Cresset Christian wins first NCISAA title in any sport, downs Northside Christian for 1A girls basketball title

They started four freshmen.

They had never won an N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association title — in any sport, actually.

They were facing an opponent that they lost to earlier in the year for the 1A girls basketball title.

They were seeded fifth, putting them on the road in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

But none of it mattered on Friday for Cresset Christian.

The Eagles led practically wire-to-wire, holding on at the end of its title game to win 48-45 over Northside Christian and make some school history in the process.

Cresset (20-2) led 25-16 at halftime following a dominant 14-6 first quarter in the game hosted by Ravenscroft School. The lead stayed around double digits for most of the second half until the Eagles lost one of their four freshmen starters — Lamiyah Jarrett — to her fifth foul with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles scored just seven points the rest of the way, but it was enough. Northside Christian was down four with less than a minute to go and made a layup, then stole the inbounds pass and missed a jumper that would've tied it. They fouled Cresset's Trinity Jefferson (another freshman) with 3.8 seconds left.

Jefferson missed the first, but made the second to push the lead to three. Northside didn't get a shot off to tie it.

The Eagles' only two losses on the year came to state finalists, with one being Northside Christian (Grace Christian of Sanford in 3A was the other).

Northside Christian (17-11) was led by JaKaila Gaskin's 19 points.

Jefferson had 17 for the Eagles, who also got 15 from Jarrett.

Scoring Summary

Cresset Christian: Trinity Jefferson 17, Jada Bryant 8, Annabella Vuelta 3, Lamiya Jarrett 15, Kyndall English 5

Northside Christian: Amani Womack 2, JaKaila Gaskin 19, Brianna Carelock 6, Gabrielle Golphin 3, Courtney Ashford 7, Laylah Toscano 8