A year after heartbreaking defeat, Corvian Community gets another shot a state title
The last time Charlotte’s Corvian Community Charter School played a game at Joel Coliseum, coach Ron Murphy and his Cardinals went home with broken hearts. Corvian lost, 65-63, to Wilson Prep in the state championship after Leslie Minter made three free throws with less than a second left.
But after Tuesday’s dominant 75-44 win over Mint Hill’s Queen’s Grant Charter, Corvian will get a shot at a state title for the second straight year.
“This year was hard,” Corvian coach Ron Murphy said. “It was hard because of how last year ended. Everywhere we went, people were like, ‘Oh it’s a tough loss.’ But the next thing out of their mouth was, ‘Oh, you guys will be back.’ It’s not that easy.”
At the first practice of the season, Murphy gathered his team and read a list of all the NFL teams that lost in the Super Bowl and didn’t make it back the following season. He read it again before Tuesday’s game.
“It was kind of corny,” Murphy said. “They laughed and they laughed again (Tuesday) when I did in the locker room. But I wanted them to understand. There’s no guarantee.”
Murphy shouldn’t have worried.
Corvian played like a team that was relishing the moment, comfortable playing on high school basketball’s biggest stage and hungry to get back to the finals. The Cardinals (24-7) ended Queen’s Grant’s 14-game win streak and will play Washington County or Southern Wake in Friday’s 1A state championship game.
Corvian got there behind a huge effort from sophomore guard RJ Moore and a 2-3 zone defense that Queen’s Grant couldn’t solve, particularly when the Stallions looked nervous and unsure of themselves — especially early on.
“I’ve been in a lot of these games over my career of coaching,” said Queen’s Grant coach Joe Badgett, whom The Observer recently named one of the best boys’ high school coaches of the past 40 years. “And when it’s your time, it’s your time. (Corvian) has been here, and this game is about adapting to that atmosphere, adapting to those lights. When you’ve been here before, you know what to expect.”
Queen’s Grant (27-8), which was 24-0 against NCHSAA competition before Tuesday, starts freshmen, sophomores and one senior. The Stallions didn’t get their first points until there was 3:36 left to play in the first quarter.
“I feel like as a team, with all the young guys, we weren’t ready,” Queen’s Grant freshman center Chase Smith said. “Not ready to play basketball, but (not ready to deal with) all the lights and to handle the arena stuff. I felt we were unprepared.”
Said teammate Preston Scott, a sophomore guard: “We came in overly hyped and underestimated them. We didn’t show up in the first quarter.”
By then, Corvian’s Moore was already headed to a monster game.
He came out launching — and hitting — some effortless-looking deep 3-point shots. He got his team off to a 22-7 lead and finished the first half with 26 points and seven rebounds. He ended up with 29 points and nine rebounds.
A lanky 6-foot-5 guard, Moore averaged 15 points as a freshman on Corvian’s first team to make a state championship game. A season later, he’s averaging 23 points and looks like one of the best players in North Carolina, regardless of grade.
“I just came out hot, you know,” Moore said. “I’m a great shooter and I think I showed I am today. I don’t know. I just hit my shots, and do what I needed to do to win the game.”
Queen’s Grant, making its first regional appearance, will return nearly its entire team next season, including Power 4 recruits Chase Smith (6-8 freshman center) and Bobby Montgomery (5-9 freshman point guard). The Stallions will probably not forget what happened to them Tuesday.
It’s a lesson that Corvian has seemed to learn well.
Three who mattered
RJ Moore Jr., Corvian Community: The 6-5 sophomore guard shot 10 of 16 from the field and made 8 of 11 3-point shots en route to his game-high 29 points.
Malachi McCutcheon, Corvian Community: The 6-5 senior forward had 19 points, on 9 of 18 shooting, plus 10 rebounds and four assists.
Chase Smith, Queen’s Grant: The Stallions 6-8 freshman post had seven points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and an assist.
Notable
▪ The regional final had a three-person, all female officiating crew and they did a good job keeping control of a 1A game that had the type of athletes you might see in a high-level 3A game.
▪ Queen’s Grant shot 17 for 57 as a team, including 2 for 17 from the 3-point line. Though significantly smaller, Corvian also rebounded Queen’s Grant 42-29, using its 2-3 zone to great effect.
▪ Corvian was 5-7 five years ago but is 92-28 since then, including 71-18 under Murphy the past three seasons.
▪ Last year, Corvian became the first Charlotte team to play in a small school state championship game since Matthews School lost to Camp Lejeune in the 1950 state final. It was called the Class B final at the time.
They said it
“These guys had a great practice yesterday. That was probably the best practice we’ve had all year yesterday. It showed today. I’ll find a mistake or two. But I won’t find five. They did a great job.” — Corvian coach Ron Murphy
Game summary
Corvian Community 18 20 16 21 — 75
Queen’s Grant 5 10 14 15 — 44
CORVIAN COMMUNITY 75 — Scott 4, RJ Moore Jr 29, Malachi McCutcheon 19, Jackson 3, Milton 8, Rucks 4, Kirkwood 4, Patel 2, Garvin 2
QUEEN’S GRANT 44 — Scott 4, DeBerry 6, Allen 4, Smith 7, Howard 2, Montgomery 6, Geronimo Clark 11, Richardson 2, Honeycutt 2
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM.
