Here’s how to watch, what to know about Thursday’s NCHSAA state basketball finals
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- NCHSAA hosts 16 state title games across eight classes at Joel Coliseum
- CharlotteObserver.com provides live coverage and streaming links for the games
- Schedule lists game times and recent champions, including 1A and 8A winners
This week, the NC High School Athletic Association will host state basketball championship in eight classes. There will be 16 title games — eight boys’ games and eight girls’.
All games will be Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.
Play began Wednesday afternoon, with champions crowned in Class 1A and Class 8A. A pair of 1A teams from the East, the Vance Charter boys and Wilson Prep girls, captured state titles. In 8A, two Charlotte teams won titles: West Charlotte’s boys and Mallard Creek’s girls.
Four more champions were crowned Thursday, including Queen’s Grant Charter, a runaway winner in the 2A boys’ title game..
Check charlotteobserver.com for daily live coverage.
For the complete schedule for the week, scroll towards bottom of this story.
Girls’ finals live scores
Boys’ finals live scores
Thursday’s games
2A boys: Queen’s Grant rolls past Warren County
Queen’s Grant won its 31st straight game and its first NCHSAA state championship Thursday, blowing past Warren County, 77-43.
6A girls: Northern Guilford rallies past Terry Sanford
Northern Guilford went on a pair of second-half runs and pulled away from Terry Sanford 62-52 Thursday afternoon for the 6A girls’ state championship.
Terry Sanford (21-7), now 0-5 in girls’ basketball title games, led for much of the first half and went ahead 31-23 on Ameya Brown’s three-pointer with 7:14 left in the third quarter.
But Northern Guilford (27-4) began making shots, and the Nighthawks went on a 10-2 run tied the game 33-all with 3:45 left in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs recovered and regained the lead 41-39 with 1:06 remaining in the quarter, but the Nigthawks then went on an 8-0 run. By that point, Northern Guilford led 47-41 with 6:26 to play, and the Nighthawks coasted.
Terry Sanford outrebounded Northern Guilford 46-38, but the Nighthawks hit 38 percent of their shots from the floor, to 29 percent for Terry Sanford.
Lenna McField, a 5-10 junior with a number of Division 1 college offers, led Northern Guilford with 24 points and seven rebounds. Jaidiah Blake scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
2A girls: A three-peat for Cherokee
Cherokee High School and Pamlico County High School are separated by 432 miles, and their basketball teams seemed many more miles apart Thursday.
Cherokee won its third consecutive girls’ state championship, swamping Pamlico County 76-15 for the 2A crown.
In what was the most lopsided decision in girls’ basketball state championship history, the Braves raced to a 33-4 first-quarter lead and never looked back. In every facet of the game, Cherokee was the superior team.
Pamlico County’s 15-point output was the lowest in the 56 years of N.C. High School Athletic Association-sponsored girls’ basketball championship games.
In that opening quarter, Cherokee made 13 of 19 shots from the floor and was five-of-seven from three-point range. Pamlico County, meanwhile, made one of 10 field goal attempts and turned the ball over nine times.
The Braves (29-1) shot 56 percent from the floor for the game and held Pamlico County (25-3) to 11 percent shooting. Cherokee forced 27 turnovers and outscored the Hurricanes 33-0 on fast-break points. Cherokee also outscored Pamlico County 42-8 inside the paint.
Junior Madison Rogers led the Braves with 25 points, and Joscelyn Stamper, daughter of head coach Miranda Stamper, added 15.
6A boys: Northern Nash edges Kings Mountain in OT
Jamiere Harris scored the go-ahead basket on a layup and added a clinching score with two seconds left in overtime, leading Northern Nash to a 61-60 victory over Kings Mountain in the boys’ 6A championship.
The Knights (25-3), winning their first boys’ basketball state title since 1968, took a 59-57 lead on Harris’ layup with 24 seconds left. Then the Mountaineers (16-13) turned the ball over, and Harris got the clincher for a 61-57 edge.
Kings Mountain’s Ethan Daniel made a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but it wasn’t enough.
Each team missed multiple chances to win the game in regulation, which ended with a 51-51 tie.
Christian Barnes scored a team-high 14 points for the Knights, and Quantay James added eight rebounds. Ethan Daniel scored a game-high 22 points for Kings Mountain, which was seeking its first boys’ basketball state championship.
This week’s schedule
FRIDAY
3A girls: East Surry vs. Goldsboro, noon
4A girls: Maiden vs. Fairmont, 2:30
3A boys: Walkertown vs. Kinston, 5
4A boys: Salisbury vs. Reidsville, 7:30
SATURDAY
5A girls: North Lincoln vs. Southeast Alamance, noon
5A boys: Hunter Huss vs. Fike, 2:30
7A girls: North Meck vs. Southern Durham, 5
7A boys: Mooresville vs. Southern Durham, 7:30
Thursday’s results
2A boys: Queen’s Grant 77, Warren County 43
6A girls: Northern Guilford 62, Terry Sanford 52
Wednesday’s results
1A boys: Vance Charter 79, Thomas Jefferson 54
1A girls: Wilson Prep 58, Robbinsville 44
8A boys: West Charlotte 70, Hoggard 68
8A girls: Mallard Creek 49, Hoggard 45
This story was originally published March 12, 2026 at 10:48 AM.
