Lake Norman girls knock off previously unbeaten McDowell, head back to 4A state title game
Lake Norman has been working to get a state championship for the past four seasons.
The Wildcats will get their second chance in three seasons after a hotly contested 58-52 win over previously unbeaten McDowell on Wednesday night at Lawrence Joel Veteran Memorial Coliseum to win the Western N.C. 4A title.
Junior guard Rayana Minard, who came off the bench, scored nine of her 17 points in the fourth quarter of a game with six ties and 12 lead changes to lead Lake Norman (29-1), which will face Raleigh Wakefield on Saturday at the same venue in the N.C. 4A state championship game.
“You realize how special this team is when you see how we knew we had to feed the hot player — and tonight that was Ray,” junior veteran starter Kelsey Rhyne said of Minard’s strong finish.
Eighth-year Wildcats coach McKenzie Graham knew the game would be a close one. She even admitted her team endured rare misfortune against McDowell, which finished 30-1.
“We had a lot of stuff go against us,” Graham said. “But that’s what this team does. It just finds ways to win.”
Lake Norman fell behind 12-5 in the first quarter and 32-28 at the break before the Wildcats’ third- quarter defensive effort changed their fortunes.
The Wildcats limited the Titans to four points and 1 of 9 overall shooting from the field to forge a 37-36 lead entering the final period.
The lead would change hands four more times in the next 4½ minutes before Minard’s driving layup gave Lake Norman the lead for good at 47-46.
Minard would hit five free throws and Alexis Shehan two buckets in the final 2:19 as the Wildcats closed out their second Western N.C. 4A title in three years. Lake Norman lost 75-65 to Panther Creek in the 2023 state championship game.
McDowell got 14 points apiece from Khloe Joyner and Kimora Stewart.
Three who made a difference
Rayana Minard, Lake Norman: After a scoreless first quarter, the junior guard tallied six points in the second quarter, two in the third and nine in the fourth quarter to go along with four steals, three assists and two rebounds.
Kelsey Rhyne, Lake Norman: Junior guard had 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Khloe Turner, McDowell: Sophomore forward had 14 points, 12 rebounds and three assists for the Titans.
Notable
▪ Lake Norman has advanced to the fourth round of the state playoffs the last four seasons with records of 22-2, 31-1, 26-3 and 29-1 (entering Saturday), respectively.
▪ Senior forward Alexis Shehan credited last year’s fourth-round playoff loss to Charlotte Catholic for fueling this year’s title run. “Last year showed us that if we wanted to get what we wanted, we’d have to work harder,” she said.
▪ McDowell’s fourth-year head coach, Zack McCartha, has breathed life into one of the state’s top historic programs. After going 6-17 in his first season, the Titans went 16-10 with a first-round playoff loss in 2023, 23-6 with a second-round playoff loss in 2024 and 30-1 this season. The Titans have advanced to five state title games all time, winning in 1991, losing the old Western N.C. High School Activities Association championship in their first year of 1972 and N.C. 4A title games in 1998, 1999 and 2004.
They said it
“It means a lot. We won six games our freshman year. So to leave (the program) better than when we found it is really special.” — McDowell senior guard Sage Young
Game Summary
Lake Norman 9 19 9 21 - 58
McDowell 12 20 4 16 - 52
LAKE NORMAN 58 — Kelsey Rhyne 12, Rayana Minard 17, Alexis Shehan 17, S. Shehan 8, Sirianni 4
McDOWELL 52 — Khloe Joyner 14, Dameron 2, Kimara Stewart 14, McCartha 8, Kensly Stewart 7, Young 7
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 9:34 PM.