Friday’s girls’ high school basketball rewind: No. 7 Myers Park rolls past Porter Ridge
Not long after Myers Park’s girls’ basketball team beat Porter Ridge 62-44 Friday, Mustangs’ coach Barbara Nelson explained why it meant so much.
“It’s exciting,” she said. “This is the first time the girls have been past the second round in four years. It was great for all of us.”
Nelson, of course, is used to winning big. She has won nearly 800 games and nine state championships.
In 2014 and 2015, she led Myers Park to back-to-back state titles with a team so good that DICKS’ Sporting Goods invited the Mustangs to New York to play in a national championship tournament against other elite national girls’ teams.
State rules wouldn’t allow the Mustangs to participate, but it was clear who the queens of North Carolina basketball were.
Since then, Myers Park hasn’t fallen off much, putting together four 20-win seasons and suffering just one losing season. But this year’s group, at 26-2, has put up the most wins since Nelson’s glamour teams.
Friday, Myers Park led by 10 at halftime and busted the game open with an 18-10 push in the third quarter.
“We were us,” Nelson said, “whether that’s pin down actions, ball movement, getting others involved.“
Nelson’s team will play 28-1 Northern Guilford on Tuesday, and will need another big game from star Jerin Truesdale to advance to next Friday’s quarterfinals.
Truesdale had a team-high 17 points in the win over Porter Ridge.
“We want Jerin to touch the ball on every possession in high/low post, play the inside out-game, and she executed for us,” Nelson said. “We wanted to keep the foot on the gas pedal, focus on what we do well.”
Friday’s #BIG5 top performers
Alexis Shehan, Lake Norman: In a 72-46 win over Winston-Salem’s R.J. Reynolds on Friday, Shehan had a team-high 19 points and a team-high eight rebounds, plus five assists.
Elle Stone, Mallard Creek: In an 80-45 win over Mount Tabor, Stone had 22 points, seven steals and five rebounds.
Blanca Thomas, Charlotte Catholic: Thomas was named to the Jordan Brand Classic game this week. Friday night in a 58-33 win over Hickory Ridge, she had a game-high 22 points.
Jerin Truesdale, Myers Park: In an 62-44 win over Porter Ridge, Truesdale had a team-high 17 points.
Meredith Wike, Alexander Central: In a 41-33 win over McDowell, she had a team-high 16 points.
Friday’s box scores
▪ Includes Observer Sweet 16 rankings
NO. 1 MALLARD CREEK 80, MOUNT TABOR 45
Mallard Creek 19 20 22 19 — 80
Mount Tabor 9 19 11 6 — 45
MALLARD CREEK 80 — Biosse 6, Olivia Robertson 17, Elle Stone 22, Lili Booker 15, My’Asia Young 11, Easterling 7, Tendall 2
MOUNT TABOR 45 — K. Riddick 15, Fulp 2, S. Bailey 10, A. Hairston 16, McLean 2
Notable: For Mallard Creek, senior Lili Booker finished with 15 points, nine assists and a rebound. Junior Elle Stone had 22 points, seven steals, five rebounds. Sophomore My’Asia Young had 11 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals. And Junior Olivia Robertson had 17 points, eight blocks, five rebounds.
Records: Mallard Creek 26-3
NO. 5 EAST LINCOLN 53, FREEDOM 43
Freedom 12 10 8 13 — 43
East Lincoln 9 16 15 13 — 53
FREEDOM 43 — Sydnie Demiter 15, P. Caldwell 14, H. Gladden 5, A. Coooke 4, A Whitaker 2, C. Cunningham 1
EAST LINCOLN 53 — Kiara Anderson 16, Emma Montanari 15, A. Hege 8, B. Miller 7, T. Thomas 4, L. Pethal 3
Notables: For East Lincoln, Kiara Anderson (16 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals), Emma Montanari (15 points, seven rebounds, four blocks, three steals, three assists), Abie Hege (eight points, seven rebounds, two steals, two assists) and Brooklyn Miller (seven points, four rebounds) had strong games.
Records: Freedom 13-13; East Lincoln 28-1
NO. 6 CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC 58, NO. 9 HICKORY RIDGE 33
Hickory Ridge 5 8 7 13 — 33
Charlotte Catholic 9 13 22 14 — 58
HICKORY RIDGE 33 — M.Gidney 9, S. Gidney 8, Leathers 7, K. Woodward 3, C. Woodward 3, Duley 3
CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC 58 —Thomas 22, Gough 11, Kernodie 8, Shea 6, Fava 5, McKain 4, Tucker 2,
Records: Hickory Ridge 23-6 Charlotte Catholic 24-4
NO. 7 MYERS PARK 62, PORTER RIDGE 44
Myers Park 18 17 18 9 — 62
Porter Ridge 13 12 10 9 — 44
MYERS PARK 62 — Jerin Truesdale 17, Reese Wilson 14, Chayla McDaniel 10, LeXander 9, Lassiter 7, Barner 3, Thomason 2
PORTER RIDGE 44 — Ashanti Taylor 14, Olivia Burke 12,- Anna Scaldara 10, Blackwell 5, Williams 3
Records: Myers Park - 26-2; Porter Ridge - 20-7
ALEXANDER CENTRAL 41, MCDOWELL 33
Alexander Central 10 6 16 9 — 41
McDowell 13 5 8 7 — 33
ALEXANDER CENTRAL 41 — Jarrett 8, Herman 5, Meredith Wike 16, Adams 8, Jack 4
MCDOWELL 33 — Kensly Stewart 11, Joyner 7, Kimora Stewart 5, McCartha 3, Young 6, Wyatt 1
Records: Alexander Central 22-6; McDowell 23-6
EAST BURKE 72, SOUTHWEST RANDOLPH 39
East Burke 21 16 14 21 — 72
SW Randolph 9 11 6 13 — 39
EAST BURKE 72 — Kamiah Lawing 18, Braelyn Stilwell 17, Kara Brinkley 13, Ally Moore 10, Maci McNeil 6, Journi McDowell 6, Kassie Turner 2
SW RANDOLPH 39 — M. Strider 9, C. Ward 8, J. George 7, K. Martin 6, M. Allred 5, N. Parrish 2, G. Hodgin 2
Records: East Burke 28-0
LAKE NORMAN 72, RJ REYNOLDS 46
Lake Norman 14 23 19 16— 72
RJ Reynolds 6 9 19 12 — 46
LAKE NORMAN 72 — Alexis Shehan 19, Samantha Shehan 16, Kelsey Rhyne 16,, Addison Sirianni 7, Kendyll Moore 6, Adason Buoniconti 5, Kaylee Ellis 3.
Record: Lake Norman 25-2
LINCOLN CHARTER 53, RANDLEMAN 38
Lincoln Charter 10 12 17 14 — 53
Randleman 17 10 2 9 — 38
LINCOLN CHARTER 53 — Kallie Lusk 14, Martha Guinle 14, Claire David 11, Symphanie Stevens 11, Tyler Beller 3
RANDLEMAN 38 — A. Petty 15, C. Robinson 9, K. Green 8, C. Scott 6
Notable: Lincoln Charter’s next game will be Tuesday at against East Surry, time TBD.
Record: Lincoln Charter 23-5 (12-2 conf.)
