Saturday’s boys roundup: Carmel Christian, Providence Day, Butler win holiday titles

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↑Chris Martin, Charlotte Liberty Heights: 54 points in games Friday and Saturday at the Queen City Clash.

↑Chick-Fil-A American Division All-Tournament team: Khavon Moore, Westside (GA); Wendell Moore (Concord Cox Mill); Juwan Gary (Gray Collegiate); Aaron Nesmith (Porter Gaud, most outstanding player); Trey Wertz, Isaac Suffren, Devon Dotson (Providence Day; Dotson named MVP)

↑Providence Day 3-point shooting: Facing a much bigger Gray Collegiate team in the Chick-Fil-A Classic finals, the Chargers needed to shoot well. They made 10-of-22 from deep, led by Wertz, the Chick-Fil-A 3-point contest champion, who made 4-of-8 three-point attempts.

↑Butler: Bulldogs, No. 4 in the Sweet 16, won the YC Winborn Classic for the fourth year in a row.

↑Queen City Clash All-Tournament team: Rylan McLaurin, Country Day; Kody Shubert, Lincoln Charter; Jah'Quez Sanders, Queens Grant; Jide Huntley, Porter Ridge; Nilous Hodge Jr., Fort Mill Comenius; Chris Martin, Charlotte Liberty Heights; Myles Pierre, Donovan Gregory, Carmel Christian; Raja Milton, Matthew Smith, Independence

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Girls Basketball Roundup: Carmel Christian, Rock Hill win holiday tournaments

Next week’s Observer-area Christmas tournament schedules

Saturday’s #BIG5 Performers

Raquan Brown, Butler: MVP of the YC Winborn Classic in Rock Hill. Brown had 15 points in the championship.

Devon Dotson, Providence Day: Kansas signee was MVP of the Chick-Fil-A American Division tournament. In the championship game, he had a team-high 28 points, a team-high 10 rebounds, two assists and a block.

Jairus Hamilton, Concord Cannon School: Named to the Chick-Fil-A national division all-tournament team, Hamilton had 26 points, seven rebounds and three assists, on 10-of-14 shooting, against Paul VI in a consolation game Saturday.

Marten Maide, Carmel Christian: made three huge 3-point shots in the fourth quarter of his team’s 61-55 win over Sweet 16 No. 4 Independence in the championship game of the Queen City Clash at Charlotte Country Day. It was Independence’s first loss of the season.

Wendell Moore, Concord Cox Mill: 27 points, six rebounds, four assists in a 77-66 win over Porter Gaud in the third place American Division game at the Chick-Fil-A Classic in Columbia. Moore made 11-of-13 free throws.

Saturday’s Sweet 16 Spotlight

No. 1 Concord Cox Mill 77, Porter Gaud (SC) 66: Vanderbilt recruit Aaron Nesmith had a huge game for Porter Gaud, making 14-of-19 shots and 9-of-12 3-point attempts. He finished with 37 points, but the rest of his team made 11 field goals combined. Cox Mill shot 57 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. Leaky Black, a UNC recruit, had 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals for Cox Mill.

No. 3 Providence Day 77, Gray Collegiate (SC) 71 OT: Providence Day (12-4) won its fourth straight game Saturday in the championship of the Chick-Fil-A Classic in Columbia, S.C. Before this year, the Chargers had never gotten past the first round of this event before going to the consolation round. Dotson scored a layup near the end of regulation to force overtime and the Chargers outscored hometown Gray Collegiate (9-2) 10-4 in the extra period. Gray’s star Juwan Gary made 14-of-28 shots and finished with a game-high 29 points, 13 rebounds as his team had a four-game win streak snapped. Gary, a 6-5, 190-pound forward, is ranked No. 29 nationally among juniors by ESPN. Providence Day got 27 points, four rebounds from Isaac Suffren and 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and one block from Santa Clara signee Trey Wertz.

Carmel Christian 61, No. 4 Independence 55: Carmel (14-1) won the championship of the Queen City Clash in a game where neither team led by more than eight points. Marten Maide (11 points) made three big shots from distance in the fourth quarter and Carmel was 5-for-5 from the free throw line in the final 90 seconds to seal the game. Donovan Gregory (23 points) led the Cougars. Greg McDonald (four points, 11 rebounds) and Ford Cooper (six points, eight assists) also had strong games. Matthew Smith (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Raja Milton (15 points, four steals) led Independence.

No. 5 Butler 59, Duncan Byrnes 50: Butler (9-2) won the YC Winborn Classic behind 15 points each from Raquan Brown and DJ Little, who were both named to the all-tournament team. Brown was named tournament MVP. Butler (9-2) broke open the game with a 17-7 push in the third quarter to build a 45-34 lead. Mick Hernandez had a game-high 20 points for Byrnes (7-3).

Paul VI (VA) 84, No. 10 Concord Cannon School 62: Cannon shot the ball well in the first half (70 percent) and was down just three. In the second half, though, Cannon cooled off a little, shooting 44 percent while Paul VI shot 61.3 percent and ran away. Jeremy Roach, a national top 15 sophomore guard, had 28 points, six assists and two steals for Paul VI. Unsigned senior Qon Murphy had 18 points, six rebounds and five assists for Cannon.

Saturday’s Roundup

Charlotte Liberty Heights 64, Charlotte Country Day 55: Liberty Heights jumped out to a 15-6 first quarter lead and kept a comfortable margin over the Bucs (9-5) in the third place game of the Queen City Clash. Chris Martin had 27 points for Liberty Heights and East Carolina signee Mike Wynn had 12. Country Day got 19 points, 10 rebounds from DeAngelo Epps and 18 points and two steals from point guard Rylan McLaurin.

This story was originally published December 24, 2017 at 12:33 AM with the headline "Saturday’s boys roundup: Carmel Christian, Providence Day, Butler win holiday titles."