Weddington pulls away from Panther Creek, wins 4A boys basketball championship
It looks like the move from 3A up to 4A didn't bother Weddington's boys basketball team too much.
The Warriors capped off an undefeated season with a 76-58 win over Panther Creek to claim back-to-back state titles in the NCHSAA 4A State Championship game at the Dean E. Smith Center on Saturday.
Weddington has won 49-straight games dating back to last season, when it won the 3A state championship.
Senior shooting guard Kyle Frazier scored a game-high 21 points (5-9 FG, 3-7 3FG, 8-8 FT), senior point guard Chase Lowe scored 20 points (7-9 FG, 6-7 FT) and senior shooting guard AJ Cook scored 17 points (6-8 FG, 5-5 3FG) to lead the Warriors (31-0, 10-0 Southern Carolina 4A).
Weddington shot a red-hot 24 of 39 (61.5 percent) from the field, 10 of 15 (66.7 percent) from 3-point range and 18 of 22 (81.8 percent) from the free throw line.
Junior wing Amari Odom had 19 points to lead the Catamounts (23-7, 11-3 Southwest Wake 4A).
The Warriors jumped out to a 22-14 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to 10 points in the period from Frazier and 9 points from Lowe. Both teams slowed down offensively in the second quarter but Weddington managed to extend their lead to 34-23 at halftime.
That momentum carried into the third quarter for Weddington, as Cook caught fire and started cooking Panther Creek beyond the arc with four triples in the period to push the lead to 57-36 heading into the final period.
The Catamounts mounted a comeback effort with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 60-46, but the Warriors were able to seal the game from the free throw line, making 11 of 13 in the fourth quarter.
Prior to the game, Panther Creek's Jesse Powell II and Weddington's Jack Werdann were named their respective team's NCHSAA sportsmanship award winners.
