Friday’s boys high school basketball rewind: No. 2 North Meck ends South Meck’s season
North Mecklenburg coach Duane Lewis always expects a big game from McDonald’s All-American and Duke recruit Isaiah Evans.
But the Vikings also got a big night from junior Chadlyn Traylor in their 79-61 victory over South Mecklenburg on Friday night in the second round of the NCHSAA 4A Western Regional playoffs.
The 6-foot-7 Evans put up a game-high 35 points — five 3-pointers and a couple of powerful dunks — for fifth-seeded North Mecklenburg (26-3), which won its 13th consecutive game and its sixth straight over the Sabres since the 2008-2009 season.
Meanwhile, Traylor, a 6-3 junior guard, scored a season-high 25 points for the Vikings, helping to make up for the absence of injured senior Trey Maxwell III (the son of former NBA player Vernon Maxwell), North Meck’s No. 2 scorer this season at nearly 20 points a game.
“As soon as we got the news” of Maxwell’s absence for the playoffs, Traylor said, “we knew it was next man up. We’re prepared like this since September, before the start of the season. We knew that you’ve got to do what the game allows you to do, and whatever you see you’ve got to contribute.”
Peter Moye made three 3-pointers, all in the fourth quarter, and scored 24 points to lead 12th-seeded South Mecklenburg, which went from an 8-17 finish in the 2022-23 season to close out this season with a 21-6 mark under second-year head coach Christopher McDonald.
The win sends the Vikings on the road for the first time in this season’s playoffs, for a matchup against fourth-seeded Mount Tabor on Tuesday in Winston-Salem. The Spartans (24-5) advanced by beating 20th-seeded Mooresville 71-57 on Friday.
“Chadlyn is a very talented guy, and he can always give us more,” Lewis said. “He’s a great point guard for us, and he plays it the way he’s supposed to — he gets everyone else involved, and he’s really good in getting Trey, Ashton (Pierce) and Isaiah involved.
“But when we’ve had times when players were out because of injuries, he’s stepped it up. He has the ability to score 20 a game if we need him to. … He’s a high-level guy, but he’s in the shadows of Trey and Isaiah. But we need to have people step up for Trey now.”
North Mecklenburg needed the extra help Friday night, especially early in its matchup with the Sabres.
While South Meck never led, it managed to stay close with the Vikings in the first quarter — trailing 16-13 at the end of the period — and tied the game at 18-all on Will Rothacker’s 3-pointer with with 6 minutes, 26 seconds left in the second quarter.
But Evans followed with his second 3-pointer of the half 22 seconds later to put North Meck back on top, with Traylor scoring five points during a 12-4 run to close out the period for a 30-22 halftime lead by the Vikings.
However, North Mecklenburg — led by Evans and Traylor, who combined for 39 points over the final two quarters — stepped up its game in the second half.
The Vikings extended their lead to 54-39 by the end of the third quarter, and took their biggest lead (28 points) twice in the fourth quarter, the last at 78-50 on Traylor’s dunk with 2:23 remaining.
“We were only down eight at halftime — nobody expected us to be that close,” McDonald said. “We were looking forward to our defense tonight, and it showed up in the first half for us. But we got a little lackadaisical for us in the second half, and they made us pay for it.”
Friday’s #BIG5 top performers
Isaiah Evans, North Mecklenburg: In a 79-61 win over South Mecklenburg, Evans had a game-high 35 points.
Robert Magner, Pine Lake Prep: In a 67-54 win over Walkertown, Magner had a game-high 25 points.
Sir Mohammed, Myers Park: In a dominant 65-28 win over Ardrey Kell, Mohammed had a team-high 17 points.
Trent Steinour, Lake Norman: In a 100-77 win over East Forsyth, the 6-foot-10 junior had 27 points, 16 rebounds and 13 blocks. Steinour has offers from Clemson, Georgia, Penn State, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
Jaydon Terrell, Chambers: In an 83-43 win over Marvin Ridge, Terrell had 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists. He made 10 of 11 field goal attempts, including 5 of 6 3-point attempts.
Friday’s boys box scores
▪ Includes Observer Sweet 16 rankings
NO. 1 MYERS PARK 65, ARDREY KELL 28
Ardrey Kell 7 2 9 10 — 28
Myers Park - 19 18 17 11 — 65
ARDREY KELL 28 — Caden Caskey - 8, Delani Hammonds 4, Owen Wacker 4
MYERS PARK 65 — Sir Mohammed 17, Sadiq White 16, Bishop Boswell 13
Records: Ardrey Kell 20-9; Myers Park 26-2
NO. 2 NORTH MECKLENBURG 79, NO. 12 SOUTH MECKLENBURG 61
South Mecklenburg 13 9 17 22 – 61
North Mecklenburg 16 14 24 25 – 79
SOUTH MECKLENBURG 61 — Peter Moye 26, Slaton 8, Rothsken 6, Galehouse 5, Chugar 5, Howard 4, Porter 3, Houpt 2, Cesar 2
NORTH MECKLENBURG 79 — Isaiah Evans 35, Chadlyn Traylor 25, Young 8, Pierce 5, C. Evans 4, Matthews 2
Records: South Meck 21-6; North Meck 25-3
NO. 4 WEDDINGTON 56, BUTLER 51
Butler 18 5 10 18 — 51
Weddington 14 15 10 17 — 56
BUTLER 51 — Starnes 16, Showalter 13, Milligan 9, Badio 7, Grier 6
WEDDINGTON 56 — Grant Hamilton 26, KJ Younger 18, Aiden Cook 10, Ellyson 2
Notable: Grant Hamilton, a Roanoke commit, had 26 points and 10 rebounds as the Warriors moved past Butler and on to the Sweet 16 in the 4A playoffs. Weddington will host Chambers on Tuesday March 5th at Warrior Gymnasium at 7pm.
Record: Weddington 27-1; Butler 20-9
NO. 5 LAKE NORMAN 100, EAST FORSYTH 77
Lake Norman 20 21 32 27 — 100
East Forsyth 16 16 25 20 — 77
LAKE NORMAN 100 — Will Googins 8, Josh Yates 15, Santana Lynch 10, Taurean, Tre McKinnon 24, Nick Arnold 13, Grant Dryden 3, Trent Steinour 27
Notable: For Lake Norman, Trent Steinour had a triple-double: 27 points, 16 rebounds and 13 blocks. Tre McKinnon had 24 points, nine rebounds; and Josh Yates scored 13 points in the third quarter.
NO. 11 CHAMBERS 83, MARVIN RIDGE 43
Marvin Ridge 10 13 7 13 — 43
Chambers 29 26 16 12 — 83
CHAMBERS 83 — Ethan Smith 1, Markus Kerr 11, Malik McCotter 7, Tarris Bouie 16, Jordan Patton 7, Jaydon Terrell 25, Desmond Martin 7, Rahzere Anderson 2, Maurio Hanson 5, Jaylen Garvin
Notables: For Chambers, Jaydon Terrell (25 points, 10 of 11 FG, 5 of 6 3 PT; seven rebounds, four assists); Tarris Bouie (16 points, three assists, two rebounds) and Markus Kerr (11 points, 4 of 5 FG; eight rebounds, five assists, two steals) all had big games.
NO. 14 INDEPENDENCE 76, WATAUGA 51
Independence 19 16 20 21 — 76
Watauga 11 14 17 9 — 51
INDEPENDENCE 76 — Yancey Thomason 20, Kaleb Jasper 17, Lusemo Macharia 15, Alberga 8, Neely 7, Jasper 6, Johnson 2, Holmes 1
WATAUGA 51 — Jackson Pryor 16, Maddox Greene 13, Railey 9, Keller 8, Kohout 5
Records: Independence 20-8; Watauga 22-6
CORVIAN COMMUNITY 81, SWAIN COUNTY 68
Corvian Community 24 28 20 9 — 81
Swain County 6 17 23 22 — 68
CORVIAN 81 — Ricky Moore Jr 25, McCutcheon 9, Quarles 2, Milton 6, Jack Hudson 20, Johnson 2, Evans 2, Scott 2, Andre Jackson Jr. 11, Frey, 2
SWAIN COUNTY 68 — Josh Collins 17, Lambert 2, Reese Winchester 13, Druw Cody15, Josiah Glaspie 10, Frost 3, Scaggs 8
Notable: Corvian senior guard Jack Hudson recorded a double-double: 20 points and 10 rebounds. Junior PG Andre Jackson Jr. had one two: 11 points and 11 assists...Corvian hosts Mountain Island Charter on Tuesday in Round 3 of the 1A West State Tournament.
MOUNT TABOR 71, MOORESVILLE 57
Mooresville 14 16 12 15 — 57
Mount Tabor 21 20 15 15 — 71
MOORESVILLE 57 — Jalen Chambers 13, Nolan Ericson 12, Kyri Wilson 10, Bryson Demby 9, AJ Parsley 4, Eian Bailey 4, Dylan Clark 2, Dylan Leuthardt 2, Christian Wilson 1.
Notable: For Mooresville, Parsley had six assists and four steals. Bailey had seven rebounds. Clark had five rebounds and two blocks. Christian Wilson had two steals.
Record: Mooresville 18-10
PINE LAKE PREP 67, WALKERTOWN 54
PIne Lake 19 17 13 18 — 67
Walkertown 17 10 13 14 — 54
PINE LAKE PREP 67 — Robert Magner 25 Lucas Strickfaden 15 Wes Statzer 13 Ethan Morgan 7 Joseph Bruce 7
WALKERTOWN 54 — Wiley 18 Wilkerson 12 Turner-Scott 11 Tyson 5 Grady 4 Curry 4
Record: Pine Lake 21-8
