DURHAM — Squaring off against Lumberton in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4A boys basketball game is perhaps the toughest opponent of the season for the Pirates in nationally-ranked North Mecklenburg.
The Vikings (30-1) earned the top seed in the 4A West, and cruised through their four state playoff games to advance to the program’s first state title game since 2006. The whole season has been smooth sailing for as the lone loss in the North Mecklenburg schedule came in the last game of 2019 against Mountain Brook out of Birmingham, Alabama, 77-66. Mountain Brook was the 7A state runner-up in Alabama this season with a 32-3 record.
In ESPN’s weekly high school basketball top 25, North Mecklenburg was ranked 23rd in the nation.
Heach coach Duane Lewis has been with the program for 20 seasons, and led the Vikings to the 2005 state championship. After injury-plagued years the last two seasons, the Vikings have been on the good fortune of the injury bug this season.
“The last two years my point guard has torn his ACL two years in a row. I think it’s a sense of relief that we finally went through a season without any major injuries,” Lewis said at Tuesday’s state championship press conference. “But we did have some adversity. One of my best bigs messed his ankle up and missed five games early and my point guard missed seven games. We’ve had to battle through some things, but I think it’s made us better knowing that we can count on the bench and not rely on one person.”
Headlining the roster is 6-foot-3 senior guard Tristan Maxwell, the son of former NBA player Vernon Maxwell, who won two NBA titles with the Houston Rockets in the mid-90’s. The younger Maxwell is the leading scorer for the Vikings, and has the ability to play at a high level on or off the ball. He has signed to play for Georgia Tech next season.
“A lot of people think he’s a prolific scorer and he can. He’s definitely a great scorer, but he affects the game in other ways. He can pass, and when Trayden (Williams) was out for a little while, he played point guard for us,” Lewis said. “He does a lot of things well and the main thing is people love him for his scoring. That’s probably going to be his major impact on the game on Saturday will be his ability to shoot the basketball.”
Maxwell can score at all three levels and might be the toughest defensive assignment Lumberton has faced all postseason. He did struggle from deep in the 4A West Regional final, going 2-for-10, but also made his presence known with eight rebounds.
Williams, a senior point guard, has signed to play at Robert Morris at the next level. Williams was the team’s leading scorer in the 4A West Regional final against Olympic. The lighting quick guard looks to attack off the dribble, with 18 of his 25 points last game coming inside the arc and the rest at the foul line.
“We set the precedent back in November that we are going to win with those three seniors and we were going to lose with those three seniors. We are going to go with those older guys. They’ve been there before and they’ve earned that right,” Lewis said. “Those senior guards and Chris (Ford) are really good at keeping us calm.”
Shamann Artis is the third senior on the roster and the guard is a vital piece to the backcourt with his length that has made him a good defender this season.
The Vikings also feature height along the frontline with Ford, a junior, sanding at 6-foot-5 and sophomore Jeremy Gregory at 6-foot-7. Against Olympic, Gregory used his big frame for a 15-point, 12-rebound showing.
“Chris Ford is a junior but he’s started every game since he was in ninth grade,” Lewis said. “We have a lot of valuable players with a lot of minutes and each one of them, like I said, are different leaders. Trayden is an emotional leader, Chris is a quiet guy and people follow him. Tristan brings intensity to the game.”
In that regional final, North Mecklenburg played six players in the win over Olympic, but Lewis said circumstances in the game didn’t allow the team to showcase its true depth.
“We’re used to playing nine or 10, but the other day the way it was going we got up early, but there were some things like when we took Tristan out because he got cut over the eye. With that, I didn’t want to go with a younger guy at the point,” Lewis said. “I wanted to stay with the status quo. In the second half, Olympic went on their run and I didn’t think that would be an opportune time. We are young on that bench; we have a lot of 10th graders.”
