Hough makes history in Greater Charlotte finals, takes down South Mecklenburg
Beau Maye finally delivered on something his older brother Luke couldn’t during his four years at Hough High School.
Maye, in his first season as the Huskies’ boys’ basketball coach, guided his players in a 54-48 victory over South Mecklenburg in the Greater Charlotte 7A/8A conference tournament final Friday night at Hopewell High School.
That gave Hough its first conference tournament championship since its opening in 2010 — and during Maye’s older brother’s time with the Huskies (2011-2015), when he was a two-time AP All-State selection.
“They had some good teams in the past,” at Hough, Beau Maye said. “They played really hard, and did a lot of really good things. But we were able to break through this year in a new conference.
“I’m really excited for the guys — that’s the coolest part. These guys, we’ve got some good seniors who have been through a lot. They played hard and did everything I asked, so I’m really, really happy for them. They accomplished something tonight, and we really want to keep that rolling, for sure.”
John Slusher, one of the Huskies’ seniors, scored 14 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Another senior, Beck Spear, made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points, and junior Tre Ratliff added 10 points for third-seeded Hough (20-6).
Jim Gatehouse scored a game-high 15 points and Ben Houpt added 14 points for the fourth-seeded Sabres (12-15), who upset top-seeded and Sweet 16 No. 14 West Mecklenburg, 54-49, in Wednesday’s semifinals to advance to Friday’s title game.
In addition to Slusher, named to the all-tournament team were Ratliff, Gatehouse, Houpt and Hough High’s Christian Coleman.
Yet South Mecklenburg looked like it could pull off another upset win Friday, leading the Huskies 18-12 after the first quarter.
Hough, behind Spear’s 3-pointers and eight points from Slusher, fought back, with a 10-2 run over the final three minutes of the second quarter putting the Huskies up 33-25.
Again, the Sabres fought back, leading 39-38 on Gatehouse’s short jumper with 15 seconds left, only for Ratliff to nail a 3-pointer for a 41-39 margin heading into the fourth quarter.
Hough went ahead 48-42 with 3:31 left in the game, only for South Meck to make another run, tying things at 48-all with 2:03 remaining on Connor Yet’s three-point play. However, Jaylen Byers’ jumper 17 seconds later gave the Huskies a lead they would never relinquish.
“This is the first time Hough has ever won a conference championship,” Slusher said. “I’m very proud to be a part of this, with Coach Maye and all my teammates. It’s just been a great year — I’m very proud to have been a part of this.
“We were just trying to make history … and we trusted in each other. We knew what we needed to do.”