Voyager boys, Roxboro girls win NCAC conference basketball tournament titles

There was no shortage of firepower in the River Mill Academy gym on Friday night for the North Central Athletic Conference 1A boys basketball championship game between Voyager Academy and Roxboro Community School.

But the Vikings, behind a career-high 38 points from guard Chance Greene and 27 from Virginia recruit Jay Huff, had a little more in a 107-65 victory.

The Roxboro girls, however, won the tournament title with a come-from-behind victory, beating Franklin Academy 53-46 in overtime.

BOYS

Voyager overcame a 39-point performance by Bulldog guard Darius McGhee, who broke the state single-season scoring record in the first half. McGhee’s 992 points this season snapped the record of 972 previously held by JamesOn Curry of Eastern Alamance in 2002-03.

Voyager (26-4) rolled through the NCAC tournament, winning by an average of 37 points. But the Vikings aren’t satisfied.

“It’s just the first step,” Greene said. “Undefeated in the conference is a first step. But we want to make it through the next six games.”

If Greene continues to fill it up like he did Friday, Voyager will be hard to beat. Greene made four 3s but was also effective in transition and driving to the basket in the halfcourt.

Huff, a 6-11 center, was again dominant on the inside, but Greene was the difference-maker against Roxboro (14-13).

“Chance is capable of that on almost any night,” Voyager coach Mike Huff said. “He distributes and gets people involved who need to be involved, but he’s capable of getting 30, 40 points on any given night. It was one of those where he took what was there. He’s a pretty special player.”

McGhee clearly is special, too, hitting four 3s and fighting a defense designed to stop him.

“It makes my job easy and makes me look good,” Bulldogs coach Justin Bettendorf said. “We’re ecstatic for him. It couldn’t happen to a better kid. We’d put Darius up against any player in the state, if not the country. Pound for pound, he’s one of the best basketball players in the state.”

The humble McGhee, though, didn’t really want to talk about the scoring record.

“I mean, it’s a fun experience,” McGhee said. “I passed a couple guys who played in college, and Chris Paul who’s in the NBA. But it’s not really on my mind. We’ve got the state playoffs next week, so that’s the next focus. It happened during the season, so I’m appreciative of it, but we’ve got bigger goals.”

Voyager, which also got 17 points from Collin Faucette, took command early in the game, scoring 22 consecutive points in the first quarter for a 24-5 lead. Greene had 10 of those points.

GIRLS

Roxboro trailed most of the game against the upstart Patriots before Elana Ingram tied it at 43-43 with 2:44 remaining. The Bulldogs then got the ball back with two minute remaining and held for the final shot, but Martin missed a contested jumper.

Martin, a sophomore guard, then took over, scoring all 10 of her team’s points in the overtime as Roxboro (26-2) pulled away.

“In the first half, she missed a lot of shots,” Bulldogs coach Brian Cousin said. “She missed layups, she missed short jumpers. In the fourth quarter, we got our composure back and relaxed. Once we got settled, she got to the basket a little easier.”

Franklin Academy (24-3) was playing without starters Brianne Henderson and Claire Batten, injured in the most recent game against Roxboro. Freshmen Carlie Clift and Kennedy Capps filled in admirably, but the Patriots ran out of steam in the fourth quarter and OT.

“I think we can definitely walk away with our heads held high,” Franklin Academy coach Erin Thornton said. “Tonight, we were two starters down. I was just so proud because the two girls who replaced them were freshmen. They played so tough.”

All three of the Patriots’ losses came to Roxboro.

“Let’s just say I would love not to see them in the states,” Thornton said.

Roxboro struggled with its shooting in the first half, making only 10 of 36 shots.

“We were missing shots and not playing the best defense,” Ingram said. “But then we got together and started talking and communicating more and more. Then our defense picked up, and your defense starts your offense, so we got going on offense, too.”

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 12:14 AM with the headline "Voyager boys, Roxboro girls win NCAC conference basketball tournament titles."