Lake Norman wins state title

By Langston Wertz Jr.

Charlotte Observer.

Lake Norman won its first state boys' basketball championship Saturday courtesy of a furious finish.

The Wildcats beat previously unbeaten Fayetteville Sanford 63-46 at Reynolds Coliseum. Sanford, which tied its lowest point total of the season, scored only 15 points in the second half. Sanford scored five points in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs (31-1) led 39-34 with 1 minute, 39 seconds to go in the third quarter, but was outscored 29-7 the rest of the game.

Sanford shot only 27 percent in the second half and made just 5-of-13 free throws.

"I'm at a loss for words," said Lake Norman coach Brandon Jolly, whose team finished the season at 25-3. "It's something special. These guys have worked so hard. They deserve it and I'm so proud of them."

Jolly's team started the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run, running out to a 50-41 lead with 3:54 to play. Sanford managed only six shot attempts the rest of the way, making only two.

"We're all very disappointed," Sanford coach Bill Boyette said. "However, when I look at what these young men and our basketball team has done for Terry Sanford High School and what it's done for our community, I somehow ... smile. "

Sanford got 13 points and five rebounds from point guard Chris Wilson and 11 points and 7 rebounds from Robert Carpenter.

Lake Norman was led by 20 points and three rebounds from senior guard Reggie Price and 18 points and 8 rebounds from championship MVP Paul Larsen.

Price said the difference in the game was an adjustment his team made at halftime, going to a pressure defense they call "50 Plus."

"They really started getting fidgety," Price said, "and they started turning the ball over. As soon as they did, I thought we had them."

Sanford's Boyette said he was disappointed that his team missed five straight free throws late in the third quarter and early in the fourth as Lake Norman was pulling away.

"We missed on some critical possessions," he said, "and this was stunning to me, but we had three straight defensive possessions where I'm not so sure we knew who we were guarding. That never happens to us. I thought that was the difference in the game."