One thing was for certain, coming into the NCHSAA 3A state championship game, a school who had never won a state title before was going to win. Gary Ellington and the Weddington Warrior basketball team brought a 17-0 record into the state championship game on Saturday to face the Northwood Chargers, who came into the game 14-3.

Weddington won the game 56-47 to complete their undefeated season. They played seven total players, and each of the seven scored in the game.

All eyes were on Weddington junior Chase Lowe and he most certainly did not disappoint. Lowe who plays the middle of the zone on defense, but also the point guard on offense led the way in scoring with 14 while also adding seven rebound, five assists and two steals. He was named the MVP of the NCHSAA 3A Playoffs.

For Weddington, senior Brock Bowen added 11 and junior AJ Cook added 12, along with an all-tournament selection.

For Northwood, the freshman duo of Drake Powell and Jarin Stevenson led the team through the entire season, but they were in the middle of a run to make sure they would become household names.

Powell led the way in scoring with 15 points while also initiating a lot of the offense. Stevenson, widely regarded as the top freshman in North Carolina and a national level recruit, finished the game with 12 points and double figure rebounds. Fellow freshman Fred Whitaker had 13 points in the game, showing the state that Northwood has a 3-headed monster to watch for in the future. These three freshmen scored 40 of the team's 47 points.

Recruiting

Amazingly enough there is not much recruitment going on with the players in this game. Let’s start with Chase Lowe, the MVP. The lefty is a unique prospect, so that is a bit understandable for why schools are at a pause with him. Coaches, a lot of times, like to put a player in a box, “who does he guard?” “What position does he play?” “Can he do this, or that?”. Players like Chase Lowe, you simply put him on the floor, put some players around him, and let him rock and roll. Take this game for instance, Lowe had complete control of the game, from start to finish. Put some shooters around him, and he is spraying passes all over the floor. He will guard the oppositions best player, two through four. He is an excellent rebounder and pushes the break. He also has the handle to be a primary initiator. Right now he is in contact with schools all over the board, Virginia, Southern, George Mason and Yale. With academics in place, along with the production and now a history of winning, someone will be getting a good one, one who effects wining in a big way.

While Lowe may be the only D1 guy on the team, Weddington has a team full of college level players. Senior Kyle Frazier is 6’3” and shot 43% from three while grabbing five rebounds and dishing two assists per game. Looking ahead to next year, expect junior AJ Cook to be an interesting topic of conversation. Rest assured every D3 in this region will be wanting him, but he is the type of scrappy winning player who would help a D2 program win games, looking at Josh Brodowicz paving the way at Queens for undersized guys who can shoot and play with incredible heart.

Northwood’s freshman will be an exciting story to watch unfold over the next couple years. We will start with Jarin Stevenson in this space as he is as close to a sure-fire national level recruit as there can be. Stevenson’s dad played at Richmond and his mom played at UNC, his recruitment will reach the A10 and then get into the ACC for sure. Sitting here with no offers in hand, I have a hard time to foreseeing him not ending up at UNC. But his recruitment could reach blue blood status, he has those tools. Safely right now, we will say that he will be firmly into the high major area with his recruitment reaching national level as he plays in these showcase events both for high school and AAU.

Drake Powell is one who also has ties to UNC, as his father played baseball there. But looking at his family tree, his sister currently plays volleyball at Virginia Tech as well. Powell averaged 11.4 points on 36% shooting from three this season. He is a sure fire D1 prospect, so we can start there with the local D1s should go ahead and start recruiting. As things begin to tighten for him, as his skill sets become more defined, like the strength, the handle, the shooting off the bounce, etc…his level will become more defined. Again, the best things about freshmen is they eventually become sophomores. Northwood has two of the best in Carolina’s.