Thursday’s Roundup: Charlotte Christian, U-Edosomwan, avoid Country Day upset bid

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↑Destiny Johnson, East Lincoln girls: Senior is seven points away from 2,000 for her career. According to East Lincoln coaches, she’ll become the second male or female athlete in Lincoln County history to reach 2,000. For her career, Johnson has 1,993 points, 858 rebounds, 427 assists, 351 steals, 144 blocks and 50 double-doubles. This season, she’s averaging 23 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals per game.

↑Statesville Christian girls: Improved to 23-0 with a 60-38 win over Greenville (SC) Bob Jones Academy in the BJU Invitational semifinals. Statesville Christian will face Calvary Baptist (MI) in Friday’s 2 p.m. final

↑Matt Ciccone, Charlotte Catholic: Committed to Bridgewater (VA) College Thursday. He’s the second Cougar to commit this season. Nick Scibelli committed to Macalester (MN) College in preseason.

↑Katie Batten, Charlotte Country Day: got her 13th double-double of the season in Thursday’s 40-32 win at Charlotte Christian. Batten had 13 points, 14 rebounds. Teammates Molly McLawhorn (16 points) and Caroline Kosmicki (12 rebounds, nine blocks) also had strong games for Country Day (9-11, 4-2).

↑Dazia Lawrence, Mallard Creek: In a 71-47 win over Vance, Lawrence had 24 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists. Teammates Sydney Hunter (13 points, 10 rebounds) and UCLA recruit and McDonald’s All-American nominee Ahlana Smith (11 points, seven rebounds, five blocks, four assists, two steals) had strong games.

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Meet Mallard Creek’s top 40 national recruit and star Ahlana Smith

Here are top N.C. girls basketball recruits

Thursday’s boys, girls high school basketball summaries

Thursday’s Spotlight: No. 6 Rocky River repels No. 4 Butler

In front of a sold-out, raucous crowd that included Charlotte Hornets Dwight Howard, Dwayne Bacon and local radio personality Chewy, Rocky River finally got the win first-year coach Jason Moseley has been looking for.

Moseley has challenged his team all season to get “a big win” in a big moment. Rocky River got it Thursday, beating Butler 69-68. Rocky River seniors had never beaten Butler.

Rocky River, No. 6 in the Observer’s Sweet 16, got 26 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks from sophomore All-American Jaden Springer, plus 17 points, seven assists from Jordan Campbell and 10 points, five rebounds from Narique Smith to pull off a big upset.

Rocky River (14-4, 7-2) won its third straight game and took over sole possession of second place in the Southwestern 4A. Gerrale Gates and DJ Little combined for 46 points for Butler, which had its 10-game win streak snapped. Butler missed two shots near the rim at the buzzer. Gates had 25 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Little had six 3-point makes and has 59 for the season.

Rocky River--21 10 19 19=69

Butler-- 15 20 18 15=68

Rocky River -- Narique Smith 10, Elijah Sidbury 2, Jordan Campbell 17, D-Stone Dubar 6, Jaden Springer 26, Marcus Evans 4, Kahlil Brantley 4,

Butler -- Brown 8, Gibson 4, Little 21, Dixon 3, McPhatter 3, Gates 25, Conner 4

Thursday’s #BIG5 Top Performers

Terrelle Brown, Efosa U-Edosomwan, Blake Preston, Charlotte Christian: helped the Knights (18-6, 6-0 CISAA) avoid a big upset in a 62-57 win over Charlotte Country Day (16-10, 3-3). With leading scorer JC Tharrington battling the flu and finishing with just five points, Brown went for 17 points, five rebounds and four steals. U-Edosomwan had 14 points, six rebounds and four steals. Liberty commit Blake Preston added 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks. Country Day’s Alex Tabor (game-high 21 points) tied the game with one of his five 3-point makes with less than a minute to go in regulation.

Dezure Moulden, Belmont Stuart Cramer: 25 points, five rebounds, four assists in a 65-60 win over Lawndale Burns.

D’Marco Small, Pine Lake Prep: 28 points, six rebounds, four assists in a 75-67 win over Davidson Day. Pine Lake Prep (13-6) has won seven straight. Teammates Josh Barnette (20 points) and Eito Yuminami (13 points, eight assists) had strong games.

Shamani Stafford, Jessyka Leak, Concord First Assembly: In a 68-23 win over Metrolina Christian, both girls had big games: 30 points, four rebounds, three steals for Stafford, who was 5-of-7 from 3-point range and 11-of-16 overall; 20 points, seven steals, four assists for Leak.

Jordan Williams, West Mecklenburg: game-high 24 points in a 74-70 upset win over Harding. West Meck (8-12, 3-5 SoMeck) knocked Harding (13-7, 6-2) two games behind league-leading Olympic (14-3, 7-0).

Friday’s Key Games

No. 5 South Meck (15-3, 6-1 SoMeck) at No. 1 Ardrey Kell girls (18-1, 8-0), 6 p.m.: It’s still really early but this game feels like it could decide the league title. Ardrey Kell has won 15 straight games and could get a commanding two-game conference lead – or South Meck could upset the No. 1 ranked team in the Sweet 16 and tie for first.

Myers Park (13-6, 6-3 Southwestern 4A) at No. 4 Butler (16-3, 6-3), 7:30 p.m.: Mustangs lost a big game with Rocky River (13-4, 6-2) Tuesday and has a must-win game Friday. But so does Butler, which was upset by Rocky River Thursday and has dropped into a third place tie with Butler behind Rocky River (14-4, 7-2) and Independence (18-1, 9-0). The hopes of Myers Park and Butler to win a league title are now slim, but the fight to earn a good playoff seed is real. Click here for a detailed playoff explainer.

Concord (10-9, 3-2 South Piedmont 3A) at No. 3 Concord Cox Mill (16-3, 5-0), 7:30 p.m.: Concord beat rival Kannapolis Brown on a buzzer-beater Wednesday and hopes to continue its two-game win streak Friday. Cox Mill, which has won five straight games, has a two-game lead over Concord and Northwest Cabarrus (9-8, 3-2) in the conference.

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Girls Leaders

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This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 11:29 AM with the headline "Thursday’s Roundup: Charlotte Christian, U-Edosomwan, avoid Country Day upset bid."