WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — In the final minute, Allie Sykes and Tina Bowers raced to the sideline separately, found each other, and jumped up and down in each other’s arms.

The dynamic duo had done it.

Western Alamance claimed the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A girls basketball championship with a 76-58 win over Stuart Cramer in Friday’s title game at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.

Sykes, who was electric in the early stages of the game to give the Warriors (28-4) separation, had 22 points and five assists. She was named the Kay Yow MVP of the contest.

“We faced some adversity early in the season. You wouldn’t think we would win a state championship on paper,” Sykes said. “That group of seniors really just stuck together and we believed in each other, and that’s all you really need. I’m just super grateful for my friends.”

Bowers had 26 points and nine rebounds to earn East MVP.

“We really put women’s basketball on the map for the school,” Bowers said. “With this being our last season, I really think it’s leaving the school and the history in a really sweet spot.”

They both combined to try to contain junior Oshauna Holland of Stuart Cramer (29-3), which was playing for its first state title. Holland, the West MVP, kept the Storm in it with 49 points on 15-of-29 shooting and a perfect 17-of-17 from the free throw line. A shot from 3 in the final seconds misfired, just a few inches from reaching 50-plus.

“We thought we had to hold her under 50. We did that so we did OK,” Western Alamance coach Tooey Loy said before getting more serious. “We were trying to double her some but she’s good. Give her credit, she’s good.”

There was no taking Holland out of the contest — no game plan this season has done that.

But Sykes shadowed her down the court and Bowers provided help defense, which sufficed for long stretches.

On the opposite end, Holland guarded Sykes. Almost any time that the Storm switched on screens, Sykes went up with a shot or found Bowers open on a slow rotation.

Western Alamance shot 46.8 percent for the game and got 17 second-chance points to go with 17 points off turnovers. The latter two stats were the biggest differentiator on a night where both teams shot about the same from the free throw line (80.8 percent for the Warriors to 95.2 for the Storm), committed about the same turnovers (Stuart Cramer 13, Western Alamance 11), and the same number of points in the paint (22-22).

A 12-0 run to start the third didn’t hurt either.

“We’ve played fast all year so we got our tempo going to what we’re used to,” Loy said. “I’ve told the girls all year, we’re the best in the state when we’ve got pace.”

Western Alamance led 41-31 at halftime after both teams came out firing. Western Alamance led 19-18 after the first quarter despite 14 from Holland.

“I’m just super, really, really proud of my team. Even though we didn’t make it as far as we wanted to, next year there’s more to come,” Holland said.

Top-seeded Stuart Cramer defeated third-seeded North Lincoln 62-38 in the 3A West regional final while second-seeded Western Alamance defeated top-seeded Terry Sanford 64-48 in the 3A East regional final. Those games were also at “the Joel” as part of the final four format.

Before the game, each team honored its sportsmanship award winner for the season: Cayden White from Western Alamance and Cienna Lopez from Stuart Cramer.

QUICK BOX SCORE
SCR 18-13-6-21 58
WAL 19-22-16-19 76

Stuart Cramer: Alana Franklin 2, Hadley Womack 2, Ileigh Black 2, Oshauna Holland 49, Lauren Humphrey 3
Western Alamance: Xiomara Moser 5, Emma Johnson 8, Allie Sykes 22, Regan Averett 4, Ava Mitchell 5, Tina Bowers 26, Cayden White 6