KANNAPOLIS, NC — Jay M. Robinson High’s varsity basketball teams are conference champions.

With wins on the road at Northwest Cabarrus, the boys and girls teams secured the No. 1 playoff seed out of the South Piedmont 3A.

The lady Bulldogs team clinched a share of the conference championship, while the boys team has won the conference outright. With two games to play, girls need one more win or one more Northwest loss to win the outright title. With a season sweep over Northwest, the girls will have the tiebreaker for playoff seeding even if they lost out and the Trojans won out.

Both teams are coached by the highly successful Lavar Batts Sr. Batts juggles the timing and logistics between the teams, making sure they get equal attention.

Robinson’s girls team improved to 18-4 overall and 14-0 in conference play with the 39-34 win. The boys team needed overtime to beat Northwest. That final score was 68-66. The boys are now 19-3 overall and 13-1 in the South Piedmont.

The Northwest Cabarrus girls dropped to 17-4 overall and 12-2 in the conference. The boys are now 13-8 overall and 10-4 in SPC play.

• Purchase and view photos: Jay M. Robinson vs. Northwest Cabarrus boys basketball (Feb. 7, 2025)

Robinson Boys 68, Northwest Cabarrus 66 (OT)

The Bulldogs’ win over the Trojans was a thriller.

Despite the win going in Robinson’s favor, the two most clutch plays were made by Northwest.

Down 56-53 with seconds to spare, senior Landon Rowe nailed a 3-pointer after a pump fake at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

In overtime, Robinson’s Damontre Harlee helped the Bulldogs out to a 65-59 lead with under a minute to play. arlee had seven points in the bonus period.

Northwest Cabarrus senior Anderson Lee pushed the Trojans back into contention. He made two contested layups during the final minute to make it a 3-point game.

Robinson was intentionally fouled with 31.2 seconds left to keep the overtime score at 66-63.

After a long possession, Lee sunk a 3-pointer over a Robinson defender to tie the game at 66 with 12 seconds to play.

However, following the Robinson inbound, the Trojans mistakenly fouled the Bulldogs while they advanced up the floor. As both teams were in the bonus, Robinson’s Jammell Reid was sent to the line.

Reid made both free throws with 6.9 left on the clock.

Northwest attempted to make a drive to the basket for a layup, but could not get a good look before the buzzer sounded.

It was the second time this season that the game effectively ended with a costly Northwest Cabarrus foul.

BOX SCORE:
JMR: 12-14-15-15-12  68
NWC: 15-6-18-17-10  66

SCORING:
JMR: Damontre’ Harlee 20, Noah Speller 11, Roger Walton 10, Jammell Reid 9, David Frazier 6, Jarrell Reid 4, Myles Hudson 4, CJ Miranda 4
NWC: Anderson Lee 18, Ezekiel Brown 14, Landon Rowe 14, Justin Gonder 11, Aiden Rochevot 3, Samuel Brown 3, Connor Walker 2, Tylor Gichaba 1

• Purchase and view photos: Jay M. Robinson vs. Northwest Cabarrus girls basketball (Feb. 7, 2025)

Robinson Girls 39, Northwest Cabarrus 34

It was a defensive battle between the Trojans and Bulldogs. The teams scored just four points apiece in the first quarter. Robinson had 10 at halftime and Northwest had 11.

The teams effectively defend using different styles. Northwest is very sound and unflinching, but Robinson is aggressive and speeds you up.

Robinson mustered up a whopping 14 steals against Northwest over the course of the game. The Lady Bulldogs also had four blocks.

Just four players scored for Robinson on the night, so the Bulldogs will hope to find a bit more versatility on offense.

Juniors Destiny Chambers and Camri Hobbs both contributed double-doubles with 10 rebounds apiece. Chambers had 20 points and Hobbs had 12.

BOX SCORE:
JMR: 4-6-16-13  39
NWC: 4-7-11-12   34

SCORING:
JMR: Destiny Chambers 20, Camri Hobbs 12, Mikaya Gray 5, Shariyah Rucker 2
NWC: Mackenzie Ortscheid 11, Aminah Lyles 7, Matalia Bonanno 6, Marisa Furner 5, Ava Ibanez 5

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