Four NC state basketball champions crowned Friday. Who won, scores and recaps
This week, the NC High School Athletic Association is hosting state basketball championships in eight classes. There are 16 title games — eight boys’ games and eight girls’ games.
All games are being played at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.
Play began Wednesday afternoon and continued Thursday and Friday. So far, 12 of the 16 state champions have been named. Four more will earn rings Saturday.
Games start at noon.
Check charlotteobserver.com for daily live coverage.
Scroll down for coverage from the first three days, plus scores and game reports from Friday’s games.
Girls’ live scores
Boys’ live scores
3A GIRLS: Goldsboro pulls away
Goldsboro limited East Surry to five points in the closing 3½ minutes and beat the Cardinals 54-46 for the 3A girls’ state championship in Friday’s opening game.
The Cougars (30-2) led most of the way, but their margin was cut to 40-39 on McKenzie Smith’s layup with 4:49 left in the game. Kennedy Barbour and Aziyah Boyer made back-to-back layups for Goldsboro, but East Surry (25-4) got within 44-41 moments later.
Imari Buckom hit a key three-point field goal with 3:05 left, giving Goldsboro a seven-point lead. East Surry could not get within striking range after that.
Amiyah Ford led the Cougars with 14 points. Boyer added 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Buckom finished with 11 points and six assists.
It was Goldsboro’s first girls’ basketball state championship in 44 years.
Addyson Boaz led East Surry with 13 points.
4A GIRLS: Maiden caps perfect season
Maiden capped a perfect season Friday afternoon, thrilling a large crowd of supporters with a 44-39 victory over Fairmont for the girls’ 4A state championship.
The Blue Devils, capping a 30-0 season with their first state title in girls’ basketball, scored the final five points of the game.
Khiara Culliver, a 6-0 senior, rebounded a missed three-point shot by the Blue Devils and scored on a stick-back with 34.9 seconds left. That put Maiden ahead 41-39.
Fairmont (27-3) drove to the basket, but Maiden’s Havyn Dula stole the ball. Moments later, Culliver scored on a layup, was fouled, and made the free throw for a 44-39 lead.
Culliver led the Blue Devils with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Ava Anderson added 11 points. Lyric McNair led Fairmont with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Neither team shot the ball well, with Maiden making 29 percent of its field goal attempts and Fairmont shooting 33 percent.
But the Blue Devils outrebounded the Tornadoes 41-27, and Maiden made 12 free throws to Fairmont’s three.
3A BOYS: Kinston dominates Walkertown
Kinston put on a show of inside strength Friday evening and walloped Walkertown 80-54 in the boys’ 3A state basketball finals.
The Vikings (22-3), winning their second state championship in boys’ basketball, dominated near the basket. They scored 64 of their 80 points inside the paint and shot 60 percent from the floor.
Kinston raced to a 12-4 first-quarter lead and outscored the Wolfpack (20-9) by a 25-10 margin in the third period for a 53-27 lead.
Keyshawn Herring and Jamarion Washington each scored 21 points for Kinston, and Brennan Chambers had 13 rebounds to go with his 10 points.
Kenan Grady had 17 points and nine rebounds for Walkerstown, which reached the state finals for the first time.
4A BOYS: Salisbury stuns Reidsville
Salisbury, which needed a miracle shot to win the West Regional championship a week ago, put on a powerful offensive show Friday night and stunned defending state champion Reidsville, 83-68, in the 4A boys’ basketball finals.
The Hornets (24-7) shot 61.5 percent from the floor and blew the game open by outscoring the Rams (23-2) by a 30-15 margin in the third quarter.
Braylon Taylor scored 15 points in the third period, and Jon Ross added 10.
The Hornets’ defense also did the job. Reidsville junior standout Dionte Neal scored 38 points, but Salisbury defenders hounded him all night. Neal made only 11 of his 33 shots from the floor and was 1-of-13 from three-point range.
No other Reidsville player scored in double figures. The Rams won the 2A state championship last year.
Salisbury won a boys’ basketball state title for the seventh time — but the first time in 39 years. The Hornets’ first state title came in 1930.
Taylor led the Hornets with 29 points and made 11 of his 16 shots from the floor. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Blake Smith (15 points), Ross (14) and Royce Perkins (11) also scored in double figures.
It was Perkins, a freshman, who made a half-court shot as the buzzer sounded last week, enabling Salisbury to beat Central Davidson 47-46 in the West Regional finals.
This week’s schedule
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
Friday’s results
3A girls: Goldsboro 54, East Surry 46
4A girls: Maiden 44, Fairmont 39
3A boys: Kinston 80, Walkertown 54
4A boys: Salisbury 83, Reidsville 68
Thursday’s results
2A boys: Queen’s Grant 77, Warren County 43
6A girls: Northern Guilford 62, Terry Sanford 52
2A girls: Cherokee 76, Pamlico County 15
6A boys: Northern Nash 61, Kings Mountain 60
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 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM.
