NCHSAA state finals: Union County duo, West Charlotte hoping to strike gold Saturday

For Cuthbertson’s girls’ basketball team, “false motion” has led to a state championship appearance.

The Cavaliers will make their inaugural appearance in the N.C. 3A final against Southeast Guilford (27-3) at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Smith Center on Saturday. Cuthbertson coach Joel Allen said an offensive system he learned watching men’s college teams is a big reason why.

Allen cultivated what he calls his “false motion” offensive philosophy by studying the likes of Bill Carmody and Jeff Bzdelik, who coached men’s teams at Northwestern and Air Force. Carmody, prior to Northwestern, was an assistant coach to Princeton legend Pete Carril before succeeding him.

Allen describes Cuthbertson (29-3) as employing a version of the Princeton offense that Carril, and his proteges, made famous.

“It’s a little more ‘old school’ as far as some of the principles,” Allen said. “I do think the girls enjoy running it. It takes a year or two sometimes for it to click for them.”

The Cavaliers’ student-athletes were not around when Princeton beat then defending national champion UCLA with a backdoor layup in the first round of the 1996 NCAA tournament. But, today, Cuthbertson’s girls have made a state title run doing the same thing.

“I think that’s one of the best things girls can do,” Allen said. “Give them a nasty backdoor pass.

“Our girls have learned to be patient,” the coach continued. “We want to get the shot we want to get. They don’t care who takes that shot.”

West Charlotte chasing more history

All five of West Charlotte’s state titles (1986, ’91, ’92, ’99, 2011) were won in the Smith Center.

West Charlotte (25-6) will meet South Central (29-1) of Winterville in NC State’s Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. The Lions fell to New Hanover in the 2012 final (in Reynolds Coliseum).

This season marks the 20^th anniversary of the 1999 championship. That ‘99 West Charlotte team – regarded widely among the state’s all-time best – dropped two of three games in Reynolds Coliseum during what is now known as the John Wall Holiday Invitational. This season’s Lions played in the John Wall event.

What a closing act

The 2A boys’ final (in Reynolds Coliseum) – Farmville Central vs. defending state champion Marshville Forest Hills, 29-2 – includes two of the classification’s last three state champions (Farmville Central in 2016).

Farmville Central, undefeated in 31 starts, features 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Terquavion Smith, who has committed to N.C. State. The Yellow Jackets’ five seniors are four-year varsity players. Forest Hills’ Jai Rorie (5-9) was championship MVP of last season’s title-clinching win.

Both teams feature 6-7 sophomore power forwards among the state’s best in the class of 2021. Forest Hills’ Jamylan Blakeney competed effectively with Greene Central’s Imajae Dodd, a UNC-Wilmington signee, in the 2018 title game. Leontae Moye is the star interior player for Farmville.

Finals on TV