Hunter Huss rolls past Fike to win first NC state basketball title since 2011
Hunter Huss remained perfect in state championship basketball games on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies improved to 4-0 in state title games with a record-setting 103-69 win over Wilson Fike for the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 5A championship game at Joel Coliseum.
Huss, which finished 26-2 on the season, has previously won 1977 and 1985 4A titles in Greensboro and a 2011 3A championship in Raleigh.
Sophomore Jaleel Smith, who recently received scholarship offers from N.C. State and Wake Forest, had a game-high 41 points for Huss in Saturday’s victory. Zaiyir Phillips added 27 and Johnterious Anderson 11 for the Huskies.
"This is the only reason that I came back," said Smith, who returned to Huss in September after beginning the 2025-26 school year at Winston-Salem Christian. "I wanted to help my brothers win this title."
After building a 30-point late in the fourth quarter, the only intrigue would be whether Huss could set a new state championship scoring record.
The Huskies managed to finish second all-time behind Farmville Central total in a 113-98 win over Hendersonville in the 2021 2A title game with two free throws by O'Brian Lockhart with 1 minute, 2 seconds left to play to make it 102-66 and surpass Winston-Salem Parkland's total in a 101-83 3A title game victory over West Rowan in 1999 that had previously been in second place.
Huss scored 59 points in the second half and 34 in the fourth quarter as its offense got into high gear.
Third-year head coach Troy Phillips said he wasn't completely surprised as he discussed how his offense has thrived all year with Smith (No. 5) and his son Zaiyir Phillips (No. 55).
"When highway 5-55 gets going, we can put up some numbers," Troy Phillips said of Smith and Zaiyir Phillips, who averaged 29.6 and 16.3 points, respectively, entering the contest.
Wilson Fike's 6-foot-10 center Da'qavis Greene bothered Huss' drives to the baskets and finished with a team-high 20 points.
The victory was sweet for Troy Phillips, a 1996 graduate of the school and fourth different head coach to guide the Huskies to a state title. (Green Burge was head coach in 1977, G.C. Harrill in 1985 and Ron Bray in 2011.)
Troy Phillips said when his team fell behind early, he recalled what the late Burge had taught him years ago.
"He always used to tell me, 'Don't be hollering and fussing at your team in the game. That's what you should've done in practice,'" Troy Phillips said. "So it's quite special to be standing on the shoulders of coach Burge, G.C. Harrill and Ron Bray."
Troy Phillips also said last year's 71-57 loss to eventual state champion Greensboro Ben Smith on the same court was used as motivation.
"I told the guys last year that we would be back," he said. "And we used that to push us all season long."
Game summary
Wilson Fike 28 11 18 12 — 69
Hunter Huss 21 23 25 34 — 103
WILSON FIKE 69 — Jamir Loftin 14, Taylor 9, Da'qavis Greene 20, Jayonta Blanchard 19, Bowser 2, Neal 2, B. Loftin 2, Boykin 1.
HUNTER HUSS 103 — Lockhart 4, Johnterious Anderson 11, Jaleel Smith 41, McCoy 2, Zaiyir Phillips 27, Griggs 6, Falls 4, Pless 8.
Records: Fike 23-6, Huss 26-2.
This story was originally published March 14, 2026 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Hunter Huss rolls past Fike to win first NC state basketball title since 2011."
