GREENSBORO — It’s easy to gloss over a league that gets little publicity; one that’s often overshadowed by its public and private school counterparts.
That doesn’t mean you should.
While the North Carolinians for Home Education Athletic Commission (NCHEAC, for homeschoolers) isn’t the NCHSAA (for public schools) or the NCISAA (for private schools), the competition is on par with the best of them.
Saturday’s NCHEAC Basketball State Championships illustrated that, having everything you’d expect from a state title game: an electric atmosphere, an unexpected comeback, an overtime thriller, winning teams holding up banners at mid-court and family photo ops.
The Chatham Thunder varsity girls defeated the South Wake Sabres on Saturday, 45-40 in overtime, to capture their first-ever NCHEAC state basketball championship after a wild fourth-quarter comeback.
“(I’m) very emotional. I’m proud of my seniors,” said Justin Brooks, head coach of the Chatham Thunder. “I’ve been coaching them for a long time. I started out with them in middle school and I’ve been coaching some of these girls for seven years. It was a great team win and a great game for the fans to watch.”
Hosted at Shining Light Academy in Greensboro, the gym was packed with hundreds of loud, passionate fans despite Gov. Cooper’s Executive Order 195, which limits indoor sports venues to 30% capacity.
With 2:30 remaining in the contest, the Sabres held a seven-point lead, 35-28, after going on an 8-0 run that featured steals leading to fast break layups, points in the paint due to their size advantage and mistakes by the Thunder on both sides of the ball.
By all accounts, it looked to be over. South Wake, which gave the Thunder their only two losses of the regular season, appeared to have them right where they wanted them.
But the Thunder didn’t quit.
From that point forward, the Sabres would miss all three of its free throw attempts while the Thunder were slowly climbing back into the game via free throws and smart offensive possessions.
South Wake had a chance to ice it with 32 seconds left — up by three and freshman forward Mia Jones at the line — but Jones missed the one-and-one. A teammate grabbed the offensive rebound — an issue for Chatham all night — and … got called for traveling.
On the other end, the ball found Thunder senior forward Rachel Davis, who was wide open in the right corner, as she drained the triple to tie the game with 8.4 seconds left. It was perfect timing for her to hit her first three-pointer of the day in five attempts.
In overtime, the Thunder’s star players — sophomore guard Kimberley Cunningham and senior guard Jenna Brooks — shined.
Cunningham scored the first two buckets for Chatham in the extra period, including an and-one layup (although she missed the free throw), while Jenna Brooks — the coach’s daughter — had ice in her veins, hitting four straight free throws after her team was down 40-39 to give them a three-point lead.
Those free throws essentially ended the game, clinching the Thunder’s first-ever state title in varsity girls basketball.
“I’m pretty tired, but I’m really excited,” Cunningham said after the game. “We just put our heart to it and pushed through … we just wanted it.”
Cunningham was the team’s leading scorer with 13 points, and along with Brooks, led the team with four steals.
Calling this game a defensive battle would be an understatement.
Both teams — South Wake at 59.6 and Chatham at 62.9 — average around 60 points per game, but it took overtime for either of them to cross the 40-point mark on Saturday.
The defense was suffocating on both ends of the court and the game was overwhelmingly physical as the officials swallowed their whistles on a plethora of plays. At times, it felt like backyard basketball — just without the high-flying dunks.
“(Defense) been the identity of our team over the years, these girls have always played hard,” Coach Brooks said. “Defense has been their specialty. I told them it would be all about defense today. Sometimes we struggle with our shooting and that’s improved some, but our defense has been our bread and butter.”
Cunningham, Davis and Jenna Brooks were the three Chatham players named to the NCHEAC All-Tournament team, with Davis and Brooks being named co-MVPs for their late-game heroics on Saturday.
“I think they are amazing with what they did,” said Cunningham. “They just wanted to get it done, so they got it done.”
Winning the state title as a senior made the championship a little more special for the coach and his daughter.
“As a dad, I’m proud,” Coach Brooks said. “She’s worked all summer, all offseason. She was prepared for that moment. And that’s why you put the time in. She’s really busted her tail.”
The Chatham Thunder finish the season with a 25-2 record, again with both losses coming in the regular season against the team they conquered to win the title.
In the ultimate act of revenge, they beat South Wake in both the regional and state tournaments, finishing strong.
“Our team defense and our heart and our integrity (won us the game),” said Coach Brooks. “These girls never give up. They never quit.”
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.