Friday’s Roundup: Providence Day, Christian, Catholic win league titles on busy night

Three Mecklenburg County teams won conference championships Friday, and none of them took the moment lightly. Winning championships in high school basketball, Charlotte Catholic coach Mike King said, is special.

King’s team beat Marvin Ridge to win the outright Southern Carolinas championship. Providence Day and Charlotte Christian each won Friday to share the CISAA championship.

“They’re all nice,” King said of the championships. “And that was a big game. ... If we don’t win, it comes down to a coin flip to determine the No. 1 seed, and you don’t know where you could go from a state playoff seedings standpoint. So that was a really big game.”

King’s Cougars beat Marvin Ridge 65-50, behind 22 points from Luke Harkins and 19 from Sean Rogan, and denied the Mavericks a shot a co-league title.

▪ Charlotte Christian won a league title for the first time in six years and gave coach Shonn Brown his 13th conference championship in 18 years on Senior Night.

Catholic began its win over Marvin Ridge with a 26-7 run to get a cushion; Christian (22-8, 9-1 CISAA) burst out of the gate as well, going on a 24-0 run in the first half of a 78-34 win over Covenant Day. Three Knights scored 15 points: JC Tharrington (nine assists), Paul Hudson (12 rebounds) and Blake Preston.

▪ Providence Day had the toughest game of the three. Charlotte Country Day (18-13, 5-5 CISAA) came out making shot after shot at home and led at halftime. DeAngelo Epps had 24 points and Alex Tabor 21 to lead the Bucs, who were still very much in the game until Trey Wertz made six straight pressure free throws in the fourth quarter to give the Chargers a cushion – and a path to the title.

Wertz finished with 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Devon Dotson had 32 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. And Isaac Suffren, playing in front of a college coach from Drexel, had 19 points with seven rebounds.

Providence Day (24-9, 9-1) won its eighth straight game and improved to 53-3 in conference play during its six-year run of league titles.

Links to more content

Friday’s girls roundup: #BIG5, Elevator, record-setters

Friday’s girls basketball summaries

Area stars named to Carolinas all-star game, one to play at Final Four

Friday’s top high school performers

Elevator

↑Olympic: Trojans, No. 9 in the Sweet 16, won their 13th straight game Friday, beating Harding 63-52. Jalen Harris had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Olympic.

↑East Lincoln: Mustangs, No. 16 in the Sweet 16, won their 13th straight game in a 66-50 win over Newton-Conover. Sidney Dollar had 18 points and nine rebounds for East (20-4, 13-1) who have beaten Newton-Conover in 11 straight meetings.

↑Tyler Luther, Mooresville: On Senior Night, Luther had 22 points, 15 rebounds to spark a 76-70 win over Mallard Creek. Kyle Austin had 31 for the Mavericks.

↑Destiny Lewis, Butler girls: Career-high 24 points, plus six steals, in a 76-36 win over East Meck. Teammates Payton Sutton (16 points, 10 assists, eight steals), Michaela Lane (14 points, seven steals, seven rebounds) and freshman Nia Nelson (11 points, five steals, five rebounds) had strong games for the Bulldogs.

By The Numbers

12-0: United Faith beat Woodlawn Christian on Senior Night 82-38 to finish 12-0 in the SPAA conference and win the regular-season title. Malcolm Wade had 19 to lead the Falcons.

12: Pine Lake Prep (18-6) won its 12th straight game in a 90-69 win over Queen’s Grant. D’Marco Small had 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

31: Cherryville sophomore Lane Harrill had a career-high 31 points in a 78-63 win over Thomas Jefferson. He scored 21 in the first half, when he made five 3-point shots. He finished the game 9-of-10 from the free throw line.

Friday’s #BIG5 Top Performers

Gerrale Gates, Butler: Scored his 1,000th career point in a 68-45 win over East Meck. He had 24 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks.

Jairus Hamilton, Concord Cannon: career-high 42 points and 11 rebounds in a 73-61 win over Charlotte Latin. Hamilton broke the single-game school scoring record of 41, set by Jarell Eddie and tied previously by Hamilton.

Jehlon Johnson, Lincoln Charter: 32 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks in an 86-31 win over Piedmont Charter. Johnson got his 1,000th career rebound in the game. Lincoln Charter is No. 14 in the Sweet 16.

Tyler Luther, Mooresville: 22 points, 15 rebounds on Senior Night in a 76-70 win over Mallard Creek.

Dezure Moulden, Belmont Stuart Cramer: unsigned senior had 30 points, five assists and five steals in an 83-69 win over Gastonia Forestview. Moulden scored his 1,000th career point.

How Sweet 16 Fared

No. 1 North Mecklenburg 75, Lake Norman 70: Playing at Lake Norman, the No. 1 Vikings led just 40-39 at halftime and never could pull away from pesky Lake Norman (14-10, 6-8 I-MECK), poised for perhaps the season’s biggest upset. Demarcus Johnson finished with 23 for Lake Norman. Tristan Maxwell and Jae’Lyn Withers had 20 for the Vikings and Chris Ford added 17. North Meck (23-1, 14-0) won its 16th straight game.

No. 2 Independence 79, Myers Park 56: The Patriots (23-1, 14-0) won their 14th straight game and finished an unbeaten run through the Southwestern 4A. A 27-11 third quarter provided the separation. Jamarius Burton (14 points, five steals, five assists, four rebounds), Andra McKee (16 points, four assists, three rebounds), Jordan Mobley (15 points, three rebounds) and Matthew Smith (10 points, five rebounds, four blocks) led the Patriots. Caleb McReed had 15 for Myers Park, which has lost five of its last eight.

No. 3 Concord Cox Mill 89, Northwest Cabarrus 51: On Senior Night, UNC coach Roy Williams – fresh off Thursday’s win over arch-rival Duke – came to watch 2018 recruit Leaky Black. Black, hampered with a pulled stomach muscle, had eight points and six rebounds in limited action. Cox Mill coach Jody Barbee said he may rest Black during next week’s South Piedmont tournament. Wendell Moore had 34 points and eight rebounds in the easy win Friday. Caleb Stone Carrawell added 14 points and six rebounds.

No. 11 Salisbury 79, South Rowan 50: Salisbury (21-2, 18-2) got 18 points from Lonnie Rogers and a balanced performance from Isacc Baker (14 points, nine assists, six steals) in the win. Tyrese Shavers had 22 for South Rowan (7-17, 7-11).

No. 15 Morganton Freedom 106, Marion McDowell 93: Freedom (21-2, 12-2 Northwestern 3A/4A) won its fifth straight game in a shootout Friday. Michael Logan had 26 points, Fletcher Abee had 24, Jakari Dula had 21 and Aidan Pearson 18 for the Patriots. McDowell got 31 points, a game-high, from Antoine Lindsay and 21 from Skyler McKinney.

This story was originally published February 10, 2018 at 1:13 AM with the headline "Friday’s Roundup: Providence Day, Christian, Catholic win league titles on busy night."