Friday’s girls’ high school basketball rewind: No. 6 Myers Park rolls No. 11 Ardrey Kell

Myers Park High’s girls basketball team, No. 6 in The Observer’s Sweet 16 poll, used a strong second quarter to get past No. 11 Ardrey Kell on Friday night, winning 64-45 at home.

Myers Park improved to 13-0 on the season and 2-0 in SoMeck 4A conference play.

“We always deal with what is in front of us,” Myers Park coach Barbara Nelson said. “We can’t do anything about the 13 games behind us so we might as well not sit on that. We can’t do anything but focus on next Tuesday. So, we stay right in front of us. We don’t talk about anything before and we don’t look ahead.”

Both teams struggled to find their rhythm in the first quarter, but once the Mustangs settled in, the second quarter was all Myers Park. The Mustangs outscored Ardrey Kell 19-7.

The slow start didn’t surprise Nelson, who has won nine state championships — seven at Providence Day and two at Myers Park.

“I think every game for us starts slow,” Nelson said. “We are trying to find our best matchups throughout the offense. We are really a defensive-minded, play-hard team. [We] let the offense come because of what you do defensively.”

On Friday, the Myers Park offense got going in the second quarter and that solid play continued in the second half.

Chayla McDaniel dished out a few assists and helped her team move the ball better. She also picked up the Knights’ best shooters every time down the court.

“Chayla is our do-it-all kid,” Nelson said. “She plays some point (guard). She plays some wing. She guards the other team’s best ball handler or best shooter. She is tough when it comes to defense. She is fast, she never quits and she never gets tired.”

McDaniel said her motivation is simple.

“Our motto is, ‘Stand on business.’ I thought we did that tonight. We worked on defense mostly and then the offense just kind of came to us. It is easy for me to find great people open because they are always running the court. So that is kind of what we stood on today.”

Friday’s #BIG5 top performers

Amya Graham, South Point: In a 43-20 win over York (SC), Graham had her 10th double-double of the season, scoring 10 points to go with 10 rebounds.

Kamryn Kitchen, Independence: In a 67-54 win over Providence, Kitchen, a junior, finished with 21 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals, playing in front of coaches from Kentucky.

Emma Montanari, East Lincoln: In a 78-14 win over Statesville, Montanari had 27 points, eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and a block.

Brooklyn Saunders, Butler: In a 64-33 win over rival Rocky River, Saunders finished with 34 points, six steals, five assists and four rebounds. The junior scored her 1,000th point in the game.

Caroline Swinson, Providence Day: In a 60-31 win over Legion Collegiate (SC), Swinson had a season-high 13 points, plus nine rebounds.

Friday’s box scores

▪ Observer Sweet 16 rankings included

NO. 1 LAKE NORMAN 73, AL BROWN 18

Lake Norman 20 26 17 8 — 73

AL BROWN 4 6 4 4 — 18

LAKE NORMAN 73 — Samantha Shehan 18, Kaylee Ellis 15, Kelsey Rhyne 14, Alexis Shehan 13, Addison Sirianni 10, Kendyll Moore 3

AL BROWN 18 — Yanni F 6, Armani B 4, Sadie F 3, Trinity R 2, Laci G 2, Emily D 1

Records: Lake Norman 11-1

NO. 4 MALLARD CREEK 97, HARDING 5

Mallard Creek 35 18 17 27 — 97

Harding University 3 2 0 0 - 5

Mallard Creek 97 — Elle Stone 15, Lili Booker 27, Sydney McGuire 12, Londyn Campbell 12, Alana Biosse 11, Young 7, Easterling 8, J. Stone 3, Burleigh 2

HARDING 5 — Walker 2, Roves 3

Notable: For Mallard Creek, junior Elle Stone finished with 15 points, eight steals, two rebounds and two assists. Senior Lili Booker had 27 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Senior Alana Biosse finished with 11 points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists.

Record: Mallard Creek 11-3, 4-0

NO. 5 INDEPENDENCE 67, PROVIDENCE 54

Independence 19 20 13 15 — 67

Providence 8 15 20 11 — 54

INDEPENDENCE 67 — Kamryn Kitchen 21, Kaylee Carson 18, Jessica Worthey 13, Chloe Moss 11, H. Moss 4

PROVIDENCE 54 — Delanie Hill 23, Lindsay Nolan 18, Whitten 7, Roberts 6

Records: Independence 11-4

Notable: For Independence, Chloe Moss had a double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds). Kaylee Carson had 18 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Junior Kamryn Kitchen had 21 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

NO. 6 MYERS PARK 64, NO. 11 ARDREY KELL 45

Ardrey Kell 10 7 13 15 — 45

Myers Park 13 19 16 16 — 64

ARDREY KELL 45 — Autumn Washington 21, Bryson McCoy 11, Burns 5, Gahn 4, Fleck 2

MYERS PARK 64 — Laura Lassiter 15, Jerin Truesdale 14, Amani Barner 11, Wilson 9, McDaniel 7, Thomason 4, Jimenez-Willis 4

Records: Ardrey Kell 11-4, 1-1; Myers Park 13-0, 2-0

NO. 8 EAST LINCOLN 78, STATESVILLE 14

Statesville 2 4 6 2 — 14

East Lincoln 32 16 10 20 — 78

STATESVILLE 14 — I. Reid 8, C. Ward 2, S. Davidson 2, J. Everhardt 2

EAST LINCOLN 78 — Emma Montanari 27, Kiara Anderson 23, Lane Pethal 12, N. Atkins 6, B. Miller 6, A. Hege 4

Notable: For East LIncoln, Kiara Anderson recorded a double-double with 23 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block. Lane Pethal had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and Emma Montanari had 27 points, eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and a block.

Records: Statesville 1-9, 0-2; East Lincoln 10-1, 1-0

NO. 9 NORTH MECKLENBURG 74, WEST MECKLENBURG 10

North Meck 22 20 16 16 — 74

West Meck 2 4 1 3 — 10

NORTH MECKLENBURG 74 — Boston Bates 20, Lenise Joesph 12, Reid 8, Knox 8, Rivera 8, Fullenwider 6, Rowe 4, Johnson 4, Davis 2, Smith 2,

WEST MECKLENBURG 10 — Brown 5, Meadows 4, Dawkins 1

Records: North Meck 11-3, 3-1

NO. 10 HICKORY RIDGE 54, MOORESVILLE 17

Mooresville 4 2 0 11 — 17

Hickory Ridge 20 15 15 4 — 54

MOORESVILLE 17 — Smith 14, Burgette 6, Stevens 2, Lowe 2

HICKORY RIDGE 54 — S. Gidney 13, Leathers 12, Duley 9, M. Gidney 8, K. Woodward 6, C. Woodward 5, Ritter 1

Notable: For Hickory Ridge, Sheree Gidney and Amaya Leathers combined for 25 points. Miranda Duley had nine points and six rebounds.

Records: Mooresville 3-9, Hickory Ridge 12-2

BUTLER 64, ROCKY RIVER 33

Butler 11 9 29 15 — 64

Rocky River 3 11 8 11 — 33

BUTLER 64 — Brooklyn Saunders 34, Park 9, Williams 5, Campbell 3, Hasson 6, Stitt 3

ROCKY RIVER 33 — C. Montgomery 10, T. Jarrett 10, Michael 8, Ne-Bantu 5

COX MILL 54, WEST CABARRUS 39

Cox Mill 16 7 16 15 — 54

West Cabarrus 8 11 6 10 — 39

COX MILL 54 —Jackson 2, Williams 10, Bellamy 3, Gibson 3, Betz 5, Farrell 18, Richardson 5, Petter 3, Alexander 2, Saranu 3

Notable: Fox Cox Mill, Lauren Farrell had a double double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals.

HICKORY 46, NORTH LINCOLN 44

North Lincoln 18 6 6 14 — 44

Hickory 17 5 15 9 — 46

NORTH LINCOLN 44 — Hailey Hagler 17, Ally Smith 12, Grice 8, Black 5, Karr 2

Notable: For North Lincoln, Hailey Hagler finished with 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Ally Smith added 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

HOUGH 70, WEST CHARLOTTE 28

Hough 24 27 14 5 — 70

West Charlotte 5 8 7 8 — 28

HOUGH 70 — Sophia Zoerb 19, Kate Breault 16, Chloe Galombeck 13, Jacquelyn Jakubecy 10, Ka’Leiya Jones 6, Olivia Puskarich 3, Grace Sabo 2, Abby Law 1

WEST CHARLOTTE 28 — Latayshia Andrews 13, Amari Brown-Hood 11, Kenya McNeill 2, Paige Bowman 2

Records: Hough 9-5 West Charlotte 5-8

LINCOLN CHARTER 61, PINE LAKE PREP 27

Pine Lake Prep 7 11 04 05 — 27

Lincoln Charter 17 11 20 13 — 61

PINE LAKE PREP 27 — N. Mullen 18, S. Chilton 6, L. Schwaba 1, H. Planner 1, R. Blickley 1

LINCOLN CHARTER 61 — Kallie Lusk 19, Symphanie Stevens 14, Martha Guinle 13, Samantha Ayres 9, Clarie David 3, Brenna Barbier 2, Taylor Riggenbach 1

Notable: For Lincoln Charter, senior Kallie Lusk lead all scorers with 19 points. Samantha Ayres, coming back after missing two games, had nine points. In the third quarter alone, Lusk had eight points, six steals, two blocks and two rebounds.

Record: Lincoln Charter 8-4, 3-1

NATION FORD (SC), EAST MECKLENBURG 38

Nation Ford 13 11 23 9 — 56

East Meck 14 11 8 5 — 38

NATION FORD 56 — Ariah Heard 30, Jalyn Bennett 12, Morrow 9, Barney 3, Washington 2

EAST MECKLENBURG 38 — MacKenna Weisner 11, Presense Downer 10, Darling 8, Ausman 5, Davis 2, Fakamus 2

Records: Nation Ford 10-5. East Mecklenburg 5-10

NEWTON-CONOVER 55, LINCONTON 37

Newton-Conover 20 12 16 7 — 55

Lincolnton 7 6 10 14 — 37

NEWTON-CONOVER 55 — Hadleigh Swagger 17, Sara Sain 10, Grayson Rowe 10, Jaylen Barnes 8, Mikayla Ferson 2, Ashton Rowe 4, Samiyah Hope 4, Emma Smith, Makenzie Patton

LINCOLNTON 37 — S.Rhyne 10, A. Armstrong 9, C. Tillman 8, C. Holland 3, D. Dyson 2, J. Smith 2, J. Williams 2, A. Connor 1, Johnson, Bynum, Cespedes, De los Santos

Records: Newton-Conover 3-9, 2-0; Lincolnton 3-9, 0-2

PIEDMONT CHARTER 63, VALOR PREP 10

Valor Prep 0 2 4 4 — 10

Piedmont Charter 15 19 17 12 — 63

PIEDMONT CHARTER 63 — Lyric Brown 14, Bree Phillips 10, Allasha Houser 9, Berry 8, East 5, Ballard 5, Faris 4, Cobb 3, Jones 2, Cammer 2, East 1

VALOR PREP 10 — McCall 4, Harris 2, Clark 2, Kerr 2

PROVIDENCE DAY 60, LEGION COLLEGIATE (SC) 31

Providence Day 16 11 11 22 — 60

Legion Collegiate 9 6 8 8 — 31

PROVIDENCE DAY 60 — Jaida McClure 12, Layla Clark 12, Caroline Swinson 13, Ramsden 9, Updyke 2, Ellis 2, Levine 3 Fyans 4

LEGION COLLEGIATE (SC) 31 — Kaitlyn Garvin 11, Amelia Williams 13, McMurray 4

Record: Providence Day 11-5

Notable: For Providence Day, Caroline Swinson had a season-high 13 points, nine rebounds.

SOUTH POINT 43, YORK (SC) 20

South Pont 9 12 13 9 — 43

York 7 8 4 1 —20

SOUTH POINT 43 — Claire Frank 12, Amya Graham 10, Maddie Frank 8, Lauren French 6, Lexi Birtwistle 5, Jossilyn Wallace 2

YORK (SC) 20 — Cooper Green 7, Amerianna Ingram 5, Reagan Harvey 3, Gracie Carroll 3, Marisa Reyes 2

Notable: For South Point, Amya Graham recorded her 10th double-double of the season: 10 points and 10 rebounds. Lauren French added 10 rebounds to go with her 6 points.

SUGAR CREEK CHARTER 47, QUEENS GRANT 22

Sugar Creek 12 16 10 9 — 47

Queens Grant- 8 4 4 6 — 22

SUGAR CREEK CHARTER 47 — Mallette 6, Allure Bishop 11, Anthony 7, Thompson 3, Infiniti Green 14, Chislom 4, Nabinett 2

QUEENS GRANT 22 — Tateo 2, Graham 7, T. Hartis 10 Little 3

Notable: For Sugar Creek Charter, Infiniti Green Led all scorers with 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

WEST ROWAN 80, CENTRAL CABARRUS 28

Central Cabarrus 9 5 10 4 — 28

West Rowan 20 21 18 21 — 80

CENTRAL CABARRUS 28 — Duncan 9, Lewis 8, Cruz 2 Burton 2, Kassidy 2, Pickett 1

WEST ROWAN 80 — Demiya Phifer 18, Tiara Thompson 16, Emily Clark 15, L Arnold 15

WESTMINSTER CATAWBA 38 GRACE ACADEMY (MATTHEWS) 33

Westminster Catawba 8 4 15 11 — 38

Grace Academy 8 5 11 9 — 33

WESTMINSTER CATAWBA 38 — Colclough Graham 2, Bella Sherer 2, Leah Ross 5, Natalia Salas 6, Caidyn Campbell 6, Myana Fore 17

GRACE ACADEMY 33 — A Tyson 4, J Simonelli 2, E Anderson 4, M Helms 3, A Miller 3, K Pressley 17

Records: Westminster Catawba 11-6

Thursday’s box score

SOUTH MECKLENBURG 84, HOPEWELL 8

South Meck 15 24 28 17 — 84

Hopewell 1 4 0 3 — 8

SOUTH MECKLENBURG 84 — Makailah Davis 32, Kaitlyn Hensley 20, Brown 12, Williams 8, Farah 8, Holland 2

HOPEWELL 8 — June Wallace 5

Notable: Makailah Davis’ 32 points gave her 1,000 points for her career. She added 13 steals. Kaitlyn Hensley had a career-high 20 points, adding 7 steals.. South Meck will play at Richmond Senior on Saturday.

Saturday’s key games

Saturday

(Boys) No. 10 South Mecklenburg (13-0) at Richmond Senior (7-4), 2 p.m. – The Sabres get their toughest test so far, facing a team that lost to Myers Park in a 4A state championship last season. UNC commit Paul McNeil Jr., a 6-6 senior, leads the Raiders with 29.6 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. This game is a chance for Sabres senior Peter Moye to show his stuff. Moye is averaging 22 points a game and shooting 59 percent from the floor.

(Boys) Queen City Hoops Classic, at West Charlotte High, begins at 1 p.m. – A six-game slate of boys’ games begins with Berry Academy facing Hemingway (SC). The final pits the host Lions of West Charlotte against powerful Victory Christian.

The picks

This weekend’s schedule

Saturday

Nonconference

Andrew Jackson (SC) vs. Wilson Hall (SC), at Florence Wilson High, 2:30 (boys)

Clover vs. Mauldin (SC), in Prep Hoops Showcase at Gaffney, 2:30 (boys)

Combine Academy National and United Faith Christian in Chance Harman Classic, at Willis, VA (boys)

Heathwood Hall (SC) at Charlotte Latin (girls, 12:30; boys, 2)

Lincoln Charter at Forsyth Country Day, 1 (girls)

Lincoln Charter vs. Winston-Salem Christian, at Forsyth Country Day, 7 (boys)

North Raleigh Christian at Charlotte Christian (girls, 12:30; boys, 2)

Northside Christian vs. Compass Prep (AZ), at Atlanta, 1 (girls)

Providence Day vs. Cape Fear Academy, at Fayetteville Academy, 3:30 (boys)

Ravenscroft School at Charlotte Country Day (girls, noon; boys, 1:30)

United Faith Christian at Word of God, 3:30 (girls)

Westminster Catawba at Berean Baptist (girls, 3:30; boys, 5)

Queen City Hoops Classic (boys)

(at West Charlotte High)

Berry Academy vs. Hemingway (SC), 1

Elevation Prep vs. Bull City Prep, 2:30

Corvian Community vs. Sun Valley, 4

Charlotte Lab Prep vs. Carolina Basketball Academy, 5:30

Winston-Salem Christian vs. Cardinal Newman (SC), 7

West Charlotte vs. Victory Christian, 8:30

Sunday

No games scheduled

PHOTOS: Ardrey Kell girls at Myers Park