Host sites for NC high school basketball regional championships leave coaches puzzled
Some area high school basketball coaches are perplexed by where the N.C. High School Athletic Association has decided to host Saturday’s N.C. 3A and 4A Western Regional championship games.
The 4A boys and girls games all involve teams in Mecklenburg County or just outside of it. But instead of playing at a Charlotte gym, where the crowds would be plentiful, the NCHSAA announced this week the 4A games would be played at McDowell High in Marion.
McDowell’s gym seats more than 3,000 people, but most fans who decide to go from Charlotte will be making about a four-hour round trip.
“I try to be understanding of what the state is trying to do,” said Weddington coach Gary Ellington, “but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I think there may be things I don’t know, but there certainly seems to be a lot of other places we could’ve played being that it’s four Charlotte schools.”
Ellington’s nationally ranked Weddington team (29-0) will play North Mecklenburg (27-4) Saturday at 4 p.m. at McDowell. Before that game, the girls 4A regional final will start at 2 p.m. It will feature Charlotte Catholic (28-2) and Chambers (21-6).
“I was thinking that it would be a lot better for the fans if we could be closer, say at a CMS school,” Chambers coach Donnell Rhyne said. “That was on my mind. And I thought if we all agreed at being at a CMS school, it would be fine and it would be better and closer on the fans.”
Also being played Saturday is the N.C. 3A Western Regional final.
West Charlotte (20-9) will play Central Cabarrus (30-0) at 4 p.m. at Freedom High in Morganton. Fans will make a three-hour round trip to see a game, passing by dozens of Charlotte gyms that could’ve hosted the game.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools athletic director Ericia Turner told the Observer that there were several CMS schools in consideration for the regional championships, but none was selected.
In the Eastern regional games, four Wake County area teams are playing in the boys and girls 4A regionals. Those teams will play at Green Level High School in Cary, which is the type of arrangement Ellington would like to see in the west.
Green Level’s gym is about the same size as Providence High in southeast Charlotte.
And, in the 2A Eastern regional, Farmville Central will play Kinston at Lee County High. That will create about an average four-hour round trip for fans.
Kinston and Farmville are 30 miles apart.
In most years, teams would expect to travel for this state semifinal round. The Eastern Regional finals are generally in Fayetteville or Greenville, while the West Regionals are usually in Hickory, Winston-Salem or Greensboro. But in a year when the association decided to move them to high school sites, Ellington just thinks it makes sense to put them closer to the schools playing.
“Capacity plays a role in it and they’re trying to find the biggest gym they can find,” he said, “but my worry is focusing on how big the gym is, is not going to be that big of a deal. By playing it two hours away, less people are going to attend.”
On Wednesday, when the NCHSAA announced the regional championship sites and times, it also released a statement to the media. The Association said, following a surge in COVID-19 cases, it wasn’t going to be able to play regional championships at college venues as it had done in the past, and it began to work with the N.C. Basketball Coaches Association to get feedback on sites with large gyms for the regional finals.
“The arrangement for this year provides the opportunity for more spectators to get attend games in the Western Regionals,” the NCHSAA statement read. “This year’s sites also provide a more equitable distribution of spectator capacity for the Eastern (and) Western Regionals and will help the NCHSAA meet as much demand for spectator capacity as possible.”
Rhyne thinks, after the field was set, it could’ve been possible to revisit the Marion site and hosting the games in Charlotte. Ellington said he can’t focus on that anymore.
“But listen, and I think every other coach would same say thing,” he said, “you get to play in Final Four, it doesn’t matter where it’s at, but certainly lots of people wonder why the game is big played where it’s at.”
Travel Woes?
Using Apple Maps, here are the distances from each Mecklenburg County school, or its opponent, to its regional site Saturday
Central Cabarrus High to Freedom: 92 miles, 1 hour, 42 minutes
Chambers High to McDowell: 105 miles, 2 hours, three minutes
Charlotte Catholic to McDowell: 108 miles, 1 hour, 54 minutes
North Mecklenburg High to McDowell: 96 miles, 1 hour, 41 minutes
Weddington High to McDowell: 119 miles, 2 hours, 7 minutes
West Charlotte High to Freedom: 76 miles, 1 hour, 27 minutes
BOYS REGIONAL FINALS
Class 4A
Saturday’s regional finals
West
Weddington (29-0) vs. North Mecklenburg (27-4), Sat, 4 p.m at McDowell High
East
Cleveland (30-1) vs. Panther Creek (22-7), Sat, 6 p.m, at Green Level High
Class 3A
West
West Charlotte (20-9) vs. Central Cabarrus (30-0), Sat, 4 p.m, at Freedom High
East
Seventy-First (26-4) vs. West Carteret (26-4), Sat, 4 p.m. at Southern Lee High
Class 2A
West
North Surry (23-4) vs. Jay M. Robinson (26-3), Sat, 2 p.m., at Grimsley High
East
Farmville Central (26-3) vs. Kinston (23-2), Sat, 4 p.m. at Lee County High
Class 1A
West
Hayesville (26-0) vs. Winston-Salem Prep (25-2), Sat, 6 p.m., at AC Reynolds High
East
Chatham Charter (32-1) vs. Wilson Prep (22-5), Sat, 2 p.m, at Rose High
GIRLS REGIONAL FINALS
Class 4A
West
Charlotte Catholic (28-2) vs. Chambers (21-6), Sat, 2 p.m. at McDowell High
East
Apex Friendship (28-2) vs. Millbrook (23-3), Sat, 4 p.m. at Green Level High
Class 3A
West
North Davidson (25-2) vs. Enka (15-14), Sat, 2 p.m. at Freedom HIgh
East
Terry Sanford (30-0) vs. Northwood (28-1), Sat, 2 p.m. at Southern Lee High
Class 2A
West
Shelby (22-1) vs. Salisbury (26-1), Sat, noon, at Grimsley High
East
St. Pauls (27-1) vs. Farmville Central (26-4), Sat, 2 p.m at Lee County High
Class 1A
West
Bishop McGuinness (24-6) vs. Mountain Heritage (23-3), Sat, 4 p.m. at AC Reynolds High
East
Bertie (20-4) vs. Wilson Prep (24-0), Sat, noon at JH Rose High
