NCHSAA state finals rewind: A Myers Park repeat? Can Lake Norman return? Top players we saw?
Barely 20 minutes after his team won its first boys basketball state championship, Myers Park coach Scott Taylor and his players were asked about a possible repeat.
Full disclosure: the question came from a Charlotte Observer reporter.
“Oh yeah absolutely, they should,” senior center Elijah Strong said. “I really do think these guys are talented enough to make a really strong run. I really have a lot of faith in these guys.”
The Mustangs will return three of their five starters next season, plus sixth man Santana Lynch, son of former UNC star George Lynch.
All three starters back are top 100 recruits nationally — junior point guard Bishop Boswell, the state championship MVP; junior forward Sir Mohammed, son of former NBA and Kentucky player Nazr Mohammed; and top 25 sophomore Sadiq White.
And those four potential returning players accounted for 50 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in Saturday’s 74-60 win over Richmond Senior.
They helped Myers Park win its first title in 72 years.
Next season, the Mustangs will try to become the first Mecklenburg County team in 4A to repeat as state champions since West Charlotte won back-to-back in 1991 and ‘92.
Taylor said he was not quite ready to think about next season, but did acknowledge his team would miss Strong, who has been the team’s center for four years. Strong had 22 points, seven rebounds Saturday.
“It’ll be different not throwing the ball in the post,” Taylor said. “We’ve been able to have a security blanket, knowing we can work inside-out for four years, from the time (Strong) walked in. That’s a challenge I’m not sure I’m ready to think about yet.”
Can Lake Norman get back?
Lake Norman’s girls return four of five starters next season but lose Ms. Basketball finalist Kirsten Lewis-Williams.
Lewis-Williams had 16 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals in Saturday’s 75-65 upset loss to Panther Creek, but the Wildcats gave her lots of help.
Freshman Kelsey Rhyne had a team-high 20 points and six rebounds. Sophomores Alexis Shehan and Samamtha Shehan combined for 31 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Samantha Shehan was an initial nominee for N.C. Ms. Basketball. Also returning next year will be sophomore guard Addison Sirianni, who played more than 25 minutes per game this season.
Lewis-Williams thinks her team, which finished 31-1, is well-equipped to make a run without her.
Rhyne, who shot 6-of-11 from 3-point range, said she’s determined to make that happen, and she maybe had the quote of the day.
“I’m going to exhaust myself,” she said, to make sure Lake Norman returns to this stage.
Good move by NCHSAA
Normally, the NCHSAA rotates the championship sites between UNC and N.C. State, sending 2A and 4A to one gym and 1A and 3A to another.
The 4A finals would have been held at NC State, which seats less than 6,000 in Reynolds Coliseum. The NCHSAA, which caught flak for holding regional championships in high school gyms, changed the schedule and kept the 4A finals at the Dean Smith Center, which seats more than 21,000.
Listed attendance for the 4A girls game was 3,372 and it was 6,758 for the boys. The lower bowl of the Smith Center appeared to be pretty full for Myers Park-Richmond. It appeared closer to 8,000 or 9,000.
It was a good move by the association.
#BIG5 performances of the weekend
Here are the #BiG5 top performers from Saturday’s championships, and a nod to Eastern Randolph’s DaVonte Brooks, who had 34 points, 19 rebounds in a 84-73 loss to Wilson Prep in the 1A finals.
▪ Lauren Arnold, West Rowan girls: She led her team to a 60-50 win over Rocky Mount in the 3A finals, scoring 17 points and grabbing 16 rebounds, to go with two assists and two steals. She made 3-of-6 3-point attempts and did all that while playing just 22 of 32 minutes.
▪ Taylor Barner, Panther Creek girls: Teammate Olivia Tucker (27 points, four rebounds, three steals, three assists) got the Championship MVP, but Barner controlled the 75-65 win over Lake Norman. She constantly broke the Wildcats’ signature press and set her teammates up for easy attempts. She made 9-of-15 shots for 20 points, plus five rebounds, four assists and a steal. And she’s so fast, like track fast. Just a junior, Barner will be a first-line Ms. Basketball nominee next season (and so will Tucker, also a junior).
▪ Jah Short, Farmville Central: He led his team to a 75-63 win over Reidsville and a repeat state title. The New Orleans recruit had 35 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and one dunk where his head was only about an inch below the rim.
▪ Desmond Kent, Central Cabarrus: The sixth man made all of his 19 minutes count in a 65-51 win over Northwood and UNC recruit Drake Powell in the 3A boys final. Kent tied for a team-high 16 points, plus four rebounds and three blocks. He was named Championship MVP.
▪ Bishop Boswell, Myers Park: Formerly a football-basketball player, this was Boswell’s first full year of basketball only. And it wasn’t bad. He made into the top 100 national rankings and was state championship MVP after a 22-point, six-rebound, four-assist and three-steal performance against Richmond Senior. Boswell also spent long periods covering Richmond’s top-100 star Paul McNeil. Both players will be Mr. Basketball candidates next season.
