UCA ends SWR streak in PAC final

ASHEBORO — Since Austin Davis took over the Uwharrie Charter Academy girls basketball program seven years ago, the school has seen a number of firsts. 

There was the first time the Eagles had a winning season, the first time they went to the state playoffs, the first time they competed for a regular-season conference championship and the first time they competed for a conference tournament championship.

Now they can say they won their first conference tournament championship.

Fueled by a tenacious defense, which recorded a number of key stops down the stretch, and 19 points from junior Nevaeh Staples, the third-seeded Eagles recoded a 49-43 win over top-seeded Southwestern Randolph Friday night, handing the Cougars their first loss of the season after a school-record-tying 25 straight victories.

UCA, which defeated sixth-seeded Eastern Randolph and second-seeded Providence Grove to reach the PAC Tournament championship, earned its school-record 22nd win of the season in improving to 22-7.

As is usually the case, the Eagles received contributions from everyone:

— Staples led the offense.

— Freshman point guard Naimah Al-Arif was a perfect floor general until she suffered a head injury and possible concussion and had to be taken to the hospital via a stretcher with 45.3 seconds remaining and the game still in doubt.

— Lainey Thomas added a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

— Sammy Chriscoe, Emory Johnson, Reagan Burris and Kayla Brown contributed heavily.

— Senior Abbie Gudino was tasked with guarding Cougar standout Maddie Strider and very well could have been the most important player on the floor for the Eagles. Strider, the leading candidate for the county player of the year, was held to four points in the first half as UCA grabbed a 10-point halftime lead, SWR’s largest deficit of the season.

“It’s kind of been who we have been all season and it’s continued to get better,” said Davis, who earned his 100th coaching victory in the opening round win over ER. “We’ve had so many different people contribute in so many different ways at so many different times. 

“Navaeh has been our leading scorer across the board, but we have had multiple people stepping up to score in double figures, we’ve had multiple people step up and give us huge rebounds, we’ve had multiple people step up and play great defense. That’s what makes us so tough to play. We have so many options who can come in and help us at any time.”

With Gudino hounding Strider all over the floor, SWR never got into any offensive rhythm the entire first half, and with Staples scoring 12 of her points in the first two quarters, the Eagles led 23-13 at the break.

“We literally had to pluck her out of the hallway as a freshman so we would have enough to play jayvee basketball,” Davis said of Gudino, who will play soccer at Campbell in the fall. “She was injured and didn’t come back until January. 

“She was the defensive stopper we had to have. She made Maddie Strider work for every last thing she had to do. That's what we aimed for going in. Maddie is a very gifted scorer and Abby is a very gifted athlete and defender. She knows her job, her role and she did it as well as she’s ever done it tonight.”

With school out of session because of weather the past few days prior to the tournament finals, Gudino said she spent her time watching film.

“First, I was surprised I was going to start,” said Gudino, who usually comes off the bench. “I told myself I have to do this, I have to contribute to us winning. I couldn’t have done it without the confidence of my teammates and the coach believing in me more than I believed in myself.”

As all great teams do, the Cougars fought back from their 10-point halftime deficit as Jordin George and Strider, on the only times she was able to wiggle free, each hit two 3-pointers as their deficit started to dwindle away.

The Cougars actually held one-point leads on a couple of different occasions in the second half, but each time the Eagles responded.

“I was concerned coming in,” SWR coach Seth Baxter said. “We played all these teams so many times. You know Uwharrie plays hard. You're scared when you play teams that leave everything on the court the way they had.

“The first play of the game on the baseline. They miss a shot, we box out, we have three girls standing around the ball. They had someone dive in the pile, get the ball and they get a layup. For most, that’s two points. For me, it’s we’re in for a fight. 

“We didn't shoot well. Some of it was their defense, some of it was we were tight for some reason. They put some length on Maddie around the perimeter, which I think bothered her. We didn’t make some plays and they did.”

The game was still in doubt as UCA led 44-42 with 45.3 seconds remaining. UCA had possession along the sideline, but an inbounds pass looped over everyone and headed toward the far corner. Al-Arif slid toward the bleacher in an attempt to save a possession, but her head hit the concrete bottom and she was motionless for a long time. Administration and trainers instantly went to her aid and an ambulance arrived to take her to the hospital.

Davis said Al-Arif suffered a cut on her head and a possible concussion. On Saturday morning, she reported no head or neck pain and was home resting.

“One thing I noticed, the ‘want-to-win’ was in every single one of us, even the teammates on the bench,” Staples said. “Every single player looked like we were willing to do no matter what it took no matter how long we touched the floor for. 

“Sometimes you see three or four pushing to give it their all. It felt like every one of us was playing for something much bigger than us. Then when our point guard went down, we had something even bigger to play for. Someone even bigger than ourselves.”

Once play resumed, SWR committed a turnover and Thomas nailed two free throws to up the lead to 46-42 with 37.4 seconds left. Kenzie Martin made one of two free throws for SWR, but Staples nailed two more with 18.5 seconds remaining for a 48-43 lead. Chriscoe added one more.

Staples said Al-Arif provided quite a bit of motivation.

“She was willing to risk it all on the floor for this game, that’s why she went out,” Staples said. “If she was willing to do that for us, we better give it every last ounce of energy for her. Those last 45 seconds were for her.”

And for UCA, it was quite a 45 seconds indeed.

Staples finished with 19 points, Al-Arif 10 and Thomas 8 for UCA, which received an automatic bid into the state 1-A tournament, which began Tuesday.

George had 15 points, Strider 10 and Gracie Hodgin eight for SWR (25-1), which opened state 2-A tournament action Tuesday.