The East Lincoln girls and boys were both winners in the semi-finals of the East Lincoln Winter Jam Thursday (Dec. 29th). The boys had a close game, but the girls easily won their 11th of the season without a loss. The East girls beat Lake Norman Charter 71-32, while the boys had to go to overtime for a 72-67 win over the Knights.
Three of the East girls were in double figures, led by Hailey McFadden, who had 14 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Ginny Overbay scored 13 points, had 7 rebounds and an assist. Kiara (Kiki) Anderson scored 11 points,, had 5 steals, 4 assists and 2 rebounds. Madison Bissinger had 8 points; Abbie Hege and Madison Self each had 7. Hege also had 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot. Emma Montanari scored 6 points; Tatum Martin and Taniyah Thomas 2 each, and Kristen Legrand 1. The East girls will play Mallard Creek in the championship game Friday evening at 7 o'clock.
The East boys aren't undefeated; they lost that close game to Hickory earlier this month when the hot-shooting Red Tornadoes caught fire in the second half and the Mustangs went cold; but they are now 10-1 on the season after beating Lake Norman Charter in overtime. East led 34-28 at halftime, but the team from Cornelius cut that lead to four points in the third period and tied the game at 65-all in regulation. In the OT, East held the Knights to two points for the win, which puts them in the championship game Friday night at 8:30 against East Mecklenburg, who also had to go to OT to beat the Lake Norman Wildcats, also by a 72-67 score. It was the 11th win of the season for the Eagles, who--like the Mustangs--have lost just once.
Jackson Fannon led all scorers with 26 points; Houston Hartsell scored 12. Keandre Walker had 9, Davis Hill 8, Mason Simmons 7, Palmer Crichton 6, and Nathan Kuthan 4.
In other games Thursday, the Pine Lake Prep girls beat Community School of Davidson 45-44. They'll play the East Meck girls at 11:30 AM Friday. The East Meck girls beat Jay M. Robinson 39-34. The Hunter Huss boys beat their cross-town rival, the Ashbrook Green Wave, in another close game. They didn't go to overtime, but the Huskies scored 24 points in the final period to win 60-57. Ashbrook had led 38-36 at the end of the third period; the two were tied at 24-all at the half. Justin Ross had 20 points and King Rhodes 16 for the Huskies in the win. Huss will play Community School of Davidson for 3rd place in the tournament at 2:30 Friday afternoon. Community School of Davidson beat SouthLake Christian 53-43.
In an 'All Lake Norman' game Friday at 5:30, the Lake Norman Wildcats and Lake Norman Charter Knights will play for 3rd place in the boys tourney. The Lake Norman Charter girls play West Cabarrus at 4 PM Friday.
The Stuart Carmer girls have lost only twice this season--one of those losses was to East Lincoln. They beat West Lincoln's girls 53-39 Thursday night for the girls championship of the Peoples Bank Holiday Clash.
The West Lincoln boys staged a fourth quarter comeback in their game with Lincolnton, but the 22-14 final period surge wasn't enough as the Wolves held on for a 54-53 win. Neither team supplied us with any details; the West girls also provided no info on their leading scorers.
The Bandys boys beat Stuart Cramer 53-46. The Bandys girls beat North Lincoln 61-55. For the North girls vs Bandys game, we received photos of the scorebooks, but scoring totals for players weren't listed and we were unable to read the scribbled info.
The North Lincoln boys lost to East Gaston in the boys championship 64-48. We received no report on game but learned late Friday that McKaskill Rivers scored 29 points for the Warriors in the win over the Knights. We got no report on Knights scoring. North is now 7-3 on the season and will play at North Iredell on Tuesday (Jan. 3rd).
The Maiden Blue Dt Hickory had made its way to the finals with a 74-30 win over Fred T. Foard and a 43-39 win against Alexander Central. Foard lost to Bunker Hill Thursday 58-52.
The Maiden girls, the 8th seed in the girls tournament, finally won a game Thursday, beating Bunker Hill 69-40. They had lost to Alexander Central on Tuesday 68-35 and to Foard Wednesday 60-52.
Maiden's next games will be at home on Tuesday (Jan. 3rd) against West Caldwell. Foard will host Statesville in Tuesday games.
