Vikings roll! North Mecklenburg tops Olympic, heads to state championship game
In 2005 and 2006, North Mecklenburg High made back-to-back appearances in the N.C. 4A state championship game.
The Vikings won in 2005, lost a close game in 2006, and seemed to have a deep, talented pipeline that would assure many return trips to the biggest public school game in North Carolina.
Only, it never happened.
Saturday, the nationally ranked Vikings beat Olympic 86-78 to qualify for another 4A state championship game. It took 14 years. And after it was over — after North Meck saw a 23-point fourth quarter lead nearly shrunk to three — North Meck coach Duane Lewis talked about how tough it is to get this far.
“It’s really hard to win a state championship,” Lewis said. “With public schools, you have to win six games. It’s not three games (as in some N.C. private school divisions). It’s rough. These guys know it.”
In the past two seasons, North Meck was a No. 1 overall seed, and a title favorite, but the Vikings saw the season end with injuries and early round playoff losses to Winston-Salem’s R.J. Reynolds and Rocky River.
“The best team don’t always win,” Lewis said. “Last year, no one wants to talk about three season-ending injuries we had. We had two JV guys on the floor and got beat by (two). The year before that, Vaud Worthy, who might’ve been the best point guard in the state, or one of three best, tears his ACL.”
This year, the Vikings (30-1) haven’t suffered big injuries and have mostly been dominant. Saturday, senior point guard Trayden Williams’ ball-handling and mid-range shooting wizardry helped North Meck get an double-digit lead, which it maintained much of the game.
Olympic kept pushing back. But North Meck appeared to make a knockout blow, going up 72-49 midway through the third quarter.
But Olympic (22-7) used a trapping zone defense to make a big run. The Trojans scored 21 of the next 24 points. Then, Jalen Small appeared to have a layup that would’ve cut the Vikings lead to 75-72 with just under two minutes left.
North Meck senior Shamann Artis chased him down, blocked the shot attempt and it led to a run-out layup for Williams that effectively ended the game.
“I let him get in front of me and took the momentum with me,” Artis said. “It was a big game changer. It stopped their momentum and we scored off that.”
THREE WHO MATTERED
Jeremy Gregory, North Meck: 6-7 sophomore forward controlled the interior, getting 15 points, on 5-of-8 shooting, to go with 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. He made all five free throws.
Trevon Williams, Olympic: senior guard had 20 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals. He made 7-of-12 shots and put pressure on North defensively and with acrobatic drives to the rim.
Trayden Williams, North Meck: senior point guard controlled the game from the beginning. He finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, four assists.
WORTH MENTIONING
▪ North Mecklenburg will play Lumberton in the state finals March 14 at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill. Tip-off will be 7:35 p.m.. Lumberton beat Pinecrest 66-47 in its state semifinal. Lumberton will make its first finals appearance. North Meck is 1-2 in championship games all time.
▪ North Meck star Tristan Maxwell, a Georgia Tech recruit, played his old AAU buddy -- Olympic’s Josh Banks -- Saturday. Banks has signed with VCU. Both players struggled shooting but played good all around floor games. Maxwell was 6-for-21 and 2-for-10 on 3-pointers, but he had 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three big rebounds late in the fourth quarter.
Banks was 5-for-23 overall and 1-of-8 from 3. He was 8-for-8 on free throws and had 19 points, six rebounds. He played all 32 minutes.
▪ North Meck’s Artis had a monster game, with the block and 17 points, four steals, three assists and two rebounds. He made 5-of-8 3-point shots....Olympic’s Nishawn Hodge had 12 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal.
THEY SAID IT
“We’ve been fighting all year, and we got a chance to play against a team that scores a lot so it’s a lot tougher to fight. We don’t like to play in the 80s, for no reason. That’s a lot of points, but that team scores a lot of points and it kind of game us problems. But I thought we fought hard at the end and gave it a run.” -- Olympic coach Baronton Terry
Olympic 19 14 14 31 -- 78
North Meck 23 23 18 22 -- 86
OLYMPIC 78 -- Josh Banks 19, Nishawn Hodge 12, Trevon Williams 20, Greene 7, Jalen Small 11, Golden 7, Appiah 2
NORTH MECK 86 -- Ford 8, Jeremy Gregory 15, Trayden Williams 25, Shamann Artis 17, Tristan Maxwell 18, Waters 3
This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 1:29 PM.
