Going Back one year in Time:Let’s look back at what Northern Guilford and Northwest Guilford did in their 2017 NCHSAA Girls Basketball Championship Games

Sometimes it is fun to go back in time and see what the Guilford County teams did the last time around, when both Northern Guilford and Northwest Guilford were playing for NCHSAA Girls State Titles, back in 2017, with Northern Guilford in Chapel Hill and Northwest Guilford in, Raleigh…
from www.nchsaa.org:

3A Women: Northern Guilford nips Hickory Ridge 66-64

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Northern Guilford returned to the
3A State Championship game for the second year in a
row and held on to beat Hickory Ridge 66-64, reversing
the heartbreak of one year ago and claiming the
school’s first Women’s Basketball State Championship.

Northern Guilford trailed by as many as 12 points in
the first half as Hickory Ridge came out on fire, shooting
better than 50% from the floor in the first half. The
Lady Bulls led by eight at the intermission.

Northern Guilford regrouped at the half and got an
incredible performance from Elissa Cunane who scored
24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to complete her
double-double. Cunane was named the Kay Yow Most
Valuable Player of the Game. She was one block shy of
a triple-double with nine when she fouled out of the
game with 1:30 to go and the Nighthawks up 63-54.

With Cunane out of the game, Deja Neal went to work
for the Lady Bulls, scoring six in a 7-0 Hickory Ridge
run to cut the Northern advantage to just two with 24
seconds remaining. Northern Guilford got a run-out lay
in from Kassie Robakewicz to extend the lead back to
four before Neal would trim the lead back to two with a
pair of free throws with nine seconds to play at 65-63.

Northern Guilford’s Kelly Lomax converted one of her
two free throws with eight seconds to play and when
Hickory Ridge’s Nia Daniel was fouled with two seconds
to play, she hit the first free throw to trim the
Nighthawk lead to two at 66-64. Daniel intentionally
missed the second free throw and the Lady Bulls
grabbed the rebound but Sydney Miller could not get
a shot off as she was stripped by Northern Guilford’s
Janelle Henderson to seal the victory and hand the
Lady Bulls their first loss of the season.

Robakewicz finished in double figures with 14 points
and four rebounds to go with a pair of assists. Mercedes
Wampler was also in double figures with 10
points, a pair of assists and two steals.

Hickory Ridge had three players in double figures with
Gabby Smith leading the way with her 15 points, three
rebounds and four steals. Daniel added 13 with nine
rebounds and Jiera Shears chipped in 12 points with
three steals and a pair of assists.

Northern Guilford finished the season 31-1, champions
of the Mid-State 3A Conference where they were 16-0.
The Nighthawks won the Eastern Regional for the second
straight year and claimed their first State Championship
in Women’s Basketball.

4A Women: NW Guilford fights past SE Raleigh 36-34 to win school’s first WBB State Championship

RALEIGH, N.C. – Northwest Guilford is used to close
scoring big games, and the experience paid off as the
Vikings held off Southeast Raleigh for a hard-fought
36-34 victory. The win was the first state championship
victory for the Vikings Women’s Basketball program.

Tamia Davis had a stick-back two with 13 seconds remaining
to draw Southeast Raleigh within two late, but
the Bulldogs couldn’t get the bucket to tie or take the
lead on the final possession as a shot from Tamia Hicks
fell short at the final horn.

The two teams battled hard defensively, as Southeast
Raleigh outscored Northwest 14-9 in the second quarter
to take a five-point lead. Northwest flipped the
script in the third, as the Vikings knotted the score up
headed to the final frame by outscoring the Bulldogs
9-4 in the third.

Sophomore Elizabeth Kitley had a double-double with
15 points and ten rebounds helping her to be named
the Kay Yow Most Valuable Player of the game. Her ten
rebounds helped give Northwest a 35-30 advantage on
the glass.

Cayla King was named Northwest Guilford’s Most
Outstanding Player and was the only other Viking in
double figures with 16 points. She was 11 of 12 from
the free throw line and had seven rebounds to go with
three assists and two steals.

Southeast Raleigh was led by Tamia Hicks who scored
13 points to lead the Bulldogs while grabbing four rebounds
and blocking three shots. Hicks was named the
Bulldogs Most Outstanding Player. Jada McMillian was
the only other Southeast Raleigh player in double digits
with 12 points on the day.

The Bulldogs finished the year at 32-1 and were 14-0
in the Greater Neuse River 4A Conference where they
were the champions for the ninth year in a row. They
won the school’s fourth Eastern Regional Championship
this year.

Northwest Guilford finished the season 30-2 on the
year, winners of the Piedmont Triad 4A Conference
where they were a perfect 10-0. The Vikings won the
Western Regional final for the second straight year and
grabbed their first state championship in Women’s
Basketball with the victory.