It was Championship Friday at Alexander Central High School in Taylorsville and the host Cougars won a title and came up short in the other.
Varsity Men
Alexander Central 52
Freedom 51
The host Cougars led 27-24 at the half but fell behind by as much as 10 in the third quarter. It was then when the shots stopped falling and the turnovers starting mounting for the visitors from Morganton. The Patriots led 40-35 heading to the final quarter in front of an overflow crowd including a Alexander Central student section that was loud, rowdy, and down right terrific.
Freedom made their last basket from the field with 3:43 remaining in the game. The Cougars rallied by forcing turnovers ( Freedom had 17) and winning the battle on the glass 24-15. Tournament MVP Evan Presnell struggled through three periods but ended the night with 13. Avery Cook had 14 and Dusty Sigmon added 12. Freedom was fueled by Amore Connelly with 27.
NWC Champions and few of their friends
Men’s All-Tournament Team
Trey Ramsey- South Caldwell
Garrett Smargian- Hibriten
Philly Harris- Freedom
Amore Connelly- Freedom
Avery Cook- Alexander Central
Grayson Presnell- Alexander Central
Evan Presnell- Alexander Central (Tournament MVP)
Varsity Women
Watauga 39
Alexander Central 28
The Lady Cougars led 19-11 at the half but Watauga roared in the third quarter outscoring AC 16-3. Lady Pioneer freshman Kate Sears led Watauga with 22 points. ACHS was without leading scorer Chesney Stikleather who suffered a badly sprained ankle in Thursday night’s semi-final win over Freedom. Madeleine Jenkins paced the Cougars with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Watauga wil get the top 4A seed from the conference, they are 22-3. AC drops to 21-4 and will await their playoff matchup.
Women’s All-Tournament Team
Katie Woods- Ashe County
Christena Rhone- Freedom
Julianna Walter- Alexander Central
Madeleine Jenkins- Alexander Central
Brelyn Sturgill- Watauga
Charlotte Torgerson- Watauga
Kate Sears- Watauga (Tournament MVP)
Photo: Angela Stikeleather