Thursday’s Rewind: Central Cabarrus advances to The Throne national championship game

Central Cabarrus High is heading to the national championship game.

The Vikings, who upset No. 1 overall seed John Marshall (VA) Thursday, beat Chicago’s storied Simeon High 65-62 in the semifinals of The Throne tournament in Atlanta Friday night.

It’s the first year for The Throne, which is affiliated with the National Basketball Players Association and is being held at the same time as the GEICO Nationals in Fort Myers, Fla.

Due to national high school rules, most teams at The Throne are not allowed to use their high school names or uniforms and are playing as club teams.

Central Cabarrus, wearing powder blue uniforms and playing as the N.C. Vikings, are gaining fans as their team of mostly 6-foot players are taking down much taller name-brand national programs. No. 5 seed Simeon, which has won seven Illinois state titles and produced NBA players like Derrick Rose, towered over the Vikings.

Despite the size advantage, Simeon got down big early, unable to keep up with Central Cabarrus’ high tempo style.

In the third quarter, Simon cut the lead to 8, trying to press the smaller team, and Central slowed down a little trying to break it. But when the full-court defense eventually game sped up, Simeon again had trouble keeping up.

The lead grew to 18.

In the fourth quarter, Simeon rallied again, cutting the lead to single digits several times in the final five minutes, but Central always had an answer. Chase Daniel, Gavin Bullock, Adriel Miller and star Jaiden Thompson all had big fourth quarter buckets.

But Simeon kept pushing and made just its second 3-pointer of the game with 42 seconds left to trim the lead to 65-62. Simeon had a shot to tie at the buzzer after a Central Cabarrus miss, but failed to get a shot off.

Central Cabarrus will play the Explorers (FL) in Saturday’s national championship game. That game will air live Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.

The Explorers are made up of players from south Florida’s Columbus High, a fledgling national power that features the sons of former Duke star Carlos Boozer.

Sophomore forward Cameron Boozer was named Gatorade’s national player of the year. His twin brother, Cayden, is another top prospect in his class. The Boozer have offers from schools like Duke, Florida State and Miami.

Central Cabarrus, which finished the season 32-0 and won the N.C. 3A state championship, is being coached by team parent Bronwyn Smyre Kent-Glover.

Her son, Desmond Kent, was MVP of the N.C. 3A state championship game and was named Charlotte Observer sixth man of the year. Kent-Glover was recently inducted into the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (GA) Hall of Fame.

Thursday’s HS Rewind

A look at Thursday’s spring sports action in the greater Charlotte area

Thursday’s #BIG5 Top Performers

Mathea Brodland, Hough softball: homered, doubled and had seven RBIs in a 16-0 win over North Meck.

Caroline Cannella, East Meck girls soccer: two goals, two assists in a 10-0 win over Rocky River.

Bennett Miller, Cannon School baseball: 3-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over defending state champ Charlotte Christian.

Jillian Phoebus, Butler girls soccer: three goals in 9-0 win over Garinger.

Brantley Truitt, East Meck baseball: double, triple in a 6-4 win over AL Brown.

BASEBALL

Cannon School 4, Charlotte Christian 0: Bennett Miller fired a three-hit shutout, as the Cougars scored a key CISAA victory. Tucker Kelley had two RBI.

East Forsyth 10, Myers Park 4

East Mecklenburg 6, A.L. Brown 4: Brantley Truitt led the Eagles with a double and triple.

Hickory Grove Christian 13, Metrolina Christian 4: Kameron Miller slammed two doubles and a single and drove in two runs for the Lions in their Metrolina Athletic Conference victory.

Hickory Ridge 7, Jesse Carson 0

Lake Norman Charter 4, South Rowan 2

Mountain Island Charter 11, Langtree Charter 2

Mount Pleasant 5, Cox Mill 4 (9 innings)

North Hills Christian 14, Statesville Christian 9

North Mecklenburg 17, Harding 2: The Vikings’ Jake Neville singled, doubled and tripled, scoring three times.

North Stanly 3, Jay M. Robinson 1

Piedmont Community Charter 4, Bradford Prep 3

Providence Day 11, SouthLake Christian 3: The host Chargers broke a 3-3 tie with eight runs in the fifth inning. Tyler Nee led the way with two hits and three runs.

South Iredell 10, Mallard Creek 4: South Iredell’s Eli Beekley had two hits and drove in three runs.

SOFTBALL

Anson County 6, Central Academy 3: Addison Crawford homered and drove in two runs for CATA.

Bandys 7, Lake Norman 1

Bessemer City 12, Ashbrook 2: Erin Moss and Ella Pursley each had three hits and two RBI for the Yellowjackets.

Concord Academy 15, Piedmont Community Charter 5

Cox Mill 7, Mount Pleasant 5: Tessa Autrey went 4-for-2, driving in two runs.

East Mecklenburg 15, Olympic 0

Greater Cabarrus Stallions 15, Sugar Creek Charter 0

Hickory Grove Christian 10, Queens Grant Charter 0

High Point Central 13, Gaston Christian 0

Hough 16, North Mecklenburg 0: The Huskies scored a lopsided Queen City 3A-4A victory as Mathea Brodland hit a home run and two doubles, driving in seven runs.

Independence 9, Porter Ridge 4

Legion Collegiate (SC) 12, Charlotte Latin 2: Talia Hawa scored both runs for the host Hawks.

Metrolina Christian 6, Charlotte Country Day 5: Country Day’s Mikenna Williams collected three hits.

North Iredell 8, West Rowan 6

Parkwood 16, Monroe 0: Jayda Davis had two hits and three RBI in the Wolf Pack’s Rocky River 2A-3A victory.

South Mecklenburg 3, Charlotte Catholic 1: The Sabres’ Taylor Barlow tossed a no-hitter and struck out 13, and Keira Ginos had two hits and two RBI.

West Stanly 21, Forest Hills 0

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Arborbrook Christian 9, Westminster Catawba 0: Asa Surprenant scored three times.

Butler 9, Garinger 0: Jillian Phoebus scored three goals, and Alexandra Dabrowiak and Tessa Repp each added two tallies.

Chambers 5, North Mecklenburg 2

Charlotte Latin 6, Wilmington (DEL) Padua 1: Dempsey McMahon and Ella Smith each scored twice for the host Hawks.

Concord Academy 2, Piedmont Community Charter 1: Savanna Stinson had a goal and an assist for the victors.

Covenant Day 4, Carmel Christian 0

East Mecklenburg 10, Rocky River 0: Carolina Cannella had two goals and two assists, and three other Eagles scored two goals.

Forest Hills 4, Monroe 1: The Yellow Jackets broke a 1-1 halftime tie for a Rocky River 2A-3A triumph.

Hopewell 10, West Mecklenburg 0

Hough 7, Mallard Creek 2: Hough’s Sarah Funderburk scored three goals, and Avery Rush added two goals and three assists.

Lincolnton 4, West Caldwell 0

Newton-Conover 2, West Lincoln 0

Pine Lake Prep 2, South Iredell 0: Goalkeeper Maddison Harris earned a clean sheet, and Avery Garrett and Maddyson Kerley each scored a goal for the Pride.

Providence 1, Charlotte Catholic 0: Georgia Aaron scored on a Bella Dragone assist, and the visiting Panthers improved to 5-0 in the Southwestern 4A. The cougars dropped to 3-1.

Queens Grant Charter 10, Lee Park Prep 1

South Mecklenburg 2, Marvin Ridge 1: Alyssa Mitcheau and Julia Grier scored for the Sabres, while Ella Fitterer got Marvin Ridge’s goal.

Sun Valley 2, Cannon School 1: Bella Kaplan and Nicole Kleyner each scored a goal and assisted on the other’s goal.

Weddington 4, Charlotte Country Day 1: Karly Connell’s two goals led Weddington.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle