East Burke girls rout Forbush in 2nd round to remain county's last team standing

In the end, it was the East Burke girls basketball team once again.

The Lady Cavaliers (21-7) ran away from No. 8 seed Forbush on Thursday night, 63-38, to advance to the third round of the NCHSAA 4A state playoffs as the county’s last team standing for a fourth consecutive season.

But the team’s current postseason run — which continues today (Feb. 28) at undefeated No. 1 seed Maiden — is much different than the three previous ones because it’s fueled by so many freshmen after the team lost two generational-type talents in Braelyn Stilwell and Kara Brinkley.

That was never more evident than in Thursday’s thrashing of the higher-seeded Lady Falcons in East Bend, in which three ninth graders all scored in each period and combined for 40 points, nearly two-thirds of the team’s total.

Sarabeth Bradley torched the nets for 20 points, Frankie Gwyn added 11, and Kendall Spry scored a season-high nine.

“I look at all these other teams and it’s senior, junior, senior, and we are freshman, freshman, freshman,” East Burke 11th-year coach Crystal Bartlett said. “But they’re not playing like freshmen anymore right now. I’m so proud of how this team has responded every time they’ve been challenged by some kind of adversity.”

EB’s few upperclassmen contributed as well, with Addie Brittain (eight) and Belle Gwyn (four) scoring 12 of the team’s 21 first-period points as they took a four-point lead.

Belle Gwyn finished with 12 points and Brittain added 11 as four EB players hit double figures and five scored nine or more apiece.

The No. 9 seed Lady Cavs ran away to a 34-19 halftime advantage after allowing the hosts just two points in the second quarter, and the rout was on when the margin swelled to 52-28 after three periods.

The victory lifts EB to a third-round showdown at a Maiden team that the Lady Cavs topped three times last season by an average margin of 9.7 points and has defeated in 17 consecutive meetings dating back to 2009.

But it’s a Maiden team that also returned its top three scorers and welcomed in South Caldwell transfer Ava Anderson, who leads the Lady Blue Devils in scoring.

Bartlett said while it will be an incredible challenge, she’s looking forward to seeing how her team can perform against one of the state’s top 4A squads.

EB advanced to the second round by defeating No. 24 East Henderson, 45-36, on Tuesday in Icard, leading 19-7 after one period thanks to its fullcourt pressure defense and stayed on cruise control from there despite battling foul trouble.

Bradley scored a game-high 23 points and Belle Gwyn added 19, combining for all but three points of the Lady Cavs’ total.

3A GIRLS

No. 8 Polk County 47, No. 9 Draughn 40

The Lady Wildcats burst to a 9-2 lead in Columbus on Thursday in the second round before foul trouble fueled a 12-0 Polk run as it seized the lead for good and denied Draughn a third all-time third-round playoff trip and second in four seasons.

Draughn senior post Kenley Berry had two points and two rebounds in 25 seconds to start the game, then passed out of the paint to Mati Kincaid for a 3-pointer and a 5-0 lead.

But she picked up two quick fouls and was limited the rest of the way, eventually fouling out in the final minute with nine points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Berry re-entered after 8-plus minutes on the bench and Draughn rallied to tie the game at 17-all just after halftime and remain as close as 26-22 down late in the third quarter, when her third foul prompted more time on the bench and a corresponding 13-4 Lady Wolverines’ scoring run.

Draughn (20-9) got as close as 43-37 down with a minute and a half left but couldn’t get any closer down the stretch.

The loss spoiled a solid Jacey Davis 12-point, 11-steal double-double with five rebounds and three assists to lead the Lady Wildcats. Bailey Winkler added seven points, Kincaid scored six, and Taylor Holder scored four with seven rebounds and three steals.

Holder and Lindsey Hensley combined to defend Polk all-time leading scorer Bailey Staton and limit her to five first-half points, though she finished with a game-high 23.

Draughn had blasted its way into round two with the county’s only running-clock playoff win this year in 72-36 fashion over No. 24 Madison in Valdese on Tuesday.

Holder scored 23 and Davis had 21 in the blowout, with Berry and Kincaid adding nine each.

Thursday’s loss marked the final DHS game for Berry, Davis, and Holder, the three leading scorers from the program’s second 20-win season ever and first since the inaugural year of 2008-09.

6A BOYS

No. 12 Kings Mountain 65, No. 5 Freedom 58

The Patriots failed to advance past the second round of the playoffs for the fifth straight year on Thursday, falling to an underdog .500 Kings Mountain team at home after receiving a first-round bye.

Trailing by as many as 14 points on multiple occasions late in the third quarter, the Patriots (18-7) trimmed the deficit to 50-42 by the end of the period. Then a layup from senior KeAndre Davis off an assist from junior Jaden Watkins brought Freedom within six of the Mountaineers to open the fourth.

After the hosts got a steal and subsequent one-handed dunk from senior Kobe Johnson shortly thereafter to again make it a six-point game, Kings Mountain responded by scoring nine of the next 11 points as it built a 61-48 lead with 3:25 remaining.

Freedom had one final flurry left, however, as it countered with a 10-2 run that included two baskets each from Watkins and senior Daivyon Feaster-Hicks as well as a floater from junior King Johnson.

Feaster-Hicks’ second basket brought the Patriots within 63-58 with 28.5 seconds to play, but Freedom was unable to climb any closer as the Mountaineers capped the scoring with one free throw apiece from Silas Tate and Christian Jarrett down the stretch.

Kings Mountain junior guard Ethan Daniel led all scorers with 24 points, while Watkins finished with 15 points for Freedom to go with 13 from King Johnson, nine from Feaster-Hicks, seven from Kobe Johnson, and six from senior Amare Williams.

The Mountaineers led 16-12 after the opening quarter and 35-29 at halftime en route to handing the Patriots back-to-back losses for the first time since February 2024.

Leading scorer Kobe Johnson is among a seven-man Patriots senior class who ended their careers, along with Feaster-Hicks, Williams, KeAndre and Kaden Davis, Nate Surratt, and DeAndre Caldwell.

6A GIRLS

No. 14 Central Cabarrus 51, No. 19 Freedom 37

The visiting Lady Patriots (10-17) built as much as a nine-point lead in the opening half on Tuesday in Concord and pulled ahead by double digits twice in the third period, leading for the entire first 26-plus minutes.

But the host Lady Vikings put the clamps down defensively from there, not allowing a single point over the final period as they ended the game on a 24-0 scoring run to stun the Lady Patriots and end perhaps the most impressive streak in Burke County hoops history as Freedom was seeking a 20th consecutive year with at least one playoff win under coach Amber Reddick.

The Lady Patriot streak had included just four single-digit opening-round wins, and Freedom had opened the playoffs at home in all but one of the previous 19 seasons.

Just before Freedom went ice-cold for good, senior guard Cynica Caldwell had scored or assisted on 13 straight points as the guests took a 36-27 lead. Caldwell led Freedom with 14 points in all, also chipping in with team-high efforts of three assists and two steals.

Ava Cooke supplied seven points and six rebounds, Kaitlyn Hagmann made a pair of 3s for her six points to go with seven rebounds, and Alayhia Bates added five points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Jahnae Duncan scored 16 of her game-high 23 points after halftime for the hosts, and teammate Myajah Nix added 12, crossing the 1,000-point mark for her career late in the opening half.

After the first losing season of the former state coach of the year Reddick’s career — and one of very few ever for the FHS girls program — the Lady Patriots will graduate each of their top four scorers this spring: Caldwell, Cooke, Hagmann, and Bates.

3A BOYS

No. 15 North Wilkes 56, No. 18 Patton 53

The Panthers (15-12) battled the host Vikings for all four quarters in a nip-and-tuck opening-round contest on Tuesday in King but fell just short of earning their third postseason win this decade.

North Wilkes led 11-9 after one period and 22-18 at the half after a second frame that featured the identical scoring, then maintained a 36-31 edge entering the fourth.

Patton then produced the game’s highest scoring period as sophomore Kyle Taylor (eight), junior Olando Norman (six), and senior Nathan Waters (six) combined for 20 of the guests’ 22 points down the stretch, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Norman scored a team-high 16 points, Waters drained a game-high three 3s and added 15 points, Taylor scored 12, and Karson Kress added six in the loss, while Will Rhoades (20) and Trey Johnson (19) led the hosts.

The Panthers end on a two-game losing streak after having won a season-high four straight games.

Patton graduates Waters and fellow rotation regulars Brady Davis and Laine Barrier, though it’s set to bring back three of its top five scorers from a squad this season that won five more games than in 2024-25.

4A BOYS

No. 16 Newton-Conover 49, No. 17 East Burke 46

The visiting Cavaliers (11-15) fell behind by four points after the first period and never led after any quarter, though they also remained close the whole way in a narrow, season-ending loss in Newton on Tuesday.

East Burke, which was seeking its first taste of playoff success in 10 years, was led in defeat by junior guard Carter Bennett, who splashed in a game-high three 3s and scored all of his game-high 17 points in the final three periods.

Luke Demiter added eight points for EB, Lincoln Burns scored seven, Tyler Brown scored six, and RJ Williams had five, while Braxton Eckard (15) and Zay Derr (10) both hit double figures to pace the Red Devils.

The loss ends the Cavalier careers of seniors Owen Hartmann — last year’s leading scorer who played just four games before a season-ending injury — as well as starters Demiter and Rylan Bargsley.

EB finishes with an 11-15 overall record for the second consecutive season.

3A GIRLS

No. 10 Lincolnton 61, No. 23 Patton 39

The Lady Panthers (7-19) refused to lay down despite trailing 18-5 at the end of the first quarter on Tuesday in Lincolnton, rallying to trim the deficit to just 24-19 at halftime.

But they couldn’t muster another rally from way behind after the Lady Wolves hit them with a 29-10 third period en route to running away with the first-round triumph.

Patton sophomore Leah Clark scored 10 of her team-high 17 points in the second period as she brought her team back into the game. But Lincolnton answered by hitting three of its four total 3s in its big third period, when it also made eight baskets from inside the arc and four free throws.

Nyjaiviah Blake scored a game-high 23 points for Lincolnton, leaving Patton still seeking its first playoff win since 2020.

Post Hayden Hein and guard Melina Bernabe added eight and seven points, respectively, for the Lady Panthers, who will lose only Bernabe and reserve post Aniya Williams to graduation this offseason and welcome back each of their top three scorers in Clark, Mia Chapman, and Emma Rolland.

1A BOYS

No. 11 Winston-Salem Prep 74, No. 22 NCSSM-M 54 1A GIRLS

No. 13 North Stokes 55, No. 20 NCSSM-M 13

Both Dragons teams reached the postseason for the first time ever but lost opening-round contests on the road Tuesday evening.

The NCSSM-Morganton boys (3-19) trailed by eight points after one period and by 15 at the half in their loss in Winston-Salem against a Phoenix program that has won five NCHSAA 1A state titles over the last 15 seasons.

The Dragons’ Bransen Pittman shared game-high honors with 25 points, and teammates Nash Taylor (13) and Nate Gutschall (six) both connected on two 3s. Kwau Rainey scored 25 to pace three Winston-Salem Prep players who each had 18 or more points.

NCSSM-M graduates its top three scorers (Pittman, Gutschall, and Taylor) among eight total seniors.

Meanwhile, the NCSSM-Morganton girls (4-18) lost by a lopsided margin in Danbury in round one. No Lady Dragons’ statistics were available.