Saturday’s NCHSAA 3A final between Central Cabarrus and Northwood comes down to style

Saturday’s N.C. 3A boys state basketball championship game between Pittsboro’s Northwood High School and Central Cabarrus could come down to a battle of style.

Central Cabarrus won the N.C. 3A West regional final game against West Charlotte, 78-51, last week. They did so by doing what they do best — running and pressing. Their style of play is unique to them and not many teams have the motor to play their style of basketball for 32 minutes. Central is winning games by more than 30 points on average.

Northwood, in contrast, scored 37 points in their N.C. 3A Eastern Regional final because of how they are adept at slowing teams down and running their sets in the halfcourt. They don’t get rattled and it is hard to get them to turn the ball over.

The Vikings run a full-court press all game. Before the season, head coach Jim Baker made his team do conditioning drills for most of every preseason practice — in hopes of getting them back conditioned to play their brand of basketball.

Northwood is led by UNC commit Drake Powell. He was a 2023 Mr. Basketball finalist averaging 18.6 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game as well as 4.1 assists per game. He leads the Chargers in all three major statistical categories, is the primary ball handler, and only commits about two turnovers a game, with a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio.

Central Cabarrus is top three in the nation in takeaways with 19.4 steals per game. Their full-court press messes with opponents and gets them rattled early. Then, the turnovers keep piling up for the Vikings’ opposition.

“We try to turn you over, we try to press you and wear you out,” Baker said. “You can look at this game (against West Charlotte), a few of their shots start falling short and then here we come. It is like a track meet.”

Baker’s starting five is composed of three seniors and two juniors. The three seniors are Jaiden Thompson, Gavin Bullock and Adriel Miller. The juniors that round out the lineup are Chase and Carson Daniel.

Northwood has a lot more height on its team than Central Cabarrus. The Chargers have five players who are taller than 6-foot-5, while the Vikings have just one at that height, Desmond Kent Jr.

If the Chargers are able to slow the tempo down and use their size down low, they have a good chance to win. However, the Vikings were just tested against a team with height in West Charlotte and handled the test with ease.

This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 7:00 AM.