Wednesday’s HS Basketball Rewind: Mooresville rolls past Cox Mill behind Shaw, Stewart

How the Boys Sweet 16 Fared

How The Girls Sweet 16 Fared

Mooresville calms down, tops Cox Mill in boys’ showdown

The whistles kept blowing, and Mooresville’s basketball players were beginning to feel the frustration of not being able to play their customary tough defense Wednesday night.

The fouls were adding up for senior standouts K.C. Shaw and Christian Herring, so Mooresville coach Armard Moore called his team together late in the second quarter.

“I told them to calm down, to relax,” Moore says. “I said, ‘You guys can’t control what’s happening. That’s up to the coaches to make the adjustments.’ ”

It took another pep talk at halftime, but the Blue Devils settled down nicely.

After trailing by 11 points at intermission, they rallied for a 95-81 victory over visiting Cox Mill in a Greater Metro 4 first-place showdown.

Mooresville (17-1, 8-1) avenged its only loss of the season, a 71-60 setback at Cox Mill on Dec. 9. Cox Mill (13-6, 7-1) saw its seven-game winning streak snapped. Mooresville has won 12 straight.

Referees called 14 fouls in the first quarter and 20 by the midway point of the second period. Each team had starters in foul trouble, but Cox Mill did a better job of responding in the first half.

The Chargers, trailing 26-22 with 6:45 left in the half, went on a 14-2 run for a 36-28 lead. Rasheed Baldwin hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter, and Cox Mill took a 48-37 lead into the locker room.

What did Moore, in his second year at the helm of the Mooresville program, tell his team then?

“We told everyone to sit down and take a deep breath,” he says. “I said to them, ‘We’re OK.’ ”

The turning point came midway in the third quarter, with Cox Mill leading 54-43.

Mooresville’s Kawarn Howell hit a 3-pointer, igniting the offense and enabling his team to narrow the gap to 58-57 at the end of the quarter.

“Our guys really executed the game plan,” Moore says. “I am so proud of the way our guys responded. They did exactly what they needed to do.”

The visiting Chargers trailed only 70-67 after a Myles Morgan 3-pointer with 3:51 remaining, but Aishus Stewart connected on a pair of baskets, and the Blue Devils regained a 74-67 edge. Cox Mill never got closer than five points again.

When the Chargers tried to narrow the gap in the closing minutes, Mooresville’s Kyrell Shaw connected on one of the three 3-pointers he made in the final period.

“Kyrell was feeling it tonight,” Moore says.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Aishus Stewart, Mooresville: K.C. Shaw and Christian Herring are usually Mooresville’s big scorers, but Stewart stepped up Wednesday when Herring got in foul trouble. Stewart scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and finished with a team-high 21.

Rasheed Baldwin, Cox Mill: A 6-4 senior wing, Baldwin hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points.

Kyrell Shaw, Mooresville: Shaw connected on five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.

WORTH MENTIONING

▪ Both teams shot the ball well from the floor. Cox Mill finished with 27-of-53 for 52 percent, and Mooresville was 33-of-58 for 57 percent. Mooresville outrebounded the Chargers 30-26.

▪ Cox Mill played without its No. 2 scorer Wednesday. Titus Ivy, who averages 11.4 points and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds a game, was injured.

▪ Armard Moore is in his second season as Mooresville’s head coach, after serving several years as an assistant to Duane Lewis at North Mecklenburg. “It’s exciting to see our team playing so well this year,” Moore says. “We just want the people of Mooresville to be excited about basketball again.”

WHAT’S NEXT

Mooresville resumes conference play Friday, hosting West Cabarrus. Cox Mill plays Friday at Greater Metro 4 opponent Lake Norman.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle

Wednesday’s #BIG5 Top Performers

Javares Green, Rocky River: 30 points in an 87-79 win over East Mecklenburg.

Kirsten Lewis-Williams, Lake Norman girls: game-high 24 points in 52-47 conference win over Hickory Ridge.

Sir Mohammed, Myers Park: 27 points in a 77-59 win over Lake Norman.

Madison Self, East Lincoln girls: 16 points, 14 rebounds and two steals in a 45-30 win over Hickory. It was her 12th double-double this season.

Dane Stewart, Mooresville: 21 points, eight assists, five rebounds, four steals in a 95-81 win over Cox Mill.

PHOTOS: Cox Mill at Mooresville

PHOTOS: Cox Mill girls at Mooresville

NC Statewide Scores

Wednesday’s Boys Basketball Boxscores

NO. 11 MYERS PARK 77, LAKE NORMAN 59

Lake Norman - 7 14 12 26 = 59

Myers Park - 13 22 25 17 = 77

LAKE NORMAN 59 -- Blake Wandersee 11, Jack Dryden 11, Cole Callaway 7

MYERS PARK 77 -- Sir Mohammed 27, Elijah Strong 17, Santana Lynch 9, Jack Turner 7

Records: Lake Norman (12-8); Myers Park (12-6)

NO. 13 MOORESVILLE 95, COX MILL 81

Mooresville 22 15 20 38 -- 95

Cox Mill 18 30 10 23 -- 81

MOORESVILLE -- Dane Stewart 21, KC Shaw 19, Kyrell Shaw 15, Christian Herring 13 Evaan Ezhilan 11, Kawarn Howell 9, AJ Parsley 5, Luke Kennedy 2

Notable: KC Shaw had 14 rebounds; Stewart had 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals; Parsley had 6 assists; Ezhilan had 5 rebounds; Howell had 5 rebounds.

Record: 17-1

CONCORD 70, LAKE NORMAN CHARTER 47

Concord 25 14 16 14 -- 70

LNC 11 10 13 13 -- 47

CONCORD 70 -- Kayin Thompson 23, Brayden Blue 11, Johnakin Franklin 10, Jeremiah Howard 9, James Smith 7, Jerell Reddick 6, Justin Garland 4

LAKE NORMAN CHARTER 47 -- O. Lay 16, N. Espinoza 10, B. Lowe 3, A. Purser 3, B. Kesier 3, I. Martino 2, C. Magnuson 2, J. Magnuson 2, C. Fox 2, K. Burnette 2, J. Carswell 2

Records: Concord 16-3 (9-2) & Lake Norman Charter 8-7 (5-3)

Next Up: Concord hosts Northwest Cabarrus and Lake Norman Charter travels to South Rowan. Both contests will be played on Friday.

HICKORY 56, EAST LINCOLN 49

East Lincoln 9 4 13 23 -- 49

Hickory 13 15 12 16 -- 56

EAST LINCOLN 49 -- Bean 11, Walker 10, Jones 10, Craig 9, Crichton 5, Fannon 3

HICKORY 56 -- Little 16, Holbrook 15, Maddox 8, Rose 5, Maddox 4, Redmond 4, Fisher 2, Rumbaugh 2

EL 18-3 Overall (10-1) Conference

Hickory 18-1 Overall (9-1) Conference

Game Notes: East Lincoln and Hickory are now tied for first place in the Western Foothills 3A Conference with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

MARVIN RIDGE 56, HICKORY RIDGE 54

Marvin Ridge. 13. 17. 4. 22 -- 56

Hickory Ridge. 12. 12. 6. 24 -- 65

MARVIN RIDGE 56-- Douglas 14, Lee 9, Gravelle 9, Smith 8, Palmer 4 Shivers 2, Robitalle 2, Chepul 2, Feitz 2

HICKORY RIDGE 54-- Lewis 18, Fearne 14, Gidney 12, Walters 6, Leathers 4

Hickory Ridge falls to 12-6 and Marvin Ridge moves to 17-4

NORTH LINCOLN 69, STATESVILLE 59

North Lincoln 19 12 22 16 69

Statesville 8 20 20 11 59

NORTH LINCOLN 69--Connor Carson 20, Jake Dedmon 16, Jack Waggoner 12, Luke Custer 7, Kellan Karr 7, Reed King 4, Nate Lykins 3

STATESVILLE 59--T. Miller 20, M. Robinson 13, C. Moore 9, K. Bryant 5, N. Owens 4, C. Morales 4, K. Brown 2, K. Smith 2,

North Lincoln 6-5 conference (12-8 overall)

ROCKY RIVER 87, EAST MECKLENBURG 79

Rocky River 25 16 16 30 -- 87

East Meck 19 17 16 27 -- 79

ROCKY RIVER 87 -- Javaris Green 30, Anthony Franchi 19, Jayden Lyles 16, Will Ham 15, Price 6

EAST MECK 79 -- Kanye Johnson 30, Jonah Lawrence 20, White 9, Williams 9, Nevill 6, Hicks 5,

Wednesday’s Girls Basketball Boxscores

NO. 7 SHELBY 77, KINGS MOUNTAIN 39

KM 8 15 10 6 - 39

Shelby 19 22 27 7 - 77

KINGS MOUNTAIN - Saniya Wilson 17, Khalia King 8, Alayna Patrick 6, Tyasya Bell 4, Austyn Dixon 2, CoRey Simpson 2

SHELBY - M. Pass 21, A. Hollifield 15, K. Hollifield 18, K. Hopper 10, B. Hargrove 4, A. Ager 3, J. Abernathy 2

NOTES: KM falls to 14-3 (11-0 Big South) in the non-conference matchup. Will play at conference opponent Stuart Cramer on Friday. JV Boys start at 4:30.

NO. 11 LAKE NORMAN 52, HICKORY RIDGE 47

Hickory Ridge. 11. 14. 13. 9 -- 47

Lake Norman. 11. 11. 14. 16 -- 52

HICKORY RIDGE 47 -- Gidney 14, Walters 10, Lewis 9, Fearne 7, Cook 5, Leathers 2

LAKE NORMAN 52 -- Lewis-Wiliams 24, Wadkovsky 18, Saunders 6, Shehan 2, Sirianni 2

Notable: Hickory Ridge falls to 12-5 and Lake Norman moves to 14-3.

COX MILL 41, MOORESVILLE 38

CM: 16 3 10 12 - 41

MV: 15 3 6 4 - 28

CM: Hines 7, Lewis 10, Gallegos 6, Farrell 8, Perry 10

MV: Piper 2, Davis 10, Goins 4, Callejas 2, Lane 5, Davis 5

EAST LINCOLN 45, HICKORY 30

HHS: 0 11 8 11 -- 30

ELHS: 12 11 15 7 -- 45

HICKORY 30 -- Lea Boyens 12, G. Grennard 8, L. Powe 4, G.Bryant 4, J. Turner 2

EAST LINCOLN 45 -- Madison Self 16, H. McFadden 8, T. Thomas 8, R. Ross 7, G. Overbay 6

Noteables: Madison Self recorded her 12th Double Double of the Season with 16 pts, 14 rebs and added 2 steals. Hailey McFadden added 8 pts and 10 rebs.

HHS: (10-7, 7-2) Next Game vs West Iredell 2/4/22

ELHS: (19-2, 11-0) Next Game @ St. Stephens 2/4/22

NEWTON-CONOVER 58, MAIDEN 35

Newton-Conover 14 - 15 - 9 - 20 = 58

Maiden 11 - 0 - 11 - 13 = 35

Newton-Conover: Cassidy Gedded 28, Lizzy Sain 11. Emma Fox 8, Hadleigh Swagger 3, Julie Krause 2, Monet Wilson 2, Sara Sain 2, Hannah Watkins 2

Maiden: Noble 13, Beal 8, Keever 6, IKard 3, Stamey 3, Fitzpatrick 2

Newton-Conover 16-2, 7-1

Maiden 5-13 , 3-5

Thursday’s Schedule

Southwestern 4A

Charlotte Catholic at Providence

Greater Metro 4 4A

West Cabarrus at South Iredell (girls), 6

Sandhills 3A-4A

Richmond County at Southern Lee (girls), 6

Big South 3A

Forestview at North Gaston (boys)

Rocky River 2A-3A

Parkwood at West Stanly (girls), 6

Metrolina Athletic

Gaston Christian at Metrolina Christian (boys)

Hickory Grove Christian at SouthLake Christian (boys)

Catawba Valley 2A

Lincolnton at West Lincoln

Mountain Foothills 2A

R-S Central at Chase

Catawba Shores 1A-2A

Christ the King at Mountain Island Charter

Central Carolina 1A-2A

Thomasville at Lexington

Western Highlands 1A-2A

Mitchell County at Rosman

Yadkin Valley 1A-2A

Mount Pleasant at Albemarle (girls), 6

Metro 8 1A

Bradford Prep at Sugar Creek Charter (girls), 5:30

Cabarrus Charter at Corvian Community (boys)

Nonconference

Central Academy at Carolina Christian (girls)

Central Academy at Arborbrook Christian (boys)

Grace Academy at Corvian Community (girls)

Garinger at Hopewell

Gray Stone Day at Anson County

Lake Norman Christian at Triad Math/Science Academy (girls)

Mountain Island Charter at Albemarle

South Stanly at North Rowan

United Faith Christian at High Point Wesleyan (boys)

This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 11:03 PM.

Langston Wertz Jr.

The Charlotte Observer

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