Back to back! Cannon School girls roll past Wesleyan, win NCISAA 4A basketball title
Cannon School had little trouble defending its NCISAA 4A state championship on Saturday.
The Cougars cruised past High Point Wesleyan 71-52 to win the third state title in school history.
“No matter who we played, we had to have a championship mentality,” Cannon coach Kelvin Drakeford said. “From that mindset, it was like alright, I think we can get back to where we want to get to and take care of business.”
Also Saturday, Charlotte’s Victory Christian rolled to the 1A state championship, beating Crossroads Christian of Henderson, 63-32. Friday night, Rocky Mount Academy finished a 22-0 season by winning the 2A title, 43-37, over Caldwell Academy. On Saturday, top-seeded Grace Christian of Sanford beat Concord Academy, 56-45, in the 3A state final.
For Cannon, the championship was decided in the second quarter of the 4A final.
The Cougars led by just four points after the first quarter, but ramped up the defensive pressure in the second, eventually taking a 29-16 halftime lead.
Halfway through the third quarter, Cannon’s Madison Drayton and Jakaila Gaskin both scored several layups to widen the lead to 43-19.
Wesleyan Christian got a barrage of 3-pointers from guards Sara Kate Carr and Kennedy Jackson and closed to within nine points in the fourth, but Cannon quickly found its gear again and ran away.
Drayton finished with 18 points, Gaskin 16 points and guard Maya McCorkle scored 13 points.
“Defensively, we knew we had to stay locked down,” Drayton said. “We couldn’t let them shoot because they are a good shooting team which you guys seen.”
Cannon head coach Kelvin Drakeford also added that his team didn’t have a problem on offense, so he wanted to focus on defense.
Drakeford’s team won its third state title since 2021, which is extra special for Drakeford, who is a graduate of the school.
“Being dialed in defensively was huge for us,” he said. “We knew that we were going to find ways to score the ball, but we had to make sure that we were stopping them from scoring.”
