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2A GIRLS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP:

North Pitt 35, East Burke 29 

WEST REGION GIRLS 2A:

East Burke 48, Lincoln Charter 39

Two three-point goals to start tne game set the stage for East Burke's 31st victory of the 2023-2024 season and propelled the unbeaten Burke County team to the NCHSAA girls 2A basketball championship on Saturday against North Pitt.

For East Burke, it was the third trip to the West Region championship; they lost in 2017 and again last year, but this year they led almost start to finish. Junior guard Braelyn Stilwell scored 27 points to lead her team; she was their only player in double figures. She shot 2-for-3 from three-point range and was 9-for-10 from the foul line. She also had four steals, four rebounds and two assists. 

With her team trailing briefly 11-8 at the end of the first period, Stilwell's performance in the second quarter was especially impressive. She scored 12 of the 17 East Burke points in the second, going on her own 10-0 run, giving her team a 23-14 halftime lead.

East Burke led by 11 late in the third period, but LCS cut the lead to four at 40-36 with two minutes left. 

For Coach Bartlett, a 1996 East Burke graduate, the win was especially sweet. “I went to East Burke; my father was a coach,” Bartlett said. 

The loss by Lincoln Charter's girls ended a post-season run in which the Eagles, who finished second in the Catawba Shores Conference with a 12-2 league record, won their first through fourth round games before falling in the West Region championship.

After the Eagles cut the lead to four points with 2:24 left to play, they had to foul to get the ball, and East Burke made eight consecutive free throws with 1:06 left. 

Claire David and Kallie Lusk each scored six points for Lincoln Charter; Tyler Beller and Martha Guinle each had five.

East Burke lost its try for its first state championship against North Pitt Friday night. The Panthers finished 29-3 winning 22 games in a row.  The loss was the only one of the season for East Burke.

Lincoln Charter finished with a 25-6 record.

3A GIRLS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP:

West Rowan 64, Terry Sanford 52

For the second year in a row, the team that eliminated the East Lincoln girls in the 3A playoffs won the state championship on Saturday.  West Rowan beat Terry Sanford High School from Fayetteville 64-52 for their second straight title.  

The Falcons outscored the Bulldogs 23-14 in the fourth quarter.

They had beaten East Lincoln 55-42 in the fourth round of the playoffs, then downed #1 seed A.C. Reynolds 66-54 in the West Region championship.

3A BOYS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP:

Central Cabarrus 90, Fayetteville 71st 62

While Hickory didn't make it to the championship game, they may be right to claim they were the second best 3A boys team in the state.  Central Cabarrus finished undefeated, winning their 33rd game for the state title with an easy win over Fayetteville 71st.

WEST REGION 3A BOYS:

Central Cabarrus 97, Hickory 78

Hickory, champs of the Western Foothills Conference,  lost for the first time on Tuesday (March 12th).  In a battle of unbeaten teams, the Red Tornadoes (with the loss 31-1) fell to Central Cabarrus (who improved to 32-0 going into Friday night's (March 15th) 3A boys championship against 71st High School from Fayetteville.  

WEST REGION 2A BOYS:

Reidsville 76, Salisbury 72

In the 2A boys championship, #1 West seed Reidsville, the team that eliminated Lincolnton from the playoffs, will play Farmville Central, the East Region champs, Saturday evening for the state title. The Rams beat Salisbury to win the West Region title; they had earlier eliminated #23 seed Bandys and #15 seed Lincoln Charter from the boys playoffs. 

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