Wheatmore girls win conference tourney in basketball; Providence Grove boys upended in their tournament

TRINITY — A little extra film session paid big dividends for the Wheatmore High School varsity girls basketball team. 

A record-setting season continued last Friday night at the Central Carolina Conference Tournament title game as the Warriors, who spent a great deal of time studying film from the first two encounters between the teams, held Providence Grove to two points in the first quarter, 10 in the first half and 19 in the first three quarters in rolling to a 54-38 victory. 

The win gives the WHS girls program its first conference tournament championship to add to its first regular-season championship and its first 20-win season in school history as the Warriors took a 20-5 mark into state tournament action this week. It was WHS’ 14th straight victory. 

“We went back and watched the game from over there and mapped out the two or three offensive plays they ran against us and came in (before the game) and made sure everyone knew their assignments,” head coach Pete Kilcullen said of a two-point win over the Patriots on Feb. 10. “These kids have executed our defensive game plan the entire season.” 

The Warriors, whose average margin of victory in the CCC was 24.8 points with just two single-digit victories this season, are 13-0 overall against conference foes, including a holiday tournament win. The team is allowing an average of just 29.7 points per game the entire season. 

“Almost surreal,” Kilcullen said about the season. “For me, it’s a dream come true for a head coach to finally get to this level. That team has gone out and done things you are not sure they can do. It’s a special group and they play hard every night. Tonight is the best we have played in a month.” 

The Warriors led 14-2 after the first quarter, holding the Patriots, who scored 26 points in one quarter the night before in a semifinal win over West Davidson, to just one basket.  

Wheatmore extended its halftime advantage to 27-10 and never looked back. 

“We focused on what they had just done and we figured if we could stop them from driving and get back on defense … limit them to one shot,” Kilcullen said.  

The Warriors, who were led by senior Kaelyn Whitehart with 21 points, sophomore Jocelyn McDowell with 11 points and freshman Kinsley Davis with 10, led 41-19 heading into the final quarter. Wheatmore led by as many as 25 points in the final quarter. 

Freshman Adi Johnson, who had 31 points in the win over West Davidson, had 18 for the Patriots and junior Laurel Bernhardt added 11. 

The Warriors earned a first-round bye for the state tournament. 

“They were excited,” Kilcullen said of his team after the win. “They were happier tonight than when we won the conference on Monday. I was so thrilled to stand there and watch them go bananas.” 

PG loses in boys final 

In the boys championship game, regular-season champion Providence Grove, which was riding an 11-game winning streak after a semifinal win over West Davidson the night before, couldn’t keep up with a second-half charge by Thomasville.  

The second-seeded Bulldogs broke away from a tie with 5:07 left in the third quarter, and went on to a 60-47 win. The game was tied at 27-27 when THS made its move. 

Providence Grove, which hadn’t lost a game since Dec. 30 in a holiday tournament to conference foe West Davidson, found itself down 39-32 after three quarters and never made a serious charge in the final eight minutes.  

PG started the championship game slowly as the Bulldogs led 12-4 after one quarter. But Cam Jones ignited a rally that saw the Patriots grab a 22-21 lead at the break. 

However, the final 13 minutes of the game was controlled by Thomasville, which had lost decisions of 74-54 and 55-54 to the Patriots during the season. 

Will Dabbs had 15 points for PG, while Andrew Thomas and Gabe McCoy had 11 each.  

Thomasville improved to 15-10 overall, while PG slipped to 16-8. 

UCA loses pair in FRC finals 

Uwharrie Charter’s boys and girls teams each played and lost to Northwood in the 4-A Four Rivers Conference tournament that was shortened to just the top two teams in the conference. 

However, in a very unique situation leading up to the girls 4-A state tournament, the fallout left Eagles coach Austin Davis feeling like his team was punished for advancing to the championship game. 

After defeating Southwestern Randolph early last week and then both teams winning their final two games of the season, SWR and UCA finished tied for second with 7-3 league records behind Northwood. The teams split their two regular season tilts. 

UCA was 13th in the RPI and SWR 15th, so most were under the assumption UCA would go because it was higher in the RPI rankings. But that tie-breaking stipulation won’t take effect until next season, so a drawing was held to determine who would play Northwood in the conference tournament championship game. 

The FRC reduced its conference tournament to just one game because of the two weeks lost in late January and early February due to the weather. 

SWR drew the number three, meaning UCA would have the second seed and the berth in the title game.  

However, the 51-37 loss to the Chargers knocked the Eagles down below SWR in the final RPI rankings, meaning if the Eagles wouldn’t have played in the title game, they would have remained above SWR in the RPI rankings and received a slightly more favorable seed for the state tournament. 

Davis said UCA officials figured out what would happen with a loss to the Chargers and presented the situation to the team. 

“They were on board, they wanted to compete for a conference championship,” Davis said of his team. “The competition in all of us wanted that. But not only did our RPI drop, but we moved from having a bye to not having a bye and lost the opportunity for some rest.” 

The Eagles played three games two weeks ago, four games last week and if they make a run, can play as many as three this week. 

“We wanted to see how it all played out and it played out exactly how we thought it would,” Davis said as the Eagles received a 10th seed in the 4-A East Regional. “To beat Southwest Monday, win a draw out of a hat, play in a conference title game and be penalized doesn’t seem fair. It is a very difficult feeling that we are being punished for being successful and making the championship game.” 

Davis said the school planned to write a formal letter to the NCHSAA detailing the situation.