Ardrey Kell boys, Vance girls among six area teams chasing NCHSAA state titles Saturday
The Vance High girls and Ardrey Kell boys have been two of the top basketball programs in Mecklenburg County for years.
But neither team has had the feeling of winning a state championship on the court, despite Vance wearing the moniker of “defending champion.”
That could change Saturday at Wheatmore High School in Trinity, North Carolina, about an hour north of uptown Charlotte, when both teams play in their respective N.C. 4A state championship games.
Vance will play Garner High at 10:30 a.m. Ardrey Kell will play Raleigh’s Millbrook High School at 6 p.m.
“We want it bad,” said Vance senior Amhiya Moreland.
The Cougars (11-0) qualified for the 2020 state championship and were set to play Southeast Raleigh, but the onset of the coronavirus pandemic forced the N.C. High School Athletic Association to cancel the championship game. The two schools were declared co-champions.
Vance, which lost in the 2003 state final, got the rings. Moreland said she and her teammates didn’t get the satisfaction that comes with winning that final game.
“We were upset about that,” she said. “Now that we can actually play the game, it’s going to be a good one.”
Garner (17-0) is led by junior Jerni Kiaku, a 5-7 guard who averages 26.1 points, 4.8 assists, 3.6 steals and 2.9 rebounds. Kiaku and Garner average more than 70 points per game.
Vance, which allows just 42.8 points per game, is led by Moreland (18.9 ppg, 6.9 ppg), a center, and senior guards Leah Barringer (13.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.4 apg) and Tanajah Hayes (12.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg).
“They are a good team,” Moreland said, “but we’re a good team, too. So it’s who wants it more at this point. I want it enough to beat them.”
Ardrey Kell chases rings, respect
In the past 14 seasons, the Ardrey Kell Knights have had one losing season. They have won at least 20 games in six of the past eight seasons. They’ve also won the past three conference tournament championships that were played and earned a berth in the 2015 N.C. 4A state championship game.
But the Knights feel like until they get a ring, they won’t be talked about the same way as some of other power programs in Mecklenburg County are.
“We feel that as a team a lot,” Elijah Gray said. “We have seen a lot of people doubting us since Day 1. We even got the No. 1 seed (for the western playoff draw) and people don’t think we are deserving of it. We went out and proved a lot of people wrong. This Saturday, we’ve got to do it one more time.”
Ardrey Kell coach Mike Craft said the key to his teams’ season — and to his 15-year career at the school — is the same thing.
“I think we’ve been really consistent,” he said. “Including this year, we’ve made the regionals six times and we’ve not been able to kick the door down. This year, we’re in the state championship again and maybe that conversation changes a little bit.”
Ardrey Kell (10-0) lost to Garner in the 2015 finals and will face another Raleigh-area team Saturday. Millbrook (18-0) is led by Louisville recruit Eric van der Heijden, a 6-9 forward who averages 18 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Redford Dunton, a 6-7 forward who will play at Purdue Fort Wayne, leads the team in scoring at 19.8 points and seven rebounds, and 6-4 junior Silas Demary Jr averages 17 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
Craft said his team has size — with a pair of 6-8 forwards in Gray and Peyton Gerald — but he said he doesn’t have stars.
Gray (15.4 ppg, 7.4 prg), Gerald (13.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and senior guard Knoah Carver (15.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.0 apg) lead the Knights in scoring.
Craft hopes his team-first approach can lead to that first ring -- and a move up into the elite echelon of Mecklenburg County teams, at least in the minds of some fans.
“It would be nice” to win, Craft said. “I think it would relieve some pressure because I want it so bad. I know some legends that have come through and not won one, and it would be nice to put that in Ardrey Kell’s trophy case and put up a picture of a state championship team....For everybody, I think it would be a really neat deal.”
3 regional teams play for titles
Two Observer-area girls teams — Shelby and Carson — plus Lincoln Charter’s boys also play for rings Saturday.
▪ Shelby’s girls are in the finals for the first time. The Golden Lions (18-0) are led by sophomore guards Maraja Pass and Ally Hollyfield and junior guard Kate Hollifield. Shelby (18-0) will play Farmville Central (14-0) in the 2A final at 1 p.m. at Providence Grove High School.
▪ In 3A, Carson’s girls (18-0) play Asheboro (15-0) at 6 p.m. at Providence Grove. Carson has four double-figure scorers -- senior Colbie Perry (14.9 ppg), senior Ellie Wilhelm (11.7), junior Hannah Isley (10.1) and junior Mary Spry (12.6).
▪ Lincoln Charter (16-2) will play Wilson Prep at Wheatmore High for the 1A title at 3:30. Lincoln Charter has won five straight games, led by seniors Sam Cogan (19.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 3.9 apg) and Troy Fulton (16.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg). Senior Carter Seitz averages 10.3 points and 11.2 rebounds. His father, assistant coach Jamie Seitz, died at 51 in December due to COVID-19. Seitz wears No. 22, the same number his father did in high school.
Weddington going for 3A title
Gary Ellington really thought this all could have happened a year ago — the Weddington boys’ basketball team he coaches reaching the 3A state championship game.
“But we had a bit of a flat spot in the season, and that cost us,” Ellington says. “The kids remembered that this year.”
So here they are, the Weddington Warriors — a team that some might have thought is still a year away from the title game that Ellington says might be a year late. And at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, they’ll face an even younger Northwood team for the 3A boys’ crown.
“That flat spot last season cost us the No. 1 seed in our conference,” Ellington says. “We really play well on our own floor, and I think that if we’d gotten the No. 1 seed from the conference, we might have been one of the top seeds in the tournament. That would have meant more games at home.”
The Warriors did well last season, reaching the regional final before falling at Freedom on a last-second shot.
This season there were no mistakes. Weddington is 17-0 and has routed most of its opponents.
State championships are nothing new for the school. The Warriors have won championships in football, baseball, soccer and more than a half-dozen other sports.
But this is a first for basketball.
Most of the team’s key players are sophomores or juniors, but Ellington says that is deceiving.
“You’re talking about a group of guys that have largely grown up together,” he says. “They’ve been playing ball together for years. They hang out together when they’re away from basketball. They know one another very well. You see that on the court. They know where one another is, without looking.”
— Steve Lyttle
How to Watch
The CW (WCCB 18.1)
10:30 a.m.: Weddington vs Northwood, 3A state final
1 p.m.: Shelby vs. Farmville Central, 2A girls state final
3:30 p.m.: Lincoln Charter vs. Wilson Prep, 1A state final
6 p.m.: Ardrey Kell vs. Millbrook, 4A state final
MeTV (WCCB 18.3)
10:30 a.m.: Vance vs. Garner, 4A girls state final
6 p.m.: Carson vs. Asheboro, 3A girls state final
STREAMING GAMES (on wccbcharlotte.com)
10:30 a.m.: Vance vs. Garner, 4A girls final
1 p.m.: Shelby vs. Farmville Central, 2A girls final
3:30 p.m.: Lincoln Charter vs. Wilson Prep, 1A final
6 p.m.: Carson vs. Asheboro, 3A girls final
