points and three rebounds from Victor Tshiona and nine points, 11 rebounds, four steals, two blocks and two assists from Temple recruit Justyn Hamilton, a 6-10 senior center. Statile and Hamilton made the all-tournament team.

Metrolina Christian 67, Hickory Christian 50: Metrolina Christian won the seventh place game at the BSN Queen City Clash behind 32 points from Nick Dietrich and 12 from Tate Johnson. Metrolina Christian improved to 9-6.

Northside Christian 80, Gaston Christian 66: Jason Tate had 19 points to lead Northside to the win. Jon Hicklin had 16 and Silas Wertz and Jaden Seymour each had 10. Nick Steward (22 points) and Cedric Peterson (16) led Gaston Christian.

Rocky River 75, Harding 47: Freshman Jaden Springer had a game-high 27 points for Rocky River (10-3), which led 24-8 after the first quarter. In his past two games, Springer has scored 66 points. Brian Ross had 13 points and Jaquan Rankins 10 for Harding (2-11).

United Faith 70, York Prep 63: Brett Swilling had 21 points and seven rebounds as United Faith rallied from a 33-24 halftime deficit to win at the Queen City Holiday Classic at Harding. Raf Jenkins added 11 points and 10 assists for United Faith. Tracus Chisholm (17 points) and DJ Burns (13) led York Prep.

Friday’s Girls’ Roundup

Olympic 63, Vance 36: Ariana Smith and Jayla LeFlore scored 17 points each in the Trojans’ win at the Queen City Jingle Bell Shootout. Lexy Whitfield added 12 for the Trojans, who are off until Jan. 6 when they play at SoMeck 8 rival South Meck.

West Charlotte 47, Lincoln Charter 22: West Charlotte (7-6) won the fifth place game at the BSN Queen City Clash at Charlotte Country Day. Tatyana Thompson led the Lions with 13 points and Tiyanna Moore added nine. West Charlotte limited Lincoln Charter to just 11 points in the first three quarters. Felicity Fields had 10 for Lincoln Charter.

This story was originally published December 23, 2016 at 11:45 PM with the headline "Friday’s HS Basketball Roundup: nationally ranked Wesleyan escapes Independence upset bid."