West Charlotte, Hopewell take I-Meck conferene tournament titles

The West Charlotte boys' basketball team seemed like they would go as far as senior guard J.T. Terrell could take them. But in the second half of the I-Meck tournament championship game, Terrell played the decoy while his teammates led the way to a 75-70 win over host Lake Norman as the Lions earned the I-Meck tournament title.

Terrell had 20 points to lead West Charlotte, but got a lot of help from his friends, as Brandon Richardson (18 points), Jacoby Davis (14 points) and Anthony Estes (11 points) all had double figures to make a balanced attack.

"I really deferred to my teammates in the second half," Terrell said, who scored 16 points in the first half, but only four in the second 16 minutes. "I knew that I couldn't force anything, because we had a lead. My teammates did a great job of making plays."

Terrell made most of the plays over the three-game tournament as he had 44 points Tuesday night against Mallard Creek, 45 points against Hopewell Thursday night, totalling 109 points for the event (36 ppg). The Lions beat the top two seeds (Hopewell and Lake Norman), who are also No. 2 and No. 3 in the state, respectively, in consecutive nights.

The Lions (19-9) move into the No. 2 seed from the I-Meck with win, going into the playoffs, which could earn them up to two home games if they advance. Lake Norman slides to the No. 3 seed, which will force them to go on the road.

Hopewell remains the top seed because they won the regular season title.

On the girls side, Hopewell won the I-Meck tournament title 56-49 over Lake Norman. The Titans (21-4) earn the conference's No. 1 seed in the playoffs, breaking the three-way tie between Lake Norman, Hopewell and Mallard Creek (regular season standings)

The Titans got 20 points from Margaret Spaulding in the title game and 15 points apiece from Sharee Boyd and Hannah Early.