North Meck girls win 1st Sweet 16 title after 1st state championship in 40 years
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- North Meck wins first Sweet 16 title and first state crown in 40 years.
- Vikings beat No.1 Lake Norman, then routed Southern Durham 65-38 for title.
- North Meck finishes 29-2, school-record wins and Mecklenburg’s first champ in four years.
For the first time in 40 years, North Mecklenburg High School’s girls’ basketball team won a state championship.
For the first time ever, the Vikings are Charlotte Observer girls’ basketball Sweet 16 champions. And North Meck is the first champion from Mecklenburg County in four years.
The Observer started the Sweet 16 in the 1984-85 season to rank the top teams in its coverage area. That area currently includes NCHSAA- or NCISAA-sanctioned schools in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln and Union counties. The poll is compiled by longtime N.C. basketball expert Randall Clark.
The poll champion gets a large banner to hang in the school’s gym.
In 1986, All-American Andrea Stinson led North Meck to a 26-0 record and an N.C. 4A state championship win over Fayetteville’s Pine Forest High School.
But the Vikings didn’t win the Sweet 16 that season.
West Caldwell started the season No. 1 in the rankings and didn’t leave that spot, despite losing to Lenoir’s Hibriten High in its conference tournament championship game. West Caldwell beat Southwest Edgecombe for the 3A state title in 1986.
This season, North Mecklenburg beat Lake Norman, the No. 1-ranked team in the Sweet 16, in the regional championship game and took over the top spot heading into the state final.
In that championship game, the Vikings rolled past Southern Durham, 65-38, earning their 18th straight win.
North Meck finished 29-2, a school record for wins, and lost to only one N.C. team — conference rival and 8A state champion Mallard Creek.
Final Sweet 16 girls’ basketball rankings
Rk, School, Rec, Prvs.
1. North Mecklenburg (28-2), 2*
2. Mallard Creek (23-6), *
3. North Lincoln (9-21), NR*
4. Lake Norman (24-2), 1
5. Cannon School (24-6), 5*
6. Queen’s Grant (26-4), 3
7. Stuart Cramer (28-2), 4
8. Ardrey Kell (26-4), 6
9. Marvin Ridge (23-5), 7
10. Porter Ridge (24-5), 9
11. Concord Academy (25-8), 10
12. South Meck (23-7), 11
13. Providence Day (24-6), 12
14. Lincoln Charter (23-3), 13
15. Gaston Christian (20-6), 14
16. Hickory Ridge (24-5), 15
*-denotes N.C. state champion
Previous Sweet 16 girls’ basketball champions
2024-25: Lake Norman
2023-24: Cannon School
2022-23: Salisbury
2021-22: Chambers
2020–21: Chambers
2019-20: Chambers
2018-19: Davidson Day
2017-18: Mallard Creek
2016-17: Providence Day
2015-16: Providence Day
2014-15: Myers Park
2013-14: Myers Park
2012-13: Harding
2011-12: Providence Day
2010-11: Salisbury
2009-10: Butler
2008-09: West Charlotte
2007-08: Concord
200-07: Providence Day
2005-06: Providence Day
2004-05: Providence Day
2003-04: Victory Christian
2002-03: Charlotte Christian
2001-02: Victory Christian
2000-01: Providence Day
1999-2000: Charlotte Christian
1998-99: Hickory
1997-98: Hickory
1996-97: Charlotte Latin
1995-96: York (SC)
1994-95: Freedom
1993-94: Bandys
1992-93: Chester (SC)
1991-92: Hartsville (SC)
1990-91: McDowell
1989-90: Providence Day
1988-89: Union (SC)
1987-88: Bandys
1986-87: Bandys
1985-86: West Caldwell
1984-85: McBee (SC)
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
