The Wildcats will host Wichita State, and former Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall, as part of the ESPN Sears BracketBusters. The Shockers, of the Missouri Valley Conference, were 22-4 and ranked No. 24 in the nation entering a game with Missouri State Wednesday.
Davidson was 19-6 overall and 13-2 in the Southern Conference entering Wednesday's home game with Samford, the first SoCon team to beat the Wildcats this year (77-74 on Jan. 28).
Davidson went 1-1 on its road trip to Charleston last week, beating The Citadel 77-66 last Thursday before falling 86-78 to the College of Charleston two days later. De'Mon Brooks, a former Hopewell High standout, led Davidson with 26 points against The Citadel and 25 against Charleston.
Entering Wednesday, the Wildcats held a two-game lead over second-place Georgia Southern in the SoCon South.
After Wichita State, Davidson has a Feb. 23 home game with Elon and a Feb. 25 road game at Georgia Southern left on its regular season schedule. The SoCon tournament is set for March 2-5 in Asheville.
Bruce is Carolina-bound
Cornelius resident Vicky Bruce, who attends Cannon School, recently signed with the University of North Carolina's soccer program. Bruce is a two-time all-state selection at Cannon and is a team captain entering this season. An Olympic Development Program player, Bruce can play midfielder, forward and center back. She missed the last high school season with an injury.
Viking boys finish second in I-Meck
They couldn't do anything about West Charlotte's tiebreaker advantages for this week's I-Meck Conference tournament or next week's state playoffs, but the North Meck boys' basketball team entered last Thursday night's final regular season game at Hopewell with the hope of tying the Lions for first place in the eight-team league.
North needed to win and needed West Charlotte, which swept the Vikings this year, to lose.
"I felt like we still had a lot to play for," said North coach Duane Lewis.
The Vikings did their part, charging past Hopewell in the second half for a 69-52 road win. And the Vikings nearly got an assist from Vance, which pushed West Charlotte before falling 57-55.
At the end of the night and the end of the regular season, the Vikings found themselves in second place with an 11-3 league record and a 20-4 overall mark. That's not bad, said Lewis.
"If you win 20 games in a regular season, you've had a great season," he said. "But we don't want to rest on that."
Viking point guard Shivaughn Wiggins led the way, scoring 17 of his 22 points in the second half. He also made his way to the foul line often, converting 9-of-12 free throws.
Post player Josh Stepoli had one of his best games in a Viking uniform, matching Wiggins' 22 and pulling down 10 boards.
In the I-Meck tournament's first round Monday, North beat Lake Norman 68-49 to improve to 21-4. but the Vikings lost 71-56 to Mallard Creek in Wednesday's semifinals.
Hopewell finished sixth in the I-Meck with a 4-10 league record. The Titans (6-18 overall) lost to Mallard Creek 51-36 Monday in the I-Meck tourney. Jordan Burgess scored 17 for Hopewell. Tyrone Curry finished the year as Hopewell's leading scorer with 10 points per game.
Hough, at 2-7 in league play, tied Lake Norman for seventh in the I-Meck, but lost Monday to West Charlotte 83-62, ending its season 7-18 overall.
In other tournament action this week, SouthLake and Lake Norman Charter each took first-round losses. LNC fell to North Lincoln 51-49 Monday in the Southern Piedmont Conference tourney, while SouthLake lost 55-48 to Hickory Grove Tuesday.
North's Moore takes third at state meet
North Meck High's Sabrina Moore posted a time of 7.09 seconds and took third place in the girls' 55-meter dash at last weekend's indoor track state championships.
Moore's performance was one of three top-10 finishes for North Meck. Michael Parkins was fifth in the boys' 500-meter run with a time of 1:07.29, while Chris Thompson took sixth in the 55-meter dash (6.63).
Eagle wrestlers enter state matches
SouthLake Christian will compete in the NCISAA wrestling championships Friday and Saturday at Charlotte Country Day.
The Eagles have had a strong season, placing third among 17 teams in a tournament in Magna Vista (Va.) in January and winning the eight-team Cary Blue and Gold Invitational earlier this month. In the latter, SouthLake had 12 wrestlers in the finals, including winners Chris Green, Cody Tucker, Hamilton Hewitt, Sam Bryant and Scott Richardson. Bryant and Hewitt also won at Magna Vista.
While SouthLake competes in Charlotte, Hough High's wrestling team will be hosting the NCHSAA 4A West Regional individual competition.
— Staff
