North Meck starts slowly, rolls past Watauga. Vikings to face Chambers in regional final
North Mecklenburg continued its roll through the N.C. 4A state playoffs Friday, despite a slow start in its quarterfinal matchup against Watauga.
In what was shaping to be a great game, North Meck found its form and destroyed any idea of an upset, winning 84-48.
Despite North Meck missing starting center Exzavier Young, the Vikings didn’t have trouble defending the basket — or getting to it.
North Meck will play Queen City 3A/4A conference rival Chambers in next week’s regional championship game.
“Once we heard that my boy Exzavier wasn’t playing, we knew it was the next man up,” North Meck guard Chadlyn Traylor said. “I feel like we’re the best defensive team in the state. We hang our hats on defense and we know that to ultimately win a state championship, we have to be locked in on D.”
North Meck led by only eight points at halftime, but the Vikings, to Traylor’s point, locked in on defense after that, limiting Watauga to only six points in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth. And that included a few baskets after the game was out of reach.
North Meck’s defense created an easy offense as Traylor and guard Carson Evans combined for 51 points.
The next game figures to be much more competitive.
North Mecklenburg beat Chambers in two regular-season matchups, but Chambers stopped the Vikings to win the conference tournament championship last month.
And a lot will be at stake.
Chambers will try to reach its first state final in 22 years. North Mecklenburg will try to get back to the finals for the second straight season, attempting to become the first repeat 4A state champion since Winston-Salem’s RJ Reynolds won three straight from 2000-02.
No Mecklenburg County 4A team has repeated since West Charlotte in 1991 and ‘92.
“We’re still confident. Before that conference tournament game, we beat (Chambers) twice already,” Traylor said. “It’s the same thing on the defensive end, I feel like we’ll be straight. We’ll just hang our hats on the defensive end and do what we do and play our ball and I feel like we’re gonna get it done.”
