It’s West Charlotte! Lions wear down Fayetteville 71st, win NCHSAA 3A state title
West Charlotte won its sixth N.C. High School Athletic Association championship Saturday, but the Lions fought themselves for it as much as Fayetteville’s Seventy First High.
West Charlotte won 83-75 after spending the first half committing lots of fouls and missing lots of shots and lots of free throws. Down 39-33 at halftime, West Charlotte had been outrebounded 23-10 and made just 11-of-19 free throws and 11-of-24 field-goal attempts.
But what kept West Charlotte in the game was some simply wicked defense from its guard trio of Landon King, Ollie Alford and Chadlyn Traylor.
And in the second half, when the Lions found their shooting form, the defensive pressure intensified and Seventy First simply wilted. For the game, the Lions had 14 steals and forced 19 turnovers.
“West Charlotte has a heckuva team,” Seventy First coach Tony Jones said. “They played with a lot of effort. We outrebounded them pretty well, but 19 turnovers isn’t really going to cut it. (West Charlotte got ) 24 points off of turnovers. Cut that in half and it’s a game. ... Our guys fought hard, but so did West Charlotte. I tip my hat to them.”
West Charlotte (22-9) needed the big defensive effort. It helped offset brilliant offensive performances from Seventy First’s James Scott (21 points, 10 rebounds), Xavier Tubbs-Matthews (22 points, eight rebounds) and Jared Davis (15 points, 10 rebounds).
“These young men fought in the end and that’s why we were victorious,” West Charlotte coach Jacoby Davis said.
But the Falcons, trying to win their first state championship since 2002, committed six turnovers in a third quarter when the Lions got the lead and struggled in the fourth quarter when the Lions extended it.
“I knew we were going to pull the game out,” Lions senior forward Chance Morrow said. “We wanted it more. We’ve been preaching about this since beginning of the season. And it clicked after conference (play). We’ve been saying it’s ring season, and we went out and got it.”
Down six at halftime, the Lions worked out to a 14-point lead late in the fourth quarter, sparked by Landon King (25 points, five steals), Ollie Alford (21 points, three steals) and Chance Morrow (16 points, seven rebounds, four blocks).
West Charlotte, which had lost in the 2019 final, won its first state title since 2011 and its first in the 3A class.
“I feel like I’m about to cry,” said Lions freshman point guard Chadlyn Traylor, who was voted The Charlotte Observer Freshman of the Year. “I wanted it bad. I talked to them all last night, talking about how bad I wanted it and we went out there and got it.”
Notes/Observations
▪ West Charlotte had never won at N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum until Saturday.
▪ West Charlotte junior center Donovan Raymond is having knee surgery to repair his ACL Monday, but he played Saturday for the first time in weeks. Raymond’s father, Damon, said doctors had told the family he couldn’t do more damage by playing. Raymond played 10 minutes and had four points, six rebounds, two assists and a block.
“He gave us all he had,” Morrow said. “He contributed to this win.”
Said Davis: “We didn’t know (he would play until) Monday or Tuesday. They were saying ligament may still be attached. Nobody could understand how we was running and jumping. We didn’t know how many minutes he would give, but he was definitely a big part of us winning.”
▪ West Charlotte’s Landon King was named championship MVP. For 71st, Scott was named most outstanding player. Morrow was most outstanding for West Charlotte.
PHOTOS: West Charlotte vs. 71st
Seventy-First 18 21 15 21 — 75
West Charlotte 12 21 20 30 — 83
SEVENTY-FIRST 75 — Dockery 4, James Scott 21, Xavier Tubbs-Matthews 22, Jared Davis 15, Nesmith 7, Green 6
WEST CHARLOTTE 83 — Raymond 4, Chance Morrow 16, Mahatha 8, Taylor 7, Landon King 25, Ollie Alford 21, Day 2
This story was originally published March 12, 2022 at 2:11 PM with the headline "It’s West Charlotte! Lions wear down Fayetteville 71st, win NCHSAA 3A state title."
