Every South Lake senior has the opportunity to go to Lima, where the school has a mission partnership with homeless shelters for Peruvian boys. Nathan Sharp, Cameron Travis, Lucas Verville and Palmer Coleman helped South Lake’s group form 800 large bricks from mud and straw.

“They had a very productive week,” says SouthLake coach Rich Landis.

The Eagles won the state title May 21 in Rocky Mount and returned to Huntersville at 11 p.m. that Saturday night. The mission group left town at 7 a.m. the next day, which put the celebration on hold a bit.

“It was kinda bizarre,” says Sharp of the quick emotional turnaround.

“It was like we didn’t really get time to soak it all in, but it turned out good because a few teammates went on the trip.”

Sharp says it was neat to be able to share the championship essentially a world away a day after. And the trip was life-changing.“It was a really good experience,” says Sharp.