Prep Basketball Notes: Area teams had connections to state finalists

Randolph County teams had connections to teams in basketball state championship games last week at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

Northern Guilford won the Class 6A state championship in girls’ basketball. The Nighthawks are in the Triad Area Athletic Conference that also includes Asheboro.

Northern Guilford defeated Fayetteville Sanford 62-52 in last Thursday’s title game.

The Reidsville boys’ team, which topped Randleman in the East Region’s third round, made it to the Class 4A final, falling 83-68 to Salisbury on Friday night. That ended the Rams’ two-year title reign.

Other state champions were:

** Boys — Vance Charter (Class 1A), Queens Grant (Class 2A), Kinston (Class 3A), Gastonia Huss (Class 5A), Northern Nash (Class 6A), Southern Durham (Class 7A) and West Charlotte (Class 8A).

** Girls – Wilson Prep (Class 1A), Cherokee (Class 2A), Goldsboro (Class 3A), Maiden (Class 4A), North Lincoln (Class 5A), North Mecklenburg (Class 7A) and Mallard Creek (Class 8A).

Team accomplishment

The Wheatmore girls’ basketball team hadn’t won a conference championship in the program’s history until this season.

The Warriors claimed two – the Central Carolina 3-A Conference regular season and the conference tournament.

Moment to remember

Randleman senior Connor Cassidy rose his arm with a fist pump late in a January game at Eastern Randolph. The Tigers were clearly in control to win that night, but the situation warranted a reaction from Cassidy.

That came as his younger brother Aiden Cassidy, a sophomore, sank a free throw. It was his first varsity point.