BEAR CREEK — Chatham Central won every quarter here on Tuesday night as the Lady Bears crushed visiting Voyager Academy 54-28 in opening round action of the NCHSAA 1A State Playoffs.
All told, eight players scored in the win for Central, including Maddy and Abby Elkins collecting 14 and 12 points respectively.
“We’ve been balanced all year,” CC coach Lynda Burke said following the win. “That’s one of our strengths, we have a lot of girls capable of scoring every game.”
Both teams were a bit tentative as expected at the start, with the state playoff pressure evident.
The Lady Bears clawed their way to a 9-6 advantage after one period of play as Abby Elkins sank a basket and two free throws for four points, Mary Grace Murchison netted a trey, and Cami Hughes a transition bucket.
In the second, a 6-0 spurt highlighted by two baskets from Taylor Hughes sent Central in front 15-6 at the 5:21 mark. Hughes would close with six points in the stanza, and Maddy Elkins added six more as the Bears used a 16-9 advantage in the eight minute span to build a comfortable 25-15 advantage at the intermission.
Carlise Nelson had four points for the Vikings in the second.
“I thought we played well defensively the first half and that was key after we missed some easy shot opportunities,” said Burke. “Defensively we played well the entire game, and that was the key. The third quarter we pushed the lead out from 10 at the half and put them away. Voyager came to play and really got after us.”
Maddy Elkins and Cami Hughes collected five points apiece in the third, and Taylor Hughes and Lauren Oldham added a basket apiece as Chatham Central used a 15-5 spurt in the frame to extend the led to 40-20 entering the fourth. Nelson had four points, including a pair of foul shots, for Voyager in the quarter.
Abby Elkins canned four points and Maddy Elkins chipped in three more in the final period as the Bears cruised to the easy 54-28 win.
Cami and Taylor Hughes added nine and eight points respectively to the Chatham Central (20-3) offense on Tuesday evening while Voyager Academy (11-16) was led by a game-high 16 points from Nelson.