Friday’s HS Basketball Roundup: MJ Armstrong leads Gaston Day past Carmel Christian in showdown
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↑Sarah Billiard, Covenant Day girls: Senior grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with six seconds left and then stole a pass to seal a 40-39 win over Durham Academy in her season opener. Billiard, a Virginia volleyball recruit, finished with 21 points, 19 rebounds, nine blocks, three steals and three assists.
↑Carmel Christian’s Chloe Williams: A rare 7th grader playing varsity, Williams has had a strong start to her season. She had six points, 13 rebounds, five blocks and four assists in Friday’s 56-30 win at Gaston Day.
↑Concord First Assembly girls: upset six-time N.C. Independent Schools 2A state champ Carolina Day 59-57 in overtime. Zaria Wright had 25 points, seven rebounds and four steals. She made an acrobatic layup with less than two seconds left to win the game. Shamani Stafford added 20 points, two steals and two assists.
↑Sam Okura, North Raleigh Charter: Scored game-high 43 points in his team’s 88-60 loss to Sweet 16 No. 1 Cannon School Friday.
Friday’s Boys Roundup
No. 2 North Mecklenburg 72, Community School of Davidson 35: Freshman Tristan Maxwell had 16 points for the Vikings (2-0) in an easy win. Terrell Sherman had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Vikings and junior point guard Vaud Worthy added nine points, five assists and four rebounds.
Gaston Day 79, Carmel Christian 69: In a battle of two of the state’s top 2A Independent Schools, Gaston Day rallied for the win. MJ Armstrong had 25 points, Quan McCluney had 20 points, four rebounds and two assists. Nate Hinton (five rebounds, five assists) and Brandon Reeves also had 13 points each for the Spartans. Myles Pierre, a sophomore guard, led Carmel with 18.
Charlotte Latin 60, Asheville School 42: Jackson Farr had 16 points to lead Latin to an easy win. Latin (1-2) won its first game of the year. Randy Johnson and Bennett Smith had 10 each for the Hawks.
Hopewell 70, Lake Norman 66: Mark Sherrill, son of the former J.C. Smith All-American of the same name, had a team-high 14 points for the Titans. Hopewell led 62-45 going into the fourth quarter before Lake Norman made a huge rally.
Metrolina Christian 82, York Prep 65: Nick Dietrich had 28 points, Malcolm Wade 17 and Tate Johnson 13 as Metrolina Christian (2-0) grabbed an easy win. Metrolina jumped out to a 28-13 first quarter lead.
Greensboro Day 74, SouthLake Christian 54: Greensboro Day won easily to advance to Saturday’s Cannon Classic championship game at 4 p.m. against Sweet 16 No. 1 Cannon.
Friday’s Boys Top Performers
MJ Armstrong, Gaston Day: 25 points, via seven 3-point shots in a 79-69 win over Carmel Christian in a battle of N.C. Independent 2A state powers. Armstrong also had two rebounds and two assists.
Jackson Gabriel, Lincoln Charter: 7-for-12 on 3-point shots in a 100-58 win over Uwharrie Charter. He finished with 25 points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists.
Jairus Hamilton, Cannon School: 24 points, seven rebounds in a 88-60 win over North Raleigh Charter. Cannon, No. 1 in the Observer’s Sweet 16 poll, will face nationally ranked Greensboro Day Saturday at 4 p.m. in what could be a preview of the N.C. Independent Schools 3A state final in February.
B.J. Mack, Charlotte Christian: 6-foot-8 sophomore, committed to Virginia Tech, had 20 points and 15 rebounds in three quarters of work in a 72-21 win over Christ The King. Rob Peterson added 17 for the Knights (1-0).
Demetrius Martin, Garinger: 31 points, five assists, four steals for Garinger in a 61-50 loss to Harding.
Amiri Waddell, Concord First Assembly: 14 points, 12 rebounds, four assists in a 74-45 win over Carolina Day. First Assembly is 4-0.
Friday’s Girls Basketball Roundup
Charlotte Christian 50, Christ the King 34: Gerlea Patton had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Knights to an easy season-opening win. Christian actually trailed 13-7 after the first quarter, but allowed only 22 points after that. Maria Strickland had 25 for Christ The King.
Charlotte Latin 50, Asheville School 13: Kathryn Vandiver had 22 points and Ruthie Jones 14 for Latin in an easy win. Latin led 26-2 after the first quarter.
North Raleigh Christian 57, Cannon 41: Imani Lester had 21 points in the win for North Raleigh, which advanced to the championship game of the Cannon Classic Saturday. North Raleigh will play Greensboro Day in the 2:30 p.m. championship. Cannon will play SouthLake Christian in an 11 a.m. consolation game.
Friday’s Girls Top Peformers
Carrie Barnett, Carmel Christian: 26 points, nine rebounds in a 56-30 blowout win at Gaston Day. Carmel led 30-8 at halftime.
Monell Dunlap, North Mecklenburg: 23 points, 12 rebounds in an 82-31 win over Community School of Davidson. Teammate Dynasty Heyward had 13 points and eight assists.
Caitlyn Logan, Metrolina Christian: 20 points, 38 rebounds, eight steals in a 57-55 win over York Prep in two overtimes. The 38 rebounds is a new school record. For perspective, 40 rebounds ranks 10th all-time nationally according to the National Federation of High Schools. The N.C. High School Athletic Association doesn’t keep records for private schools like Metrolina Christian, but 38 rebounds would be the most in N.C. history, breaking the old record of 36 set in 1992.
Bella Sheprow, Metrolina Christian: 24 points, seven steals, six rebounds in the York Prep win.
MaKayla Smith, Hickory Grove: 20 points, five rebounds, five steals, three assists in a 57-26 win over GCAA.
Parker Tompkins, Anika Riley, Maya Caldwell, Davidson Day: 28 points, 15 rebounds for Tompkins in a 72-44 win over Village Christian. Riley had 15 points, 14 rebounds. Caldwell had 12 points, nine assists, three steals.
This story was originally published November 19, 2016 at 12:41 AM with the headline "Friday’s HS Basketball Roundup: MJ Armstrong leads Gaston Day past Carmel Christian in showdown."