Charlotte’s Jackson Day School falls to Thomas Jefferson in NCHSAA 1A semifinals
Jackson Day’s dream season came to an end Thursday in the N.C. 1A Western Regional championship game.
Jackson Day lost to conference rival Thomas Jefferson, 61-48, at Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory. Jackson Day (21-9) had beaten Thomas Jefferson twice in regular-season play, but fell behind by 14 points in the first half and struggled to score for most of the game.
The Mariners, who had their three-game winning streak snapped, rallied by using their signature full-court pressure defense. Eventually, Jackson Day took a one-point lead in the fourth quarter.
But Thomas Jefferson pushed the lead back out to 14 points in the fourth quarter and went onto advance to the championship round.
Thomas Jefferson (16-12), which began the season 1-4, will have a chance to win the state title next week against Vance Charter. Vance Charter (22-2) rallied from 18 points down to beat Southern Wake, 56-52, in the Eastern Regional final Wednesday.
The 1A final will be played next week at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem. Times and dates will be announced.
Jackson Day — the former Mountain Island Day on Little Rock Road in Charlotte — ends its season, but had a remarkable turnaround under first-year coach Chris White, who won two small- school state titles in South Carolina.
The west Charlotte school is in its second year in the NCHSAA. It originally was a private school but became a charter school in 2021.
White took over a team that was 6-16 last season and led it to a 13-3 conference record in the Catawba Shores 1A/2A/3A league, which sent three teams to the regionals: Thomas Jefferson, Jackson Day and 2A Queen’s Grant, the No. 1-ranked team in The Observer’s Sweet 16.
Queen’s Grant will play its regional final Saturday.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 2:41 PM.
