Saturday’s roundup: Independence upsets nationally ranked Carmel Christian in OT
Elevator
↑LB Brown, Charlotte Christian: 8-for-8 from the free throw in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 82-48 win over Faith Assembly.
↑East Lincoln: Outscored Kings Mountain by 19 points in the second half of a 79-57 win. East Lincoln (15-1), No. 2 in the 2A statewide poll, won its seventh straight game against Kings Mountain, ranked No. 10 in the state 3A poll.
↑Hannah Clark, Kings Mountain girls and Brianna Tadlock, East Lincoln girls: Kings Mountain beat East Lincoln 65-57 Saturday and both stars had big games. Clark had 27 points and Tadlock had 28 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
↑Bryce Alfino, Jackson Threadgill, Adam Brazil, Davidson Day: combined for 42 points in a 61-53 win over Lincoln Charter at the Carmel Christian/Phenom Hoops MLK tournament. Levontae Knox had 22 for Lincoln Charter.
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Friday’s roundup: Myers Park upsets Porter Ridge, wins 10th straight
Friday’s #BIG5 stars, capsules, photos, recaps
Friday’s girls high school basketball roundup: capsules, #BIG5, photos, more
Friday’s boys high school basketball capsules 01.18.19
Is Saturday’s Independence-Carmel Christian meeting the game of the year?
Exclusive: area girls, boys basketball standings
Saturday’s #BIG5 Top Performers
Sidney Dollar, Justin Kuthan, East Lincoln: in the Kings Mountain win, Dollar scored his 1,000th career point and finished with 24 points and six rebounds. Kuthan, a junior, had 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Josh Hall, Hickory Moravian Prep: made six 3-point shots in a 74-59 win over Concord First Assembly. The 6-foot-9 wing finished with 28 points.
Paul Hudson, Charlotte Christian: 16 points, 10 rebounds in a 82-48 win over Faith Assembly at the Zaxbys Tourney Town MLK Showcase at Greensboro Smith.
Raja Milton, Independence: game-high 19 points, including the game-winner, in an overtime upset of nationally ranked Independence.
Eli Payseur, Kings Mountain: 29 points, a game-high, against Sweet 16 No. 13 East Lincoln. Kings Montain played without two starters on football recruiting trips.
Independence springs big upset at Carmel Christian
In a highly charged atmosphere before a packed house, two heavyweights went at it in the final game of the Carmel Christian MLK Showcase Saturday night.
The Independence Patriots, ranked No. 5 in the Observer’s Sweet 16, eked out a 58-57 overtime win against Carmel Christian Cougars. Tied at 49-49 after regulation, the Patriots’ Raja Milton scored all of Indy’s nine overtime points. The Cougars had two looks in the final seconds of overtime to get the winning bucket, but the ball wouldn’t drop.
Milton finished with a game-high 19 points, with Andra’ McKee and Matt Smith also finishing in double figures with 13 and 12 respectively. Donovan Gregory led Carmel Christian in scoring with 17, while Myles Pierre added 15 and Marten Maide 12.
“I wasn’t in for most of the fourth quarter,” said Milton. “I just wanted to go hard for my team (in the overtime), try to get it back and finish it through.”
It was the tale of two halves as Indy’s defense held a high-scoring Carmel Christian team to only 24 first-half points, as the Patriots led at the break 34-24. But the Cougars answered with a huge third quarter, starting the quarter with a 10-2 run. Their shots started falling and the Cougars outscored the Patriots 22-8 in the third to lead 46-42.
THREE WHO MATTERED:
(Raja Milton – Independence) Led all scorers with 19 points and scored all of the Patriots points (9) in the decisive overtime session.
(Myles Pierre – Carmel Christian) Sparked the Cougars third-quarter comeback with 10 points in the period.
(Miles Pauldin – Independence) His only basket of the game in the final minute of regulation allowed the Patriots to tie the game at 49 and force overtime.
WORTH MENTIONING:
Carmel Christian suffered just its second loss of season Saturday in 26 games. Their only other loss was to Bearden High (Knoxville, TN) in the Arby’s Classic in Bristol, Tennessee on New Year’s Eve.
THEY SAID IT: “The last thing I reminded my guys before they came out for warmups is that basketball is a game of runs. They (Carmel Christian) have a championship program and we have a championship program. At some point in time they are going to go on a run. Are we going to be able to handle it? We are going to go on a run. Are we going to be able to sustain it?” Independence Coach Preston Davis
RECORDS: Independence 13-3, 6-0 (Southwestern 4A); Carmel Christian 24-2
WHAT’S NEXT: Independence will jump back into Southwestern 4A conference play Tuesday traveling to Myers Park to play the Mustangs. Carmel Christian will host High Point Wesleyan Christian Academy Tuesday.
-- Donelli
Saturday’s boxscores
NO. 5 INDEPENDENCE 58, NO. 1 CARMEL CHRISTIAN 57
Independence 18 16 8 7 9 -- 58
Carmel Christian 12 12 22 3 8 -- 57
INDEPENDENCE 58 -- Raja Milton 19, Andra’ McKee 13, Matt Smith 12, Allen 5, Harris 5, Pauldin 4.
CARMEL CHRISTIAN 57 -- Donovan Gregory 17, Myles Pierre 15, Marten Maide 12, Epps 6, Hunter 5, Boggs 2.
NO. 2 CHARLOTTE CHRISTIAN 82, FAITH ASSEMBLY 48
East Lincoln 23 10 27 19 79
Kings Mountain 14 15 18 10 57
East Lincoln (6-0, 15-1): Sidney Dollar 24, Myles Adams 5, John Bean 14, Allden Horne 11, Justin Kuthan 24, Ben Zirkle 0, Petey Nichols 1, Jeremiah Jones 0, Ethan Staples 0
Kings Mountain (6-0, 11-4): Rasheem Hughes 0, Isaiah Tate 0, Zeke Littlejohn 14, Eli Payseur 29, John Harmon Melton 0, Titus Clark 5, Orlando Odums 4, Belton Pressley 5
Note: Senior, Sidney Dollar, scored his 1,000th point during the game and now has 1,017 points for his career. He becomes only the 7th player in East Lincoln’s 50 year history to do so. The Mustangs have won 7 games in a row.
Saturday’s Girls Capsules
REGIS JESUIT CO. 67, NO. 1 DAVIDSON DAY 45
RJS 21 15 14 17 -- 67
DDS 16 11 9 7 -- 45
RJS Francesca Belibi 9 4 22 Moore 4 1 13 Jones 4 2 10 Vansickle 2 1 7 Mchugh 1 1 6 Weigand 1 1 6 S. Weigand 1 0 3
DDS Nevaeh Brown 6 10 22 Mallorie Haines 5 3 19 Roberts 1 0 2 Otto 1 0 2
Notables DDS now 15-3 on the year.
KINGS MOUNTAIN 65, EAST LINCOLN 57
This story was originally published January 19, 2019 at 11:57 PM.