Wild week in Observer’s Sweet 16 basketball polls: heavy shuffling, with four new teams in.
There are four new teams in the Charlotte Observer’s Sweet 16 boys and girls basketball polls this week.
In the boys poll, Rock Hill’s Westminster Catawba is off to an 11-1 start under rookie coach Ed Addie. Westminster has not had a winning season in at least 14 years.
North Meck still holds the top spot, but there’s a fair amount of movement beneath the Vikings, although No. 2 First Assembly remains strong. First Assembly moved to No. 50 in the Ball Is Life national poll. The Concord-based school is the highest-ranked from North Carolina.
▪ There’s a new No. 1 in the girls poll. Hopewell is off to a 10-0 start and beat former No. 1 Vance 55-50 last week.
There are three new teams in the girls poll: No. 11 Independence (6-1), which is off to its best start in 11 years; No. 12 North Mecklenburg (7-1), winners of seven straight since a buzzer-beating 1-point loss to Independence; and No. 13 West Rowan, which is 6-0.
Boys Sweet 16
| Rk. | School (Class) | Rec | Prvs. |
| 1. | North Mecklenburg (4A) | 8-0 | 1 |
| 2. | First Assembly (IND) | 13-1 | 2 |
| 3. | Vance (4A) | 7-0 | 3 |
| 4. | Carmel Christian (IND) | 11-2 | 6 |
| 5. | Cannon School (IND) | 10-3 | 7 |
| 6. | Davidson Day (IND) | 11-1 | 5 |
| 7. | Olympic (4A) | 4-1 | 4 |
| 8. | Myers Park (4A) | 7-1 | 10 |
| 9. | Ardrey Kell (4A) | 8-1 | 9 |
| 10. | Forest Hills (2A) | 6-0 | 11 |
| 11. | Charlotte Catholic (3A) | 6-1 | 12 |
| 12. | Freedom (3A) | 6-0 | 13 |
| 13. | Hunter Huss (3A) | 4-1 | 8 |
| 14. | Cox Mill (3A) | 8-1 | 15 |
| 15. | Hough (4A) | 8-1 | 16 |
| 16. | Westminster Catawba (IND) | 11-1 | NR |
Dropped Out: Charlotte Latin (IND, 7-3). Also receiving consideration: Richmond Senior (4A, 6-0); Harding (4A, 6-2); AL Brown (3A, 6-0); Crest (3A, 3-0); Hibriten (2A, 6-0); Lincoln Charter (1A, 7-0); Bessemer City (1A, 7-1); North Rowan (1A, 4-1)
Girls Sweet 16
| Rk. | School (Class) | Rec | Prvs. |
| 1. | Hopewell (4A) | 10-0 | 6 |
| 2. | Mallard Creek (4A) | 7-1 | 2 |
| 3. | Freedom (3A) | 6-0 | 3 |
| 4. | Providence (4A) | 8-0 | 4 |
| 5. | Vance (4A) | 3-2 | 1 |
| 6. | Cuthbertson (3A) | 9-1 | 7 |
| 7. | East Rowan (3A) | 9-0 | 8 |
| 8. | South Pointe (4A) | 7-0 | 12 |
| 9. | East Burke (2A) | 5-2 | 11 |
| 10. | South Caldwell (4A) | 6-0 | 15 |
| 11. | Independence (4A) | 6-1 | NR |
| 12. | North Mecklenburg (4A) | 7-1 | NR |
| 13. | West Rowan (3A) | 6-0 | NR |
| 14. | Carson (3A) | 8-1 | 5 |
| 15. | Weddington (3A) | 7-1 | 9 |
| 16. | Providence Day (IND) | 7-3 | 10 |
Dropped Out: Forestview (3A, 6-3); Charlotte Catholic (3A, 4-2); R-S Central (2A, 8-1). Also receiving consideration: Lake Norman (4A, 5-0); Olympic (4A, 5-1); Salisbury (2A, 6-0); Shelby (2A, 3-0); Newton-Conover (2A, 5-1); Langtree Charter (1A, 9-0); Gray Stone Day (1A, 6-0); Clover (5A, 8-1)
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 6:42 PM.
