NCISAA roundup: Providence Day boys, Charlotte Latin girls win lacrosse state titles
Providence Day’s Alex Jessey and Tyler Campbell each scored three goals as the Chargers beat Christ School 10-7 to win the 2021 N.C. Independent Schools boys lacrosse state championship on its home field.
Providence Day was back in the finals after being the runner-up in 2018.
On Saturday, Providence Day led 6-1 before Christ School made a big push in the third quarter, closing the score to 8-5 just as the buzzer sounded.
Keese Zugehoer scored twice for Christ School.
Providence Day, which started its program in 1996, won its first state title in 2007. The Chargers reached the finals in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2018.
Providence Day finished its season 18-1. Christ School, which lost for the second time to Providence Day, finished 14-2.
Latin rallies past Charlotte Country Day for girls title
Two years ago, Charlotte Latin ended Charlotte Country Day’s six-year reign as N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association girls lacrosse champion.
On Saturday, the Hawks showed that 2019 was no fluke.
Charlotte Latin scored five of the last six goals and downed the Buccaneers 18-12 for the state title.
“It really feels as if the program is rolling now,” said Hawks coach Nikki Williams, whose team finished with a 16-1 record, losing only to Myers Park in March.
“It got a little closer than we would have liked it to be, but we put things away when we needed to,” she added.
Charlotte Latin, which beat Charlotte Country Day 20-11 and 19-7 during the regular season, was up 7-4 at halftime Saturday on its home field.
But the Buccaneers rallied, tying the score at 11 midway through the second half.
Megan Klingenberg scored the go-ahead goal, and the Hawks pulled away.
Williams said Megan and Paige Klingenberg, Elizabeth Rose, Caroline Wall and Lea Troutman led the team Saturday.
Rose and Wall are part of a group of six seniors who had a big role in building Charlotte Latin’s program.
“We’ll miss those seniors, but we have a big group of juniors and some younger players returning next year,” Williams said.
She said the COVID-19 outbreak that scrubbed the 2020 season was a huge disappointment to last year’s seniors.
“But most of those girls were there today, cheering us on,” she said. “How great was that?”
NCISAA Tennis: Country Day wins again
Charlotte Country Day capped a perfect season Saturday by edging Greensboro Day 5-4 for the Division 1 boys’ state tennis championship.
It was the 20th state title in the program’s history. The Buccaneers finished 10-0.
Greensboro Day (16-2) took a 2-1 lead in doubles, and the match came down to the No. 6 singles event. Tied 4-4, Charlotte Country Day’s Sammie Baumstein won a closely-contested match.
The Bucs’ doubles victory came from the team of Kaelan van Cleeff and Noah McDonald.
Greensboro Day won No. 1 singles, with Carter McWharter squeaking past van Cleeff 6-4, 2-6, 10-7.
Charlotte Country Day scored singles victories at the No. 2 (Noah McDonald), No. 3 (Nathan Jackson), No. 5 (Aaryan Chopra) and No. 6 (Baumstein) positions.
-- Steve Lyttle
Resilient Charlotte Christian takes NCISAA softball crown
Kevin Hinde knew his Charlotte Christian girls’ softball team was emotionally deflated.
The Knights had just dropped an 8-7 decision to Cannon School on Saturday in the second game of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association’s 4A girls’ softball championship series.
“Usually, we come back and win close games,” Hinde says. “But Cannon School gave us a good punch there.”
So he wasn’t sure what to expected when Game 3 began, about a half-hour after the Game 2 loss.
“We came out firing on all cylinders,” he says.
The Knights scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back, winning 13-3 and capturing the school’s first softball championship.
They did it with a roster containing no seniors, and with four eighth-graders in the starting lineup.
“I thought that if we could score some runs in the first inning, we might set the tone for the game,” Hinde says.
In Game 2, Cannon School (17-3) rallied from a 7-6 deficit and scored the tying and winning runs in the top of the sixth inning. Charlotte Christian (17-2) had two runners in scoring position in the seventh but couldn’t tie the game.
Game 3 was a different story.
Wynne Gore held Cannon School to four hits.
“I don’t know where she found it, given what happened in the previous game, but she was great,” Hinde says. “It was one of her best games of the season.”
Gore also did damage at the plate, hitting .750 in the series with a home run, six runs scored, and seven RBI. Anna Hinde hit .636 and scored seven runs. Kayleigh Prather drove in five runs and batted .500. Hinde and Prather are among the eighth-graders.
The Knights set a bundle of school records in their championship season. Among them: Mary Caroline Eaton’s five triples, 10 homers, and 49 RBI; Gore’s 17 pitching victories; and the team total of 222 runs.
“And we had several games canceled because we had a COVID-19 quarantine for two weeks during the season,” Hinde says.
Charlotte Christian and Cannon School dominated the softball scene this season. Their only losses were to each other.
NCISAA Track: Providence Day boys, girls roll
Providence Day’s boys and girls won NCISAA Division I championships in Cary Saturday. The Chargers boys had 151 points, well clear of Christ School (107) and Charlotte Country Day (70.5)
The Chargers girls had 202.5 points, well ahead of Charlotte Country Day (118) and Charlotte Christian (67.5)
Providence Day’s girls won their eighth state title in as many years. The boys have won seven of the past eight state championships.
This story was originally published May 15, 2021 at 12:37 PM with the headline "NCISAA roundup: Providence Day boys, Charlotte Latin girls win lacrosse state titles."
