North Pitt claims NCHSAA 2A girls basketball title over North Wilkes

North Pitt didn't have to wait long to claim another girls basketball state title.

Behind another MVP effort from senior Nyjanique Langley, the Panthers downed North Wilkes 63-42 on Saturday to win the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A girls basketball state championship for the second time in three years. Both of those titles came at the Dean Smith Center.

Langley had 33 points (on 13 of 21 shooting) and 16 rebounds to go with six assists. She was also the MVP of the 2016 title game, when North Pitt defeated East Davidson.

"She refuses to lose .... I believe (she) is the best player in the state," North Pitt coach William Knight said. "I haven't seen a better player this year than Nyjanique Langley,"

Unlike the 2016 team, which was loaded with height and talent and had defeated 4A teams handily, this year's team was more of an underdog. North Pitt wasn't a lock to win its own league in a tough Eastern Plains Conference. The Panthers entered the postseason having lost to 5-seed Farmville Central in the conference tournament title game.

But much like they showed on Saturday, the Panthers just wouldn't panic.

North Pitt (26-5), seeded third in the East, led North Wilkes (28-4), seeded third in the West, 28-20 at halftime. North Pitt never trailed, but North Wilkes cut the lead to as little as five in the third quarter. Yet the Panthers stayed under control.

"We never got on our girls about a turnover or a missed rebound or anything, we just kept going to the next play, and that was the best part of it," Knight said.

Despite North Pitt's Alyssa Kerns, the Panthers' sportsmanship award winner, struggling with foul trouble all day, the Panthers held their own on the boards and brought down 12 offensive rebounds.

Point guard Victoria Young (11 points, three assists) was North Wilkes' Most Outstanding Player, while Ashanti Hines (five points) won North Pitt's MOP in part because of her on-ball defense of Young.

North Pitt senior Casandra Watson had 11 points and seven rebounds.

North Wilkes' Emily Phillips (10 points) and Savannah Billings (eight points, nine rebounds) also contributed to the Vikings in the loss.

This story was originally published March 10, 2018 at 1:35 PM with the headline "North Pitt claims NCHSAA 2A girls basketball title over North Wilkes."