No. 3 North Mecklenburg gets a statement win at home over No. 15 Chambers

The last time the North Mecklenburg High basketball team played Chambers, the Vikings roared ahead by 19 points early in the third quarter before having to hold off a furious rally in a three-point road win Jan. 9 that put them in control of the Queen City 3A/4A Conference race.

On Friday, when North Mecklenburg hosted its nearby rival on Senior Night with a chance to wrap up its ninth league title in 10 years, the Vikings left nothing to chance and rolled to an 83-62 victory.

North Mecklenburg (20-2, 12-0), No. 3 in the Sweet 16 and the defending N.C. 4A champion, led for all but 3 minutes 8 seconds of what has become one of the hottest rivalries in Mecklenburg County in recent years.

The Vikings’ win was their sixth straight over the Cougars (14-8, 9-3).

“We wanted to win for the seniors,” said Chadlyn Traylor, one of the six seniors honored in a pregame ceremony. “High school goes by fast and this was a big game against Chambers.”

After trailing 3-0 and 4-3 in the opening minutes, the Vikings took the lead for good at 5-4 with 4:52 left in the opening quarter.

And North Mecklenburg pushed the lead to 10 points by the 5:28 mark of the second quarter, to 20 points at halftime and a game-high 25 points twice late in the third quarter.

“Last time, we sort of took our foot off the gas,” North Mecklenburg coach Duane Lewis said. “This time we didn’t pull back.”

Despite calling several timeouts in hopes of sparking a rally, Chambers head coach Brian Frasier’s team never had an answer for the Vikings.

The Cougars’ defensive pressure that sparked the rally in their last meeting worked at times, but was undone by North Mecklenburg’s relentless drives to the basket.

The Vikings finished with seven slam dunks — two apiece from Traylor, Carson Evans and Exzavier Young in the second half — to keep Chambers from ever getting within striking distance.

Three who made a difference

Carson Evans, North Mecklenburg: The senior guard, who is headed to Mars Hill, had a game-high 21 points, highlighted by nine in the second quarter as the Vikings built a 44-24 halftime lead.

Chadlyn Traylor and Exzavier Young, North Mecklenburg: The pair scored 18 points apiece, with Young scoring 12 in the second half.

Markus Kerr, Chambers: The Cougars’ standout junior guard had a team-high 20 points and scored in each quarter.

Notable

▪ Chambers made only three of 21 3-pointers, with Kerr converting two and Tarris Bouie (12 points) one.

▪ North Mecklenburg has now won 19 conference regular-season championships and has a chance to finish unbeaten in league play for the eighth time since 1987 and seventh time since 2005 if it can win at Hopewell on Tuesday and at West Charlotte next Friday.

▪ Chambers, the No. 15 team in the Sweet 16, is pretty well locked into second place in the league with games left at West Charlotte on Tuesday and at home against Mallard Creek next Friday.

They said it

“Carson (Evans) is one of those players who people didn’t really know about. This year’s he’s taken on a much bigger role and he’s taken advantage of opportunity by working and developing his game.”

— North Mecklenburg coach Duane Lewis

BOX SCORE

Chambers 10 14 18 20 — 62

North Mecklenburg 13 31 21 18 — 83

CHAMBERS 62 — Jackson 2, Markus Kerr 20, Malik McCotter 18, Tarris Bouie 12, Cameron Thompson 10.

NORTH MECKLENBURG 83 — Chadlyn Traylor 18, Carson Evans 21, Williams 7, Ashton Pierce 17, Exzavier Young 18, Estwick 2.

Records: Chambers 14-8, 9-3; North Meck 20-2, 12-0