Friday’s girls’ high school rewind: No. 3 Mallard Creek rolls past No. 9 North Meck
No. 9 North Mecklenburg kept it close with No. 3 Mallard Creek for a little while Friday night in a girls’ basketball showdown between two of the area’s top teams.
But led by senior point guard Lili Booker, Mallard Creek pulled away in the middle of the second quarter and ran off for a 73-60 win that felt like a statement.
Mallard Creek has never won a state championship, but after adding Booker in the offseason to a team that was returning first-team All-Observer guard Elle Stone, the Mavericks started the season No. 1 in The Sweet 16 and looked like a state title favorite.
Stone got hurt early in the season, however, and the Mavericks stumbled, but since she’s been back, and Booker’s playing at the level she is now, Mallard Creek has looked like the team coach Karlyn Dixon expected it to be in preseason.
Currently ranked No. 3 in the Sweet 16, Mallard Creek won its eighth straight game since losing to nationally ranked Morris Catholic 59-49 in December. In fact, since Mallard Creek has gotten healthy, only two N.C. teams have been able to come within 24 points of the Mavericks.
The Mavericks beat Chapel Hill 60-51 on Dec. 29. Friday night, Mallard Creek won by 13 points but the Vikings made a big push late, after the game was pretty much decided.
Meanwhile, Booker showed a sold-out crowd at North Mecklenburg that she can score at all three levels — and play hard on the defensive end.
She finished with a game-high 25 points.
“I like playing in transition,” she said. “I like trying to beat my defender down the court. I knew I would have to sacrifice my body. ... It was about staying strong, taking those hits, and my 3-ball was on. Overall, it was a team effort. Everybody played great, and I’m happy we got the win.”
With four conference games left, Mallard Creek now has a two-game lead over North Mecklenburg, so the regular-season championship — and a strong playoff seed — are in sight.
Booker, however, said these Mavericks aren’t looking ahead to anything other than the next game — against Harding next week.
“We just have to look at the big picture,” she said. “We have to take it one game at a time and not disrespect anyone and not look too far ahead.”
Friday’s #BIG5 top performers
Latayshia Andrews, West Charlotte: Andrews had a game-high 21 points in a 68-21 win over Hopewell.
Lili Booker, Mallard Creek: Booker had a game-high 25 points, plus six assists and two rebounds in the girls’ game of the week at North Mecklenburg.
Makailah Davis, South Mecklenburg: In a 67-41 win over Palisades, Davis had a career-high 40 points. She made 8 of 15 3-point attempts.
Oshauna Holland, Stuart Cramer: Holland scored all 12 of her team’s points in the fourth quarter of a 40-38 win over South Point in a battle of the top teams in Gaston County. Holland finished with a game-high 28 points.
Blair Riley, Forestview: In a 69-37 win over North Gaston, Riley had 21 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and three assists.
Friday’s box scores
NO. 2 CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC 65, ROCKY RIVER 25
Catholic 28 18 8 11 – 65
Rocky River 4 6 9 6 – 25
Catholic 65 – Gracynn Gough 14, Blanca Thomas 10, Fava 9, McKain 8, McArdle 6, Kernodle 5, Farrell 4, Hoefling 3, Fey 2, Tucker 2, Shea 2
Rocky River 25 – Camille Montgomery 11, Nepay 6, Overton 4, Shannon 2, Jarrett 2
Records: Catholic 18-3, 9-0; Rocky River 6-13, 1-7
NO. 3 MALLARD CREEK 73, NO. 9 NORTH MECKLENBURG 60
Mallard Creek 16 25 19 13 — 73
North Mecklenburg 11 18 14 17 — 60
MALLARD CREEK 73 — Young 8, J. Stone 8, Elle Stone 15, Blosse 4, Lili Booker 25, Olivia Robertson 13
NORTH MECKLENBURG 60 —Shanon Hoover 16, Boston Bates 16, Fullenwider 9, Joesph 9, Knox 3, Rowe 2, Rivera 2, Reid 2, Pimentel 1
Notable: For Mallard Creek, junior Elle Stone finished with 15 points, four steals, five rebounds, two blocks. Lili Booker, a senior, finished with 25 points, a steal, two rebounds, six assists. Junior Olivia Robertson had 13 points, four rebounds, eight blocks, two assists.
NO. 4 CANNON SCHOOL 81, CHARLOTTE CHRISTIAN 26
Cannon School 26 25 17 13 — 81
Charlotte Christian 2 10 11 3 — 26
CANNON SCHOOL 81 — Way 4, Larkins 4, Love 4, Nakamura 5, Khloe Thompson 10, Brooke Busby 17, Maya Mccorkle 18, Kierra Morrow 21
CHARLOTTE CHRISTIAN 26— Piper Fair 11, Lee 6, Beechman 5, S. Fair 4
Records: Cannon School 18-7; Charlotte Christian 5-13
NO. 5 INDEPENDENCE 74, GARINGER 43
Independence 20 17 19 16 — 74
Garinger 8 8 8 19 — 43
INDEPENDENCE 74 — Kamryn Kitchen 20, Chloe Moss 14, Kaylee Carson 12, Jessica Worthey 10, H. Moss 9, Muhammad 4, Brimmer 2, Sellars 1
GARINGER 43 — Garris 26, Mitchell 5, Kelly 4, Dillard 4, Patterson 2
NO. 7 EAST LINCOLN 73, WEST IREDELL 17
East Lincoln 37 13 14 9 — 73
West Iredell 5 2 5 5 — 17
EAST LINCOLN 73 — Kiara Anderson 29, Emma Montanari 16, Neveah Atkins 13, Lane Pethel 9, Brooklyn Miller 4, Maddie Matz 2
WEST IREDELL 17 — K. Stroud 5, A. Smith 5, S. Bridges 3, G. Coppinger 2, M. Forsack 2
Noteable: For East Lincoln, Kiara Anderson 29 points, eight steals, five rebounds and five assists. Emma Montanari had 16 points, six rebounds, four steals, one assists and one blocks. Neveah Atkins had 13 points, four assists and a steal.
ELHS: (19-1, 10-0) Next Game @ Foard 2/6/24
WIHS; (1-18, 0-10) Next Game vs Statesville 2/6/24
NO. 11 HICKORY RIDGE 71, SOUTH IREDELL 39
South Iredell 5 14 13 7 — 39
Hickory Ridge 19 17 14 21 — 71
SOUTH IREDELL 39 — K. Johnson 12, Humin 8, Duchinski 5, Fink 4, P Johnson 3, Schramm 3, Winterhalter 2, Humphrey 2
HICKORY RIDGE 71 — M. Gidney 20, Leathers 14, Duley 12, S. Gidney 11, Watkins 9, C. Woodward 2, Ritter 2, Johnson 1
Notable: For Hickory Ridge, Miranda Duley had 12 points and 14 rebounds,
Records: South Iredell 6-14; Hickory Ridge 18-3
LEGACY EARLY COLLEGE 46, NO. 12 PROVIDENCE DAY 37
Providence Day 11 8 7 9 — 37
Legacy 12 7 17 10 — 46
PROVIDENCE DAY 37 — Jaida McClure 16 Ellie Fyans 11 UpDyke 2 Clark 4 Swinson 4
LEGACY 46 — Zhykeia Brown 20, Harvey 8, Smith 3, Hollaway 7, Williams 8
CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY 60, CHARLOTTE LATIN 55
Country Day 12 14 15 19 — 60
Charlotte Latin 9 13 12 22 — 55
COUNTRY DAY 60 — Margaret Blythe 18, Same Vanderhave 19, Bigham 8, C Smith 11, Turner 2, Melese 2
CHARLOTTE LATIN 55 — Tune 18, Roberts 10, Hume 8, Archibald 7, Nadeon 2, Hutchinson 6, Pietrowski 2
COX MILL 60, AL BROWN 41
AL Brown 8 9 11 13 — 41
Cox Mill 4 17 20 19 — 60
AL BROWN 41 — Robinson 5, Faulkner 10, Flood 15
COX MILL 60 — Jackson 4, Bellamy 16, Betz 3, Saranu 11, Farrell 16, Alexander 4
Notable: For Cox Mill, Lauren Farrell had 16 points, 16 rebounds. Kennedy Bellamy had 16 points, six steals.
FORESTVIEW 69, NORTH GASTON 37
Forestview 10 27 19 13 — 69
North Gaston 10 15 9 3 — 37
FORESTVIEW 69 — Blair Riley 21, Tralyn Phillips 14, Amani Neely 10, Thompson 6, Forgan 5, Springs 4, Baker 4, Anthony 2, Queen 2
NORTH GASTON 37 — Jaleah Littlejohn 21, Stinson 5, Thomas 5, Belton 3, Brown 3, Jackson 2
Notable: For Forestview, Blair Riley added 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Phillips had six steals, four assists. Miangel Thompson had six rebounds, four steals and four assists, and Morgan Folly had five rebounds, two steals.
LINCOLN CHARTER 78, PINE LAKE PREP 42
Lincoln Charter 28 19 17 13 — 78
Pine Lake 9 8 16 9 — 42
LINCOLN CHARTER 78 — Kallie Lusk 23, Tyler Beller 15, Claire David 11, Symphanie Stevens 9, Martha Guinle 7, Brenna Barbier 6, Taylor Riggenbach 4, Samantha Ayers 3
PINE LAKE PREP 42 — N. Mullen 20, A. Garrett 8, A. House 8, R. Blinkley 3, C. Greene 3
Notable: For LIncoln Charter, Kallie Lusk had 23 points, two steals and two assists.
SOUTH MECK 67, PALISADES 41
South Meck 17 23 9 18 – 67
Palisades 13 10 12 6 – 41
South Meck 67 — Makailah Davis 40, Kaitlyn Hensley 10, Brown 5, Williams
Hopewell 41 — Brooklyn Young 18, Brown 8
Notable: Makailah Davis’ 40 points is a career high. She made 8 of 15 3-point shots.
STUART CRAMER 40, SOUTH POINT 38
South Point 5 13 16 4 — 38
Stuart Cramer 6 11 11 12 — 40
SOUTH POINT 38 — Amya Graham 12, Claire Frank 11, Lexi Birtwistle 10, Maddie Frank 3, Lauren French 2
STUART CRAMER 40 — Oshauna Holland 28, Hadley Womack 3, Elia Barajas 3, Unique McDowell 2, Alana Franklin 2, Madison Lee 2
Notable: Oshauna Holland hit the winning shot with 1.2 seconds left and scored all 12 of her team’s points in the fourth quarter. South Point’s Amya Graham had her 18th double-double of the season (12 points, 13 rebounds)
WEST CHARLOTTE 68, HOPEWELL 21
Hopewell 2 7 7 5 — 21
West Charlotte 16 26 14 11 — 68
HOPEWELL 21 — Smith 2, Ehidestiner 2, Osbourne 2, Ringwall 2, Wallace 10, Luten 3 .
WEST CHARLOTTE 68 — Chakira Generette 10, Latayshia Andrews 21, Kenya Grier 19, Tionna Galloway 5, Paige Bowman 9, Roniya Simmons 1, Kendra Raymond 2, Amina Ripley 2
PHOTOS: Mallard Creek girls at North Meck
Wednesday’s box scores
CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC 55, SOUTH MECK 39
Catholic 17 5 15 18 – 55
South Meck 14 9 7 9 – 39
Catholic 55 – Blanca Thomas 21, Gracynn Gough 21, Kernodle 8, Fava 3, McKain 2
South Meck 39 – Makailah Davis 12, Brown 9, Hensly 6, Miller 6, Farah 3, Williams 3
Catholic 17-3, 8-0; South Meck 11-9, 5-2
MALLARD CREEK 89, WEST MECKLENBURG 22
Mallard Creek 25 13 27 24- 89
West Meck 7 6 7 2 - 22
MALLARD CREEK 89 — E. Stone 4, Lili Booker 16, Young 9, Biosse 6, Easterling 8, Jazmeen Stone 11, Olivia Robertson 10, Sydney McGuire 13, Tendall 5, Campbell 7
WEST MECK 22 — Madison Marshall 15, Thompson 3, Waters 2 Meadows 2
Saturday’s schedule
Saturday
CISAA
Charlotte Latin at Covenant Day (boys, 12)
Nonconference
Carmel Christian at Rabun Gap School (GA), (boys, 3:30)
Oak Hill (VA) Regional at Elevation Prep, (boys, 3)
S.C. Region 4 1A
Governor’s School at Great Falls (boys, 1)
Court XIV Classic (boys)
(at Hough High)
Flight 22 Prep vs. Huntington (WV) Prep, 11 a.m.
Minnesota Prep vs. Quality Education, 12:25
Charlotte Lab Prep vs. N.C. Good Better Best, 1:50
Hough vs. Winston-Salem Christian Regional, 3:15
BCAT (FL) vs. Winston-Salem Christian National, 4:40
S3 Academy (VA) vs. 1 of 1 Prep, 6:05
Davidson Day vs. Combine Academy, 7:30
Sunday
No games scheduled
