Last year, Weddington, won its first ever state championship going a perfect 18-0, winning the NCHSAA 3A State Championship. Coached by Gary Ellington, Weddington moved from the 3A classification to the 4A classification. While we had Weddington has a “team to watch” in our pre-season predictions, we would be foolish to say we expected them to be 30-0 and advancing to the NCHSAA 4A State Championship. They have now won 48 straight games for the past few seasons and have a chance to win back-to-back state championships.
Looking through Weddington’s 2021-22 schedule, they have beaten some of the traditional powerhouse teams in the NCHSAA 4A. Starting off the season, Weddington beat Ardrey Kell (72-65), Cox Mill (68-48), and Myers Park (75-51), three teams that had outstanding seasons, made the playoffs, and were ranked among the top tier teams in the state. Later, Weddington beat a very good South Mecklenburg (85-62) and many believe to think, “it wasn’t supposed to be this easy for them.” Heading into the Christmas break, Weddington beat an outstanding NCISAA 4A power, Providence Day (59-46) and proceeded to beat defending NCISAA 4A state champion, Cannon (76-72).
Then, the NCHSAA 4A state playoffs began and Weddington survived a 71-62 overtime win over Olympic. Many, including myself, thought the rigors of going undefeated and sporting the amazing winning streak over two seasons would take its course. On the other end of the spectrum, narrowly winning is what’s often needed early, survive and advance. Weddington then proceeded to win over Mooresville (70-60) and Cox Mill (61-48). Next up was Chambers. On paper, Weddington may not have the overall depth and talent as a Chambers or North Mecklenburg, but it is a veteran team that has great chemistry. Chambers has 6’7 South Carolina commit Daniel Sanford and a national level point guard in 6’1 junior Jaylen Curry, who also won a Gold Medal for the U.S.A junior team. While Weddington loss 6’0 Brock Bowen to graduation from last year’s state championship team, Weddington returned the nucleuas of 6’5 all everything point guard Chase Lowe, who may be the most underrated and undervalued prospect in the state, 5’11 senior AJ Cook, 6’3 senior Kyle Frazier, and 6’1 junior Evan Morton, all four players who are averaging in double digit scoring.
In the game against Chambers, Weddington was down five with less than a minute in the game, but somehow managed to find a way to win. Next up was red hot North Mecklenburg. North Mecklenburg won their conference tournament and steamrolled through the competition. Again, like Chambers, North Mecklenburg has plenty of “star power” and managed a six point lead with less than one minute remaining. For many teams, they would have simply folded. With North Mecklenburg hitting two free throws with .59 seconds remaining, Weddington immediately inbounded the ball into Chase Lowe who drove the length of the court within five-seconds, made the layup and Coach Gary Ellington immediately called timeout. From there, the magic began and Weddington pulled out a 72-69 win. Down 69-63, Weddington managed to score the last nine points of the game.
Now, Weddington sits 30-0 and advances to the state championship against Panther Creek, What makes Weddington so special' For one, they are well coached by Gary Ellington, and in an era of high school players transferring and moving from one school to another, Weddington has kept its core group together. In addition, the majority of players have played together since middle school and even for the same travel ball organization. This team plays hard, they play together, but more importantly they have great team chemistry, not to mention they know each other’s moves and intentions on the court. They are genuinely happy for each other’s success and they are a true definition of a team and possibly a team of destiny. Win or lose, Weddington is what’s great about high school sports. Just one more thing, just don’t count them out!